History Corner - The Old Bus

Few points of interest on the Tradition Plateau of Tiger Mountain garner more curious looks than the old relic of a bus along the Bus Trail.   Why is it there? How did it get there?  What exactly is it?  Many have wondered.

The abandoned bus on the Bus Trail, circa 2013. Photo by Tom Anderson.

I believe the bus to be a Kenworth 1929 split-level bus (give or take a year or two).  This type of bus was typically used for cross-state transport, as illustrated in the vintage photo below.  The elevated rear level of the bus gave the passengers a better viewing experience and provided more storage space for luggage below the upper seating deck. 

Vintage photo of a 1929 Kenworth Bus. Courtesy the William McCullough Collection.

Here is a recent aerial view of the bus hulk with points of comparison annotated. Compare each to the vintage photo above.

An annotated view of the old hulk from above. Photo by Tom Anderson.

The spare tire rack on the back of the bus deserves special attention as it is unusual and distinctive.  I call it an “alcove” since it is recessed into the frame.  Here is a closer view of the back of the bus annotated with those points of comparison:

Detail view of the spare tire rack. Photo by Tom Anderson.

Comparing each of these points with the vintage photo convinces me of a match with the Kenworth bus.  Some sources declare it to be a Greyhound Scenicruiser, which it isn’t.  The Scenicruiser was a much larger bus with a dual rear axle and wasn’t introduced until 1954, long after this relic was abandoned.

Some maps also claim it is an “Old School Bus.”  Although I cannot prove it was never used as a school bus, it is very unlikely that a bus of this type would be used in that way.  It was designed for cross-state travel and would not be practical as a school bus.  Kids scurrying in and out of a bus with two levels would be a recipe for frustration (and maybe disaster).

Now, to the question of how it got where it is.  What is now the “Bus Trail” was a former logging road, so it was easily driven to the site in those days.  The following 1952 aerial photo shows the roads that existed on the Tradition Plateau in that era.  The road to the bus would have been built in the prior decades for logging purposes.

Aerial photo of the Tradition Plateau in 1952.

But why did it end up in this particular spot?  Historian Eric Erickson, who has written several books on local mill and logging operations (available through the Issaquah History Museum), investigated this question years ago. He found the oral tradition was that a logging crew parked the bus at the site and used it as a bunkhouse while they worked in the area.  It may also have been used to transport logging crews prior to its use as a bunkhouse.  The crew moved on and left the bus, which was subsequently stripped and vandalized. 

Some see it as an eyesore.  Some see it as a curiosity.  Some see it as a snippet of history.  To each his own.  In any case, it looks best in the snow…

The old bus in the snow. Photo by Tom Anderson.