The Wheels on the Bus

I was looking out the window this morning watching a school bus amble down the road and thought how pleasant and nostalgic the sight was.

And then I thought of some the noise and stench inside, as well as the petty bullying and cruelty of kids.

Ah, well. :yelsick:

Then I wondered (as I am wont to wonder about silly things), "why are schoolbusses all yellow?" Well, thanks to googleisgod and according to the wikigoddess:

School bus yellow is a color which was especially formulated for use on United States school buses in 1939. The color is now officially known in the U.S. as National School Bus Glossy Yellow . . . The color was selected because black lettering on that hue was easiest to see in the semi-darkness of early morning.

Huh. Now I know. (and so do you!)

School Bus Glossy Yellow is right up there with John Deere Green and Ford Blue and Haze Gray. And umm.... International Orange. Well, maybe not the last. Neat new thing to know.

Remember in the 70s when fire trucks flirted briefly with being yellow? They had been solid red before then.

Now most seem to be two toned red/white.

Cloud;450069 wrote:

Huh. Now I know. (and so do you!)

Isn't the internet great?

First we developed written language to catalogue information, and now "baby snakes" carry it around the world and back...

baby snakes?

glatt wrote:

Remember in the 70s when fire trucks flirted briefly with being yellow? They had been solid red before then.

Now most seem to be two toned red/white.

What color are your ambulances? Around here, they've all switched from white to dayglo yellow.

White. Or red and white.

I remember lots of dayglow yellow emergency vehicles about 20-30 years ago, but not so much since then. Except maybe at the occasional airport tarmac.

glatt;450139 wrote:

Remember in the 70s when fire trucks flirted briefly with being yellow? They had been solid red before then.

Now most seem to be two toned red/white.

I always remember all the yellow FT's were only at airports.

Fire trucks around here are mostly red, but there are a number of day-glo yellow ones too.

Unless my parents were mixing hallucinogens in with my Raisin Bran (it was, after all, the 70s), when I was a tyke there were some dark orange school buses around.

Cool. I was thinking of making a bus wheels thread while riding to work this morning.

Found this interesting link to the wheels on the bus.

And here is the original impetus for my thread:

Certainly all the wheels on this bus go round and round. My questions for you are, which wheels steer? And which wheels drive?

Dont forget British Racing Green :)

BigV;450199 wrote:

My questions for you are, which wheels steer? And which wheels drive?

Who cares? The real question is, will it take off from a moving treadmill?

My grandfather taught me this response to "Why are fire engines red?" It works when said aloud, in writing not so much, and the details are dated, but he would be proud of me for remembering.

Why Are Fire Engines Red?

Because they have 4 wheels and 8 men
4 plus 8 is 12
12 inches equals a foot
A foot is a ruler
Queen Elizabeth the Second was a ruler
Queen Elizabeth is the name of a ship
A ship moves in water
Fish move in water
Fish have fins
The Finns fought the Russians
The Russians are red
And since fire engines are always rushin', they're red.

If he was alive I would ask him about the yellow for school buses. His answer would be just as fanciful, but then on Wiki it matters not.:)

My grandfather spanked me (or maybe it was my brother?) when I asked him this one:

What starts with "F" and ends in "U-C-K?"

Firetruck!

I read they are moving away from red firetrucks because red doesn't show up at night, although with all those lights it shouldn't matter.
They don't build 'em like they used to.