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Jared
Top Member
USA
1865 Posts |
 Posted - 10/08/2001 : 9:00:11 PM
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does anyone know when the first flat floor bus was made and by who?
I know Ihave seen a flat floor BlueBird bus in their 1994 conventional wisdom brochure.
Here is an interesting picture on Jasons Bus page, I have never seen a carpenterlike this before. Their is a 95 and a 94 like this on his page. So does anyone know when the first flat floor bus was made??
http://members.tripod.com/jasonsbuspage/95813.htm
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Jared
Top Member
USA
1865 Posts |
Posted - 10/08/2001 : 9:04:14 PM
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I forgot to add, that the carpenter bus shown on Jasons page is more like a raised floor model. I know Thomas also offers a raised floor/raised rear emergency door combo in leui of the standard flat floor. The difference between a raised floor and a flat floor is that the raised floor is actually raised about 3 or 4 inches so that it clears the wheel wells ( this also means you need to spec the high headroom model so that it compensates for the lost head room ), the flat floor stays where it is, but the wheel well is shrunk down ( usually requiring low profile tires ). Ok thats my knowledge on those buses. Now back to the original question.
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 06:27:11 AM
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We have some 1994 Thomas Vista buses with flat floors and low profile tires. Those are the first that were available in Florida, and they work very well with our wheelchair lifts.
Joe
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thomasvista2012
Top Member
USA
747 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 12:43:44 PM
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Wagonmaster,
Do your Vistas with raised floors have raised roofs also?
We have about 150 lift Vistas which have the normal roof and floor, but the back of the bus is raised, so the floors are flat, without the floor being raised. Do you have that configuration also?
"Gotta love those buses!" |
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Steven A.Rosenow
Top Member
USA
1926 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 12:47:38 PM
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Okay.....to correct the term, its not considered, nor is it called in the industry, "Flat Floor." The correct term is considered, and known in the industry as "Low-Floor." See Gillig Corp's homepage for further details. http://www.gillig.com. Click on Product Info, and then the Advantage.
Now, if these conventional buses, and Vistas have even a small two-or-one-step stepwell like the nealy-identical-to-the-Vista Blue Bird Mini Bird, they technically are not considered low floor buses. The true example, and the first true-low-floor bus, is the Gillig Advantage, introduced in 1998. The Gillig Advandage has no stepwell at all, and the floor is level with the curb. The standard tire size on these buses is 10.00R20, and the main entry doors on these buses are wide enough to admit a wheelchair with room to spare. The only raised part of the bus is where the driver sits. The wheelhousings are camoflaged over with seats.
"Preserving America's best - THE GILLIG! - THE BEST NEVER REST" http://www.geocities.com/gilligcoaches/ |
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 1:23:38 PM
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Our Vistas don't have raised floors, just flat. I think yours are the same 2012. Flat floor allowed mucho wheelchair access but made low-profile tires necessary. The tires are awful, but we like the floors! We do not order the raised roof option. No real need for it.
Joe
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BusBoy
Top Member
USA
2042 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 1:40:34 PM
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Hey Joe,
I think he means 78' headroom.
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 3:45:15 PM
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Thanks BB,
I understand that and thought I answered to that effect but, to clarify, by raised roof I did mean high (added) headroom.
Joe
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Jared
Top Member
USA
1865 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 5:40:49 PM
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steven, I dont think we are on the same wave length here. I am not talking about low floor buses. I am talking about school bus bodies that have no wheel well intrusion into the body ( usually a good thing when having track seating and a wheel chair lift ). Flat floor is the correct term for this. Low floor is an innovation of City buses. Entirely different subject.
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Steven A.Rosenow
Top Member
USA
1926 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 5:58:20 PM
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Ohhhhhh, okay.
Now, to answer your original question about who made the first "flat-floor"
I have seen an old '54 Gillig with a Hall-Scott gasoline engine in it, and it had a flat floor. This bus had no wheelhousing intrusion, and the floor was completely flat. On the other hand, I think Crown may have done that before '54, because on the big Hall Scott engines that Crown used in the '40s and '50s, the floor on those would have been flat, because the floor would be so high.
I hope this helps.
"Preserving America's best - THE GILLIG! - THE BEST NEVER REST" http://www.geocities.com/gilligcoaches/ |
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Jared
Top Member
USA
1865 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 5:58:26 PM
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Also,,,,I believe that Thomas is the only manufacturer to offer a "raised floor" ( besides the Carpenter model I showed in a previous post ). When you get a "raised floor", you need to have selected the 78" high head room model and the high rear emergencey door. Raised floor buses are just another solution to providing a completly FLAT FLOOR. Blue Bird and Amtran only offer a flat floor. The floor stays the same, just the wheel well is forshortened under the floor so that it doesnt pertrude into the floor, and you need to spec smaller tires.
Once again, low floor buses are a totally different topic.
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Steven A.Rosenow
Top Member
USA
1926 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 6:07:42 PM
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Jared, in case you didn't read, here's a post I made immediately before yours. If so, then disregard.quote:
Ohhhhhh, okay.
Now, to answer your original question about who made the first "flat-floor"
I have seen an old '54 Gillig with a Hall-Scott gasoline engine in it, and it had a flat floor. This bus had no wheelhousing intrusion, and the floor was completely flat. On the other hand, I think Crown may have done that before '54, because on the big Hall Scott engines that Crown used in the '40s and '50s, the floor on those would have been flat, because the floor would be so high.
I hope this helps.
That Gillig I referred to had a very high rear exit window, and the floor was very hign up on the body wall. Higher than the usual Gillig floors I'm used to.
"Preserving America's best - THE GILLIG! - THE BEST NEVER REST" http://www.geocities.com/gilligcoaches/ |
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member
USA
4177 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 6:15:18 PM
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I consider the flat floor the raised floor with no wheel wells. We have some and to accomadate for lost headroom we have the higher roofs (standard on all of our new buses) and a higher rear door. Some of our buses don't have the high floor but it's just higher in the rear.
Stop at: www.buses.cjb.net |
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thomasvista2012
Top Member
USA
747 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 6:24:35 PM
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Jared,
I don't know if you know, but I'm Jason from Jason's Bus Page.
Those Carpenters were pretty strange when I first seen them. I think 1994 was the first year with the raised floor for Broward County buses, because the ESE lift buses started to have a/c. I'd never seen a raised floor Carp like that until I seen that one.
Oh, and when you get a chance, tell me what you think of my site!
"Gotta love those buses!" |
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Jared
Top Member
USA
1865 Posts |
Posted - 10/09/2001 : 7:47:59 PM
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Thomasvista...your site is awesome. I love your variety of buses, I like how you even got that 95 Wayne International in their, however, I would love to see more pics of that or other Waynes.
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Flat Floor buses
