The Red Bus Day

Our Red Bus day was cold windy and overcast—threatening rain. There were a few gaps in the clouds and I wandered outside with camera in hand hoping for a good shot of the sunrise. It began raining but just as I was ready to go inside a hole opened in the clouds allowing the sun to spotlight Grinnel Peak across the lake. The mountain glowed for about 10 seconds. Another guy out taking pictures ran by me saying, “Did you see it?” Then the rain and wind picked up again.

When I made lodging reservations at Glacier National Park I also booked our red bus “Top of the Continent” tour. I knew nothing about GNP or the red busses but it seemed like a good idea. It turned out to be the highlight of our visit.

We found that the busses enjoy a rich history:

The White Model 706 Tour bus used for the tour was developed specifically for sightseeing in the National Park System. Glacier National Park purchased 35 of the Model 706's between 1936 and 1940.

The White Model 706's saw continuous service in Glacier except for 1943-1946 due to World War II. In 1989 the fleet was upgraded to modern specifications including power steering and automatic transmission. The entire fleet was temporarily removed from service in 1999 because of chassis metal fatigue and cracking.The fleet was retrofitted with an entirely new running gear, completely refurbished, and returned to service for the 2002 season. In keeping with modern clean air standards, the 8 cylinder engines of the current fleet of 33 units can operate on either propane or gasoline. One unit, #78, was never modernized and is stored at the East Glacier, Montana garage facility. The White Model 706's used in Glacier National Park are called "Reds". The tour guide drivers have come to be called "Gear Jammers" or "Jammers", reminiscent of the time when the original gear boxes, requiring double clutching, could often be heard as they were jammed into gear.

I found a PDF document on-line that tells the bus’s story if that interests you:

http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/25-05/25-05-06.pdf

Our bus was # 90. Our driver, Matt, is a limo driver from Texas. He was enjoying his job as a “Jammer”. He said it doesn’t feel like work at all. The Jammers have a proud history and they have Jammer reunions—returning to the park reminiscing and sharing experiences.

The tour itself is outstanding. I think it is the best way to see the highlights along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The busses are in great condition; the drivers are well trained, informative and proud of their heritage; the busses have a rollback canvas top allowing maximum opportunity to see the sights; you can and, in fact, are encouraged to stand on the seats at some stops to obtain the best view; all the windows roll down so you can take pictures on the move without a pesky window in the way; every major point of interest along the road is hit and described with appropriate historical background.

The weather on our bus day was mixed. It was cold and threatening rain. Matt wanted us to have the open top experience and rolled back the canvas for the first part of our tour. I’m glad he did. That part of the tour was the most scenic and as it turned out it started raining seriously after we topped the mountains and he had to close the top.

One unexpected benefit of the ride was the information exchange we had with the other passengers. We learned of places to eat and got ideas about which trails might be best to hike on. Because of this info exchange we learned of the Park Café that would turn into a daily stop for us and is the home of the luscious razzleberry pie. We visited the Park Café for dinner to wrap up our Red Bus Day.