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4107’s transformation begins….

We embark on our Museum Bus project!

Bulletin #1 – October 22nd, 2023

During the Summer, our mechanics inspected 4107. We drove it out to several events to see how it behaved itself on the road. The consensus was that it would be a good candidate for conversion to our second Mobile Museum bus.

These past two weekends, TMS volunteers began to remove the seats from the bus. Jason Sharpe, the project leader for the conversion was also instrumental in bypassing the coolant hoses from the onboard heaters. These have been troublesome, and prone to leaking. Since the coach will primarily be travelling to events in the summer, we decided to bypass the heaters rather than repairing them. (The driver’s heat will remain functional, however!)

(Below: TMS Volunteers Kyle Little (l) and Milan Streit (r) remove the seats from GM ‘Fishbowl’ 4107 in preparation for conversion to our Mobile Museum bus.)

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Thank you to our volunteers

Volunteer Appreciation BBQ

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Volunteers, left to right: Anthony Sherst, Angus McIntyre, Jason Sharpe, Leland Babic, Michael Taylor-Noonan, Bryan Larabee, Paul Waller, Jacquie Sherst, Chris Cassidy, Matthew Walker, Gary Davis, Glenda Cutinha, Jeff Veniot, Kyle Monda, Maxwell Chang, Rian Fatemi, Stephen Goodman, Rob Chew, Ewan Streit (with sunglasses and with pop in face), Ethan Enns, Martin Wu, Oscar Kapsa, Rachel Lee, Issac Tamm, Hubert Leong, Savannah Dewolf, Nathan Sheng, Sue Walker, Aden Wong, Francis  He, Milan Streit, Theodore Cassidy(child), Eric Webster, Richard Dyer, Ron Hoskyn, Sue Bradley, & Fred Bradley

Not in picture were Lawrence Walker And Rhonda Larabee – they were taking the photo. 

Sunday, 1st October 2023 and volunteers of TMS were treated to a BBQ at our Langley facility. It was organized by Sue Walker, Lawrence Walker & Glenda Cutinha as a “thank-you” to those members who donated their time and volunteered at the events we attended this past summer. Thanks to Save-On Foods & Real Canadian Superstore for their generous donations of food for the BBQ. Though they wouldn’t admit to it, I’m sure that Sue, Lawrence and Glenda also contributed from their own pockets, too!

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Description automatically generated This year, an added attraction was the ‘BBQ Shuttle” from Patterson SkyTrain Station bringing out many members to Langley. After eating, Operator Chris Cassidy provided much amusement by programing 9753’s electronic destination sign with audience requests. Jason travelled to Langley in his antique Mercury, Lawrence edited a video showcase of our events. Jeff Veniot told of some his exploits while driving trolleys. Chef Angus McIntyre (aided on “hot dog duty” by your blogger) provided the culinary skills, while Sue & Glenda kept everything running smoothly. A grand and enjoyable time was had by all!

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A pleasant Sunday…

Just a few odd-and-ends to report this week.


Sue Walker has been busy cleaning the seat covers on the cushions that Jason Sharpe removes from our D40LF.

Hubby Lawrence meanwhile has constructed a permanent solution to our problem of ventilation aboard #730 during the summer.

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On summer days, the interior is quite hot. To provide a cross-flow breeze, we generally open the emergency door. In the past we cordoned off the exit with a cone and fabric rope, Now we have a child’s gate. Lawrence modified it so that bolts extend from the gate into the body of #730, making a rigid and safe anchor.

Matthew is putting the finishing touches to a Grant Money Meter farebox to be gifted to Vancouver mayor, Ken Sims. Meanwhile, he is starting on restoring another farebox, but this one is slightly different to the ones we are familiar with.

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This one has a window to show the mechanism… the BC Hydro versions we have seen usually had a plate covering the aperture instead.

On March 10th, #4612 -driven by Trevor Batstone- visited Winston Churchill Secondary School. It was part of an end-of-term project by TMS Member Aden Wong.

During the couple of hours the coach was parked in front of the school, 155 students visited. Says Lawrence, who with Matthew, hosted: “We were well received and quite popular.”

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And, in closing, we’d like to mention Matthew’s YouTube playlist featuring our TMS buses. You can watch it at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8cGLI_p5qM&list=PLYKhZgSecot_UtYu1KHZeWo9hYNd9Q8s7

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