oj overseas journal - The PSV Circle Website

USA & CANADA 810-OJ-198 USA & CANADA
24 XNV 886S Bl VRT ECW O74F+
Opa Locka (Qs) 7/05
gone 8/05
KOA Kampgrounds, Kissimmee
BDL 580B Bl FLF ECW H70F Low, Hudson by10/04 (likely by9/03)
(carrying EMR 290D on front)
London Double Decker Bus Co., Miami
470 FTT Bl FLF ECW H70F Conch Republic Café,
Summerland Key by10/94
HEV 997B
Miami Double-Deck Tours, Miami
Bl FLF ECW H70F Piccadilly Tours,
Philadelphia, PA by-/93
via John Forbes, Orlando (Q)
BNU 681G Bl VRT ECW H70F+ gone (broken up on site?) by3/07
OVV 851R Bl VRT ECW H74F gone by3/07
IAZ 3977 Bl VRT ECW H74F gone by3/07
(originally RTH 917S)
Miami Mambo Tours, Miami GHL 191L Bl VRT ECW O72+ gone by3/07
PRP 802M Bl VRT ECW O72+ in yard, stripped to chassis by3/07
BHN 758N Bl VRT ECW O72+ in yard, stripped to body frame by3/07
HTU 154N Bl VRT ECW O72+ gone by3/07
Miami Tours, Miami 52 JAL Bl FSF ECW H60F Richerson, Wilkes Barre, PA -/85
Paul, Pensacola RWC 605 Bl FLF ECW H70F Burke, Houston, TX 10/04
MJO 395H Dr CRG NC H70D Five Star Limousine, Tallahassee 2/07
Wells Motor Company, Avon Park
LEL 653F Bl FLF ECW H70F Double Deckers of Detroit,
Westland, MI 4/07
Woodward, Neptune Beach OSF 942M Ld AN68 Ar O78F Charlotte Party Charters,
Charlotte, NC by1/07
-?-, Miami RDS 571W Ld AN68 Ar O78F+ Comedy on Deck,
(carrying HGD 872L) Las Vegas, NV by11/05
-?-, St. Petersburg HVH 233 AEC Rt EL L58R Claypool, Bushnell c-/04
-?-, St. Petersburg area HVH 233 AEC Rt EL L58R -?-, St. Petersburg c-/02
General
Arkansas Bus Exchange, Winter Garden. MCM 975 (Ld PD2/My) had returned from Universal City Studios,
Orlando, by -/07, presumably at the end of its loan to the latter where it had been exhibited as a prop from the
film “The Mummy Returns”.
Churchill’s Pub, Miami. VVF 207 and GRU 975D are both still present (3/07) but have been repositioned within
the car park since our visit in October 2003. Both are showing slightly more signs of wear & tear (vandalism)
than before.
Claypool, Bushnell. HVH 233 has the registration number ‘HVH 23’ at the rear; no number is carried at the front.
Curt Claypool has considered converting HVH 233 into a food concession stand but to date no work has been
done. Curt had monitored the bus when first at Bay Area Auction Services, Pinellas Park, so when it appeared
there a second time, he eventually bought it. He understands (though not confirmed) that it may have been a
tourist bus in Tarpon Springs, north of St Petersburg, at some stage in its past. And he mentioned to me that
the bus had been used by the Scientology movement, thus confirming the identity of a bus whose picture had
appeared on the internet at one stage recently.
Crown Hotel, Inverness. There is no chance of SOU 3M (the replica LGOC “B-type” bus) re-appearing here.
After being in administration (by 10/03), the building is now a residential home for the mentally disturbed.
Gateway Bus Tours, Miami. I have been unable to establish where the 5 vehicles shown as “gone 8/05” above,
have actually gone. The company claim they were sunk somewhere to form a reef for divers, etc., but would
not tell me where; the towing company could not tell me where they were taken as they hadn’t time to go
through their paperwork. And me? I think they may have been scrapped like the other two recorded above -
the manager of Trademark Metals, Opa Locka, said to me that they had broken up about 15 double decker
buses in the past year!
Geenty, Daytona Beach. I’m still unable to trace Bob Geenty, and consequently AGX 517 (recovery vehicle
based on London Transport STL175). There is a suggestion that Bob has returned to the UK – can any reader
help to establish contact with him?
McCarthy, Ormond Beach. CFC 357C and all the American coaches and school buses are still here in 3/07. The
yard has been tidied up and now two ponies keep the grass short.