Ex-Edmonton Transit #965 is a 1980 GM T6H5307N, one of the first group of them to be retired from Edmonton Transit of this year. This bus, along with some other 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1980 GM T6H5307N's were auctioned off after being last used for the IAAF World Track & Field games that Edmonton hosted in August 2001. After the Track & Field games, this bus along with about 55 other buses were prepared for retirement from Edmonton Transit and was put in an auction. It was acquired by A1 Auto Salvage of Edmonton Alberta (see www.barp.ca/a1/ for more buses for sale) on September 15, 2001 where it was put up for sale. A new charter bus company in Calgary named More Better Buses operated by Canadian Premier Charters purchased this bus, along with Ex-Edmonton Transit #946 and 368 for use in their charter bus business. Out of the three buses that Canadian Premier Charters purchased, this one was the best one for feeling solid and for power. Although these buses were not purchased exactly for the purposes of restoration, I thought that it would be a good special section to put together to show the transformation from Edmonton Transit to Canadian Premier Charters' look. In this section, I plan on showing this bus from before retirement to today showing how this bus has gone through 3 different owners (Including it's original owner).
Bus Auction at Edmonton Transit - September 15, 2001:
The above photo shows Ex-Edmonton Transit 965 inside of the Patterson
compound waiting to get auctioned off. The two other buses in that photo
is 778 (Left) and 948 (Right), both of which have operated for Beaumont
Transportation Service's after the auction. 965 later went to A1 Auto
Salvage for resale and was sold to Canadian Premier Charters on
Out for a car wash - July 21, 2003:
About a week after the bus was brought back to Calgary, Canadian Premier Charters took the bus out to get it washed on the exterior. After a quick run up to the Shell Gas Station at the Road King Truck Stop, the bus returned to where it was being stored at.
Out for another run - July 28, 2003:
Canadian Premier Charters took this bus out for another night of cleaning and taking out for a spin. These photos were taken out on Ogden Road at about 74 Avenue SE near a 7-11 Convenience store before heading up Deerfoot Trail with the bus. This was shortly after the bus had some bodywork done to it.
Photo stop on Deerfoot Trail - July 28, 2003:
After getting on the road and cleaning up the bus, we had stopped the bus on Deerfoot Trail for a quick photo just before sunset.
Photo stop in the Ogden Area - August 1, 2003:
After another day of cleaning up the bus to make it feel like new, Canadian Premier Charters had stopped the bus along Ogden Road near Millican Road SE by the CP Rail Ogden Shops for a photo stop. The above 6 views were taken in the early evening of August 1 while the sun hid behind the smoky atmosphere after some forest fire smoke from the west had blew in. This night, we also stripped off the stripes and paint along the driver's side in between the front and rear wheels.
Does this bus go to downtown??? - August 1, 2003:
Shortly after the photo stop along Ogden Road near Millican Road SE, we had stopped the bus in a Route 24 - Ogden bus stop for a brief photo stop before heading home to park the bus.
Do you recognize this bus at all??? - September 1, 2003:
About a month after the previous photos were taken, Canadian Premier Charters had this bus partially repainted. They had the red painted on the front, sides, and rear and the black painted on the front of the bus since the last time I had photographed the bus. This photo was taken on 13 Street NW near Kensington Road on a sunny afternoon.
...And the final product of repainting the bus from Edmonton Transit... - February 15, 2004:
During the month of September 2003, 965 had the roof painted cream and the bus had been renumbered from it's original number of 965 from Edmonton Transit to 330. The number 330 for the Canadian Premier Charters numbering system is the first digit is the year the bus was acquired in (2003), the second digit is the number of gears on the transmission (3 speed Allison V730 transmission), and the last digit is the order the bus was purchased in for that year (0 being the first bus of that year to be purchased). This photo was taken in the parking lot of Perkin's Family Restaurant off of Barlow Trail and 32 Avenue NE. Since the last photo above on September 1, 2003, a Vultron Digital destination sign was installed to display some special destinations on the sign.
Out for a charter - February 21, 2004:
On the morning of February 21, 2004, Canadian Premier Charters 330 was brought out for a test run of the charter it operated on that night. The bus is parked in north Calgary near the Centre Street Church as we brought the bus out to do the test run of the charter. You too can charter this bus! Visit Canadian Premier Charter's website at www.canadianpremiercharters.com for more information on how to charter this bus.
Photos taken May 25, 2004:
And for the finished product, I took a few photos showing the bus after it had received it's More Better Buses logos on the exterior. The first photo was taken at Barlow/Max Bell Arena LRT Station and the second photo was taken in SE Calgary at Scottsman Hill overlooking the city's skyline and Stampede Park below the hill.
This page last updated on August 24, 2004