Hi! My name is Shawn Bennear, and other than creating this site, I have driven tour buses for a number of years. It's a job I enjoy, and I'd like to share some of the fun with you all.
My first job in the tour bus world was with Ritchie Bus Lines, out of Northboro Mass. It was a great company to work for. I was there in 1989-90
Here's some old shots of my time there...This is old stuff...18 years ago...wow!
By the way, all my current trip pictures are on separate page that can be found here.
My very first tour bus I drove was this bus...A MC8, numbered 141. I believe this was somewhere in Boston, Mass.
This shot was taken on my very first school trip to DC. It was a 4 day trip, and went wonderfully.
Ritchie's bus garage. It hadn't changed at all. I have recently learned that my former boss Mike, has passed on. He was a great guy, and a excellent boss. This was on a visit back in 2002.
141's sister, 142. It was pretty much the twin to mine. I never really drove this one...I went from 141 right into 124.
These two buses haven't gone anywhere in a while. and I surely don't remember these. Thanks to Bill Leazer for setting me correct on these two buses. They are MC5C's. They came from Saudi Arabia and they had double roofs for the heat over there and 6V-71 engines.
Here's my 124 sitting in Quebec. I was on a 12 day trip. We went all over Canada and saw a ton of stuff...Wish I would have taken more pictures than I did.
124 in a parking lot at a church. Guess who watched the kids? They didn't want to go to the church. Their mom adored this picture!
My next bus at Ritchie was this one. 128. It was a MC9. Good runner too as I recall.
Myself and another Ritchie driver, Mike Jillson, having lunch in the baggage bin of 128. We were parked on the Mall in front of the Air and Space Museum in DC. We didnt want to sit in the bus, and DC had that little pesky rule about idling.
Just like the Jeffersons, As I moved on up at Ritchie, I got this...Bus 152, a great bus, and it was my last one while I was there. My good friend Bill Leazer, who is STILL there, tells me if I was still there, I would be number 3 driver...Wow! I think Bill is seeking the number 1 slot...lol.
This is me in front of 152. This was a trip Bill and I did to Montreal, Canada. You can stop laughing any time now...lol.
Bill was happier than anything to get this "new" van Hool. It's number was 201. This was on the trip to Montreal.
This is the interior shot of Ritchie 152. On the left pillar is my fuzzbuster and my Masspike card...And I added the cupholder on the right panel. Needed that real bad!
Ritchie 151 and my bus, 152 at a ski resort in new Hampshire. As I recall, some clown winged me in the back of the head with a ski in the cafeteria...Accidentally, of course.
Here is one of Ritchie's old GM "Fishbowl" buses. I had this one on a trip, and as I recall, you had to KICK it into gear...lol. I think it was 1511. These were old N.Y. Bus Service buses. We used these primarily on short day trips.
This baby didn't have power steering on it, and was a hoot at slow speed...Check out that Hi-tech AC unit on the dash! These buses were called "Fishbowls" for a reason, so you can imagine the comfort level for the driver with all that glass!
The seats in the fishbowl were bright and colorful...My favorite one was the big long one in the back...many a hour was spent sleeping back there.
Let's move on to my next company, shall we?
MBI Tours Here we come!
MBI 130 sitting at State College, in Pennsylvania.
I took my son Jeremey along for the ride on this trip. Kent was always very good about letting him ride along. He understood the single parent idea very well.
Here is MBI 131 sitting on a trip I did to Cleveland. A family reunion. My son Jeremey went with me on this one too. We ate VERY good on that trip!
Here is 133 on Pittsburghs northside preparing to load for a chorus trip to NYC. I had a co-driver, Jodi, on this trip. She started the trip off and drove it halfway, and I took it into New York City. As I recall, this was VERY soon after the events of 9/11.
133 had a pleasing interior, and its assigned driver took very good care of it. I always enjoyed working for companies who assign buses...I take pride in my bus.
We got there...And at some points, it was a slow ride because of the blizzard conditions. Safety first!
I backed 133 as close as I could to this door to try to keep the heat in the engine. We didnt dare shut it off. If I remember, the temperature was a balmy 5 degrees...Jodi and I walked the 2 blocks to McDonalds for dinner, and we FROZE!
When we got back to Ambridge, this is what the bus looked like.
I also worked for Lenzner Coach Lines, but so far have only been able to locate 2 pictures...
Lenzner Coach Lines 204 in a parking lot somewhere in Aurora, Ohio. I took the North Star Kids to Geauga Lake Park for their concert.
Lenzner Coach Lines 218 photographed near Gettysburg, PA.
There will be more to come on this page as I find them.