A School Bus Story
A School Bus Story
West Valley Bus #88 enjoys retirement across the Atlantic
Submitted by Jeff Babbitt
Have you ever wondered what happens to a school bus once it retires?
West Valley Central School’s Bus number 88 served the district well for 14 years, logging 115,493 miles transporting students across the rural countryside around West Valley, NY, a town of 561 residents in Cattaraugus County, about 40 miles from Buffalo.
Ruth Ann Courtney, who’s been driving school buses for 29 years, claimed bus 88 as her own. “I wanted bus 88 because ‘8’ is my lucky number,” she shared. “I loved that bus and ended up driving it for six years. I cried when it went down the road for the last time.”
Upon Bus 88’s decommissioning in July of 2021, it was sold to Don Brown’s Bus Sales in Johnstown, NY. Located near Albany, NY, Don Brown’s sells and services new and pre-owned school buses, commercial buses, and shuttle buses. “We’ve sold buses all over the country and even the world,” said Nick Tarbox, regional sales manager at Don Brown’s. “Our buses have ended up on practically every continent. It's quite common for private individuals to purchase old buses and convert them into various applications to fit their lifestyle.”
Bus 88 was found by one such private individual, Steve Rowe, from the country of England in the United Kingdom.
Steve and his wife, Joanne, have lived their entire lives in the quaint seaside town of Torquay in Devon, England. He works at a local hospital in the patient transport service, and she is a teacher’s assistant at a school for special needs children.
The Bus 88 story began with Steve’s long-time dream of converting an old school bus into an RV that his family could tour around the English countryside.
“It’s quite rare to see a school bus on an English street,” Steve noted. “In England, children either walk to school, take public transport, or are driven by their parents. For us, a school bus is a very iconic thing. They turn a few heads when they go trundling down our small narrow streets over here.”
Joanne wasn’t immediately onboard with the plan. “It took some time to convince her of the idea,” said Steve. “After a few months of showing her pictures of converted school buses, she eventually caught the vision.”
After purchasing the bus, the Rowes had it shipped to England on a container vessel. Bus 88 rode the waves across the Atlantic and arrived on English shores at the Port of Southampton in November of 2021, where it was transported to London for servicing and registration. The bus made its final passage to Torquay and arrived at the Rowes’ residence in December.
From the start, Steve was interested in learning more about the bus’s back story. “It’s been nice to find out where the bus was from and to learn a little bit of its history,” shared Steve. He contacted West Valley Central School via their Facebook page last summer, and began corresponding with Bryan Hansen, technology director and PR coordinator at the school.
“When I received the message on Facebook, I wasn’t sure if it was even real,” Bryan commented, “but I took a chance and responded back, and it has led us to discovering the unique story of our old bus. Steve is a wonderful guy and I’m looking forward to the continued journey of Bus 88.”
Steve plans on completing the bus renovation work himself, including the installation of a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room, and even solar panels. So far, he’s removed the seats from the bus, finding a small fortune in lunch money dropped by the children of West Valley over the years.
The Rowes look forward to traveling across the UK in Bus 88 once the renovation is fully complete. Their daughter, in grade 11, has already put in a request to ride the bus to her prom with her friends this spring.
Steve and Joanne admitted it was quite a risk buying Bus 88. They never communicated with anyone in person - it was all done over email. “In life you’ve got to take risks,” Steve said, “and we are so pleased we did. We cross paths with so many people who ask us ‘why and how’ and we love telling them our story. This risk was worth taking! We look forward to many adventures in Bus 88 and meeting new people along the way, perhaps even some new friends from West Valley Central School.”
Follow the adventures of Bus 88 on Instagram at www.instagram.com/lucy.usa.to.uk.