Marvelous. Moody. Mischievous. Glacier Park’s Reds.

When I sort thru the 1000 pictures I take in Glacier Park each summer and drop them into folders, I always have one labeled Random Red Bus. You would think I’d get bored after driving them for a few summers. After all, it is just another work truck, and my commute happens to be Going to the Sun Road.

But when I get good lighting, or a crazy backdrop, I can’t help myself. And if I can get bus #94 (Merritt) into any of my storylines, I’ll take it. So, why not do a random post about the buses from the summer of 2024?

Every year, all returning drivers are required to undergo one week of mandatory training. Updated policies and procedures are critical for the upcoming season.

There is also a very heavy emphasis on what not to do. Why? Because there is always that ONE driver who MUST consistently break the rules (her name rhymes with go-rat).

There is a lot of washing and waxing as we bring these Red Beauties out of hibernation. And if you have enough first-year drivers who are really trying to please and excel, you can stand back and take pictures.

In the last ten years, Xanterra built a shop garage specially for the fleet of 33 Red Buses for a couple million. Why? Because these national treasures deserved to be treated like the antique million-dollar vintage queens they are.

The old unheated wooden barns at East Glacier, where they had been stored in the off-season for the last seventy-ish years, were collapsing from age. Clearly, this was a win for the Red Bus Fleet. But that low-humidity winter air was good for all the wood.

They keep other odds and ends in the garage, like the ADA Red Bus. Don’t go by looks, but this is the best way to take a Red Bus tour. It has big open windows, holds 14+, and tons of skylights. And the wheelchair lift can lift two FULL extra-sized Yeti coolers (or so I have heard).

My first tour in mid-June this year was miserable. There was snow and sleet the entire eight-hour day. I never pulled the top off once.

Of course, my guest thought the top was off, given all the gaps and leaking seams and wind blown rain. Yeah, this top is due to be replaced.

Beargrass provides a great backdrop for #94. We usually keep about 10 of the fleet’s 33 vehicles at this East Side location.

Although the Red Buses never look better than at Logan Pass, it is hard to think I could possibly be driving one when they are 100 years old. The real question is: Do I want to????

Ford did the big refurbish in 2001 ish. A lot of the paint has been battered over 20+ years. The stuff really reminds me of a product called Imron by Dupont from my early automotive days. It was commercial aircraft paint with a handful of other applications. Thicker than the soles of my hiking boots and can take temps 250F to -250F.

I’ve never understood how people can smear so much sunblock that it transfers to the interior seats. At what point do people realize that if they are that afraid of the sun, they should wear more clothes (or take a boat tour)?

This mirror hit was on my bus, but not mine. I usually get about one a year. Sometimes, the offending vehicle’s mirror will fold in (ours are fixed). Sometimes, there is a shower of glass shards in my face. Nothing like the thrill of rolling the dice every time you drive the Sun Road.

You see amazing things when parking a Red Bus at LML for a quick lunch—nothing like dogs in vests and blue footies that does not scream National Park. Just because you are in nature doesn’t mean it is natural.

When the wash area is full (yes, buses are washed every day), we stagger them out and wait for a slot to open near the hose and buckets. On marginal weather days, the clouds alway give great lighting on the red paint and chrome.

But I love bus #94. It has a lot going against it, like being a partial refurb from the COVID era (limited mechanical, partial cosmetics).

It will go back after all of the other buses in the queue have been reworked. Until then I’ll just baby the reman’d engine and trans. There are no back heaters. A new top for next season? But to quote Goldilocks, that front seats fit my ass juuuuust right!

This is the last thing you want to see when you have 50 more miles to go. This wear happened in a week. Someone hit a curb HARD when the bus was out on my days off. My tour needed a wing and a prayer to get them back. It’s a good thing I’m a Wing.

When the sun works, I can’t help but take a few pictures, even if it’s not my bus. True, they are all the same, but only one of them I consider mine.

Rainy days are always the worst. You really don’t want rain on your day off, but rain when you work may reduce tips. Day off, or just working for the hours? Ah, the two-edged sword of the Glacier Red Bus driver.

Although this really looks cool, not so much. Why? Because this is the bus wash area at Beargrass, and the pressure washer is broken. So you have five drivers sharing a 50-foot hose.

Or not. You always get a couple of drivers with the ‘good enough’ school of thought. Oddly enough, most of them come from state or federal career backgrounds ……… Hm.

I call this the Red Bus Code of the Top. Everyone can/has done this themselves. But it takes forever, and you’ll re-do it a couple of times before the day is done.

It’s one of the few times where x2 equates to x10 in both time and quality. Never leave a Red Bus driver hanging. Especially when they are the last tour in for the day.

That’s me in 94, stuck trying to reach Logan Pass (pic by Mel). You can see from the snow on the roof that I had no heat. And that roof leaked like an umbrella with no fabric.

It should have been the worst tour of my life. But with the right people, it became a memory that always makes me smile. As I’ve seen so many times, low-point experiences are often the best life experiences.

 

Who knows what next season might bring? More importantly, who cares? It’s Glacier Park. Take one day at a time and let the story tell itself. That’s all I’ve been doing for years.

Till then, GoatBoy out.