According to the LA Times, the LA MTA is retiring its last diesel bus. This is all well and good. However, one thing about the article bothers me.
“The last diesel coach is a 40-foot New Flyer purchased in 1998. It operated out of the MTA’s Venice division, where it logged many of its 383,180 miles on routes along Wilshire Boulevard, Venice Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.
No. 3004 will be ceremoniously retired and towed away during an event at the MTA’s Support Services Center in downtown Los Angeles. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, MTA Chief Executive Art Leahy, other elected officials and members of the authority’s board of directors will be on hand.
Officials plan to auction the vehicle, which is probably worth a few thousand dollars because of its parts. Before the sale, however, mechanics will disable the engine so no one can operate it again.”
C’mon folks. Think about the museums. This is a piece of history, and should be saved in operating condition for a museum that preserves Southern California bus history, as an occasionally operating example of its kind. We don’t disable diesel trains when they are retired. We operate them occasionally to educate the public. Don’t believe a museum would be interested? Well, there is the Pacific Bus Museum in Northern California (which is looking for a home).
