Bus travel in the old days
The way it is
I have to admit that I haven't thought much about bus travel in the last 30 years, but the topic has been on the news lately, since there have been so many accidents.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 700 million passengers a year travel by bus. I had no idea it was that big these days. That's as many as travel on domestic air carriers.
The Feds have shut down 52 bus companies, because they're unsafe.
The way it was
Back in the sixties, when I was a college student at Semo, I took the bus to Springfield to see my family pretty often. Even after I was married in '63, I made the trip by bus, as my husband and I had only one vehicle, and he had to have it for work.
As I recall, I had to catch the bus at Poplar Bluff. The trip was a tiring affair, because the "bus" was little more than a small van or station wagon, and the driver had to make EVERY stop along the way. They delivered mail and packages to the little towns that were later bypassed by the new Highway 60.
We stopped at Elsinore, Van Buren, Fremont, Winona, Birch Tree, and Mt. View, before we got to Willow Springs, where we transferred to a larger bus (such relief!!). From there, we trekked through Cabool, Mt. Grove, Norwood, Mansfield, Seymour, Diggins, Fordland, and Rogersville. I don't remember much of the Willow springs to Springfield leg of the trip, as it was SO PLEASANT, compared to the first leg.
On one dark trip in the small bus, there were only two passengers--myself and a mortician. I had just seen the movie "Buried Alive," and this creepy guy proceeded to tell me stories about real cases of people who HAD been buried alive! In one grisly case, a cemetery had to be moved, and the mortician gleefully regaled me with stories of how several coffins had broken open to reveal bloody claw marks on the roof of the coffin!
That trip lasted forever!!
My sister tells the story of one of her trips to see me during the early 60's. She and my brother were just kids. Mom would put them on the bus in Springfield, and the trip would usually go well.However, one December, they were coming over for Christmas, when the region was hit by a storm like the one we just experienced.
My husband and I were waiting at the Poplar Bluff service station, where the kids were supposed to arrive. The snow kept coming down, and no kids showed up. In the pre-cell phone era, we had no way of knowing what had happened. We slept in the car all night, and my siblings finally showed up 12 hours later.
Kathy tells the story:
They made it to Willow Springs and transferred to a vehicle that she remembers looking like an airport shuttle. The driver was a huge ex-wrestler, who was a part-time preacher and deputy sheriff at Mt. View.
At some point before reaching Mt. View, they had a break down and were stranded by the side of the highway on a sheet of ice.
When other motorists would stop, the driver would tell them to call the highway patrol. We know the message got through, because my husband and I received word, as we waited at Poplar Bluff.
A snow plow came through and towed the bus--with its three passengers and driver--as far as Mt. View. The driver had a key to the jail, so that's where they spent the night, while he worked on the bus.
There was one cell with two cots and no blankets.
The third passenger was a nursing student, who was coming home for Christmas. She gave my sister and brother the cots, while she slept on the desk. She opened her suitcase and got out a robe for my little brother to use for a blanket.
They had no food, except for a package of chocolate candy that the nursing student had in her suitcase. She gave the candy to the children.
The next morning, the driver/deputy/ex-wrestler/preacher had the bus fixed, so they journeyed on to Poplar Bluff.
I have never been so glad to see anyone in my life!
Every year since then, I have prayed a prayer of gratitude for those strangers who helped my brother and sister during that frightful time.
God bless you, wherever you are!
As for bus travel, I haven't been on one since!
Comments
- -- Posted by TNMom2 on Sat, Dec 14, 2013, at 12:34 PM
- -- Posted by Dexterite1 on Sun, Dec 15, 2013, at 6:47 AM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Sun, Dec 15, 2013, at 7:59 AM
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