Ex-Edmonton Transit 30 is a 1973 GM T6H4523N, delivered to Edmonton Transit in a order for 10 of these buses numbered from 26 to 35. When this bus was delivered, it originally had a different style front destination sign and was painted in a red and white livery, as shown above in the photo of #31. The reddish/orange and white livery was used on this bus up until the late 1970's when it was repainted into it's current paint scheme of a plain white body with the sliversides, a black front, and the blue and yellow reflective stripes.
In 30's later years, it was in and out of storage, as shown in the above photo taken in July 1986. 30 is shown as the bus third from the left in that photo. Over the years, it spent most of it's time out of the Mitchell Transit Garage before being stored in the Ferrier Compound for the last time in the summer of 2001. The other photo shows 30 in storage for the summer of 1998.
In the recent years after the summer of 1997, Horizon 2000 changed which routes the 35 foot fishbowls operated on. The "Slim Jims" as they were referred to operated on the Route 30 - Southgate/University, Route 32 - Southgate/University, Route 89 - Capilano, Route 108 - Breckenridge/West Edmonton Mall, Route 121 - Westmount/Northgate, Route 122 - West Edmonton Mall/Westmount, Route 123 - Westmount/Jasper Place, and Route 154 - Northgate/Belvedere just to name a few. The above photo shows 30 operating on a Route 89 - Capilano on layover at Belvedere LRT Station.
In it's final years with Edmonton Transit, 30 was stored in the SE corner of the Ferrier Compound with the last of the remaining 5 35 foot "Slim Jims" which included 12, 22, 32, and 34. It looks like at the least 30 and 34 were to be destined to be auctioned off at Fenske Auctions in the 4th auction for 2001 as in 2001, there was a sheet of paper in the windshield noting it was ready for sale. Instead, it was kept in storage until it was sold in late October 2003 to A1 Auto Salvage of Edmonton, Alberta. The first photo in the above 4 show 30 stored in the Ferrier compound in November 2001, while the other 3 photos show 30 stored in the same corner on September 5, 2002, just before #22 was moved beside it. Soon #30 will be stored again with Ex-Edmonton Transit #22 which I already own and have almost completed restoration on.
The plans are with this bus is to restore 30 to it's late 1970's look with the orange/red and white livery with either the original style destination sign as shown in the above photo of #31, or with the current style destination sign it was retired with. Either way, it will be in orange/red and white livery with the newer ETS logos. Although I'm sure there's some of the things with that bus that weren't original to the bus, I decided to keep them in there for the looks in case I ever felt like restoring this bus to it's "as retired" condition. The things that I'd be keeping that I'm pretty sure weren't on the bus in that paint scheme is the 1997 destination curtain (When installed, unless this bus will get the as delivered destination curtain style), the next stop light on the inside, and the 1998 "ETS Book of Routes" (If there is one in there). One of the things that will be dealt with before the bus makes it's way down to Calgary to be stored with #22, I will be putting together a complete set of the marble orange/red seats as it was delivered with. Unlike #22 where it had all red seats originally and most will be hard to find, these orange/red marble seats will be easier to put a set together of as there are numerous spare seat cushions that I have access to.
July 27, 2005:
Well, towing this bus was out of the question this time because the cost of towing has risen too much. Since the last tow, the bill has doubled, so we decided to drive this bus home to Calgary. The first stop after getting the bus ready to go to Calgary was a stop at the Petro Canada off of Highway 19 near Spruce Grove. After fueling up, we moved on to get the bus all washed up. The two above photos show the bus parked at the Petro Canada station after we finished fueling up.
Just around the corner from where we fueled up was a truck and car wash. While cleaning out the interior and the exterior of this bus, I decided to take this overhead view of the bus.
After washing the bus for the trip home, we stopped at the Husky Station across the street for a quick coffee before making the long trip home to Calgary with the bus. This photo of 30 shows it parked at the Husky Truck Stop mingling with all the trucks in the lot.
And just before taking off to Calgary, we took one last stop back at A1 Auto Salvage to bring back a few extra parts for some other buses. Mixed in with some seat cushions I needed for my Ex-Edmonton Transit #22, there was a spare destination sign to put into #30. This sign came out of #2 that was sold about 2 years ago.
August 9, 2005:
After about a week and a half after driving the bus down from Edmonton, I had officially sold this bus to Canadian Premier Charters/More Better Buses. At the moment, this bus will just sit in storage until a use for this bus is found. The above photo shows 30 parked in the Canadian Premier Charters yard waiting to be moved into it's new permanent spot in the yard.
Later on that night, we took 30 for another drive just before putting it into storage at the back of the yard. The first 4 photos show 30 parked alongside a road in the Skyline Industrial area, while the last photo shows 30 about to be moved into it's new parking spot in the yard.
Special thanks goes to Mike Dasher for the photo of 30 taken in July 1986 stored inside of the Ferrier Compound
This page last updated on September 5, 2005