The History of School Transportation in Mercer County, WV

A short-wheelbase bus from this period, most likely a 47-passenger model. The fleet number isn't clear, but it may be #393. [Daily Telegraph, 1988-03-22]

A late-model Blue Bird/International served as the backdrop for this yearbook photo of Bramwell school bus drivers in the 1980s. No number is visible, but this bus was either #393, #394, or #402 in the fleet. [Bramwell High School yearbook, 1986]

#401, a 1985 Blue Bird/International conventional, sits in the Princeton bus yard surrounded by a veil of snow. At the time, this was almost certainly the oldest bus in the county's fleet still in commission. [Photo by the author, 2000]

#402 was a 71-passenger bus, and served Bramwell High until its 1991 closure as a high school. [Bramwell High School yearbook, 1991]

#405, a Ward/International conventional, seen in its inaugural winter of operation. These buses differed materially from the county's previous Wards in having one-piece flasher visors as well as a revised International grille emblem. [Daily Telegraph, 1987-01-23]

#418, a 1987 Blue Bird All American Type D model. Note the rectangular clearance marker lights and their unusual positioning adjacent to the flashers. Most Blue Bird buses of this era instead had triangular marker lights on the outboard roof corners. [Daily Telegraph, 1991-09-07]

A short 1988 Wayne/International model with a rear wheelchair lift, now decommissioned. The fleet number has weathered off, but through the process of elimination we can logically deduce that it is #420. [Photo by the author, 2013]

All the buses that Mercer County purchased for 1988 were Waynes...except for #421, which was inexplicably a Blue Bird. In this case, it also served as the background for a drivers' photo. [Bramwell High School yearbook, 1988]

#428, a 71-passenger Wayne/International model once in the county's fleet. It has seen better days. Note the roof hatches, a feature that made their local debut on these buses. [Photo by the author, 2013]

#429, yet another 1988 Wayne/International model and a twin to the last. At the time, #429 had been retired from daily duties and cast to the county's "spare bus" pool. The front corner of #461, a 1990 Ward/GMC bus, is also visible in the first picture. [Photos by the author, 2000]

#440, a 1988 Wayne/GMC, seen at the author's high school in its very first month of existence. After being sold, this bus was later owned by the Sequoia Baptist Church of Visalia, California...which is probably as far from its home turf as any Mercer County school bus has ever gone. [Daily Telegraph, 1994-09-25]

In 2013, transportation enthusiast Ryan Dunn happened upon this Wayne/GMC parked in Cleveland, Ohio...that just happened to be identical to the Wayne/GMC buses that Mercer County acquired in 1988, and just happened to still bear the number "442" on its repainted flanks! It just goes to show that you never know where a local school bus may end up! [Photo by Ryan, 2013]

As it did the year before, Mercer County split its new buses in 1989 between chassis from GMC and International. #444 was an example of the former, and also had the highest capacity of the year's buses. [Montcalm Elementary School yearbook, 1998]

#446, a 1990 Ward Volunteer/International model. This bus bears front-end damage from a minor road collision, obscuring the fact that this was the very first bus acquired by the county to bear International's modernized nose styling. [Daily Telegraph, 1994-06-02]

#447 was retired from Mercer County's fleet in 2002. After being auctioned in Princeton, the bus was transported to an equipment dealer's lot in Atwater, Ohio...where Ryan Dunn just happened to see it. Thanks a million! [Photo by Ryan, 2002]

The rear end of #448, another identical 1990 bus. [Photo by the author, 2000]

Although 1990 was a "Ward year," Mercer County entertained Wayne in Indiana with the purchase of #455, a 1990 LifeStar. Built on a GMC chassis, this 89-passenger Type D bus was unique for the fleet. [Princeton Senior High School YouTube footage, 1990]

#456, a 1990 Ward/GMC seen on a wintry day. 1990's bus order was the greatest number of GM fleet additions since the sixties...and was never repeated again. [Montcalm High School yearbook, 1998]

#460, a 1990 Ward/GMC 71-passenger bus ridden by the author. AmTran branded its conventional buses as "Ward Volunteer" in this era, using this black doorside nameplate on production between 1987 and 1992. [Daily Telegraph, 1997-08-31]

#461, an identical Ward/GMC (and another of the author's bygone conveyances). This bus is one of the few for which its post-school disposition is known, being driven by a private owner in Tennessee for over a decade until being scrapped in 2017. [Illustration by the author, 2013]

#463, a 1991 Ward/International of modest capacity. [Photo by the author, 2013]

#465, a short 1991 Ward/International model with a side access door for a rear wheelchair lift. Note the presence of tinted glass on this particular bus. [Photo by the author, 2000]