KENWORTH-PACIFIC IMAGES
Here's where you'll find any photos relating to the Kenworth Pacific SchoolCoach and the entire Kenworth bus division, which was purchased by Gillig in 1957. It is unlikely that any Kenworth-Pacifics remain in intact condition at present. If you know of one that does, please contact us! We would like to hear from you!
ROY ELLINGSON PHOTO SUBMISSIONS
These photos were sent in by Roy Ellingson, a school bus driver for the Mercer Island School District, a known former operator of Kenworth-Pacific School Coach buses.
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Below are two photos of a 1953 Kenworth-Pacific he owned. It hailed from the Stanwood School District in Stanwood, Washington originally. It was originally a model T-3 Pacific School Coach but was re-engined to an International RD501. He sold this bus in the mid 1990s, and regrets selling it. The caption, which Ellingson handwritten and supplied with the photo, reads "My 1953 just before I sold it. Of my three buses, this is the one I wished I would've made the effort to hang onto. I repainted it to look like Mercer Island School District Bus #1, also a 1953." He wrote further, stating, " "One of my favorite shots of my '53. In 1960, as I was waiting for my usual Crown to pick me up to take me to kindergarten when instead KW #1 showed up, it was the first time I had ever seen a KW and have been Pacific BrainDamaged ever since."
BUDDY HOLLY TOUR BUS REPLICA
This bus was a 1955, and was repainted to resemble Buddy Holly's tour bus. This photo was taken by Ellingson in 2008. Some time ago, this bus was photographed by Zack Willhoite when it was part of a restaurant building in Eastern Washington (restaurant's name was aptly titled "Gasoline Alley"). The restaurant no longer exists. The last sighting of this bus saw it sitting at Triple-X Roout Beer (a 50s-themed diner) just off the 90 freeway in Issaquah, Washington.
MT. BAKER SCHOOL BUS FLEET - WASHINGTON STATE
This photograph was featured in the Saturday Evening Post and was taken in 1953.
MT. BAKER SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 507 BUS NO. 14 - WASHINGTON STATE
This photo appeared in a 1953 issue of the Kenworth Craftsman, an industry trade publication by Kenworth Truck Company.
UNIDENTIFIED KENWORTH-PACIFIC FLEETS - WASHINGTON STATE
UNIDENTIFIED/UNKNOWN MODEL YEAR KENWORTH IN FIFE, WA (1982 photo)
CONVERTED KENWORTH-PACIFIC - PHOTOGRAPHED IN EVERETT, WASHINGTON
CONVERTED KENWORTH-PACIFIC - PHOTOGRAPHED IN EVERETT, WASHINGTON
DERELICT KENWORTH-PACIFIC - PHOTOGRAPHED IN ASHFORD, WASHINGTON (2001 photo)
ISSAQUAH SCHOOL DISTRICT BUS NO. 17 - WASHINGTON STATE
According to Ellingson, who took this photo in 1967, this bus was headed out for a high school football game @ Mercer Island.
BELLEVUE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL FLEET - WASHINGTON STATE
This photo (which I could not adjust in Photoshop without compromising its quality) was taken in 1986 of the fleet of buses owned and operated by Bellevue Christian School in Bellevue, Washington. Fellow GilligCoaches.NET contributor John Laughlin of Duvall actually rode one of these buses in his youth!
UNIDENTIFIED CHURCH BUS IN ALGONA - WASHINGTON STATE
This bus was photographed at a church in Algona in 2004. Observations of that area shortly after, indicate this bus no longer exists, and may have been scrapped. It appears to be a 1953-1957 model due to the lack of a visible dashboard (earlier models had a visible dashboard just above the smaller windshield pane). Note, however, that it is missing its clearance and marker light cluster up front.
1952 KENWORTH CRAFTSMAN TRADE MAGAZINE COVER PHOTO
The same Kenworth used to advertise the Pacific SchoolCoach here was also used in the Brochure Cover shot a few entries below. It also appeared in several dozen Kenworth trade publications at the time.
SHELTON SCHOOL DISTRICT KENWORTH-PACIFICS - WASHINGTON STATE
While attending a local car show in Shelton back in June, 2008, I decided to take a peek into the Shelton/Mason County Historical Society's Museum building in downtown Shelton. In there are scores of old Shelton High School yearbooks, which I decided might be a good source of good Gillig photos (since Shelton was once an all-Gillig fleet). While peering through the 1954 Shelton High School yearbook (known as the Saghalie, since that's the title of their annual yearbook edition), I located an even better find - that Shelton once operated KW-Pacific buses! In 1954, they operated a mix of conventional and transit style models, which are evident in both the main image and the inset. It is unknown as to where these buses are now, nor if they even exist anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED KENWORTH-PACIFIC/REO PARTNERSHIP
This is quite possibly the most unique find ever submitted. Sent in by Tim Bentz, this is a very late 1940s or possibly a 1950s-era Kenworth-built Pacific SchoolCoach. What makes it unusual, however, is that it bears a Reo badge, and shares the exact same sheetmetal as the Pacific SchoolCoach. There are moderate differences in front and rear-end styling, however, such as a vastly different rear window design (and the lack of a radiator intake cooling scoop), and more sharper corners around the front windshield.
WAPATO ASSEMBLY OF GOD KENWORTH-PACIFIC - WASHINGTON STATE
This unique find was sent in by Tim Bentz, a transportation director for Cascade School District in Eastern Washington. It is a 1954 Kenworth-Pacific School Coach, and it is unknown as to what school district this bus originally served. It was photographed in the summer of 2003 in a field next to the Wapato church whose name is painted on its sides. (High res versions coming soon)
CAMAS SCHOOL DISTRICT BUS NO.'s 3 and 5 - WASHINGTON STATE
These buses are an early '50s Kenworth Model T-126 SchoolCoach manufactured by the Kenworth Truck Company out of Seattle, Washington. Both were equipped with an International Red Diamond engine and have since been retired.
GRANTS PASS SCHOOL DISTRICT - OREGON STATE
Not much information is known about this Pacific SchoolCoach, and it has since been retired. These photos were taken in the early 1980s, and were low-res scans. Some digital enhancements were made to these photos to make them web-ready back in 2005 using limitations at the time.
KENWORTH-PACIFIC CARCOACH
Here's a model that never sold, and only 20 were produced. The CarCoach is an early example of a modern type B school bus.
KENWORTH-PACIFIC ADVERTISING IMAGES
These images were produced from a scan of an early Kenworth-Pacific School Coach brochure that is no longer available in our archives. The location of the instrument panel seen here, was changed sometime before the 1954 model year. Three of South Kitsap's Pacific SchoolCoach models had this instrument cluster design.
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY "BRUCK"
Only 12 of these units were built, and they were built for the Great Northern Railway for use in Montana. This one here, featured at a train station in Whitefish, Montana, has been totally restored and placed on an outdoor museum-like display. For more information, read the text of this article which was originally published on October 27, 2005 by the Daily Inter-Lake. The front half of this unit is a standard Kenworth Model T-126 SchoolCoach body and the rear half is a custom modification done by Kenworth for a baggage storage area.
It should be noted here, that the Bruck is seen as the design prototype for what would become the Pacific SchoolCoach model.
Special thanks go to the late Zach Willhoite for these photos.
WAHKIAKUM SCHOOL DISTRICT BUS NO. 6 - WASHINGTON STATE
At the time this bus was purchased by GilligCoaches.NET in 2007, it was said to be the last remaining, intact-condition Kenworth-Pacific SchoolCoach that was road-worthy in Washington State.
It hailed from Wahkiakum (originally Cathlamet School District) School District, a small school district on the Columbia River in Washington state. When it was purchased, it was in fairly rough shape, and a moderate restoration was performed on it. It was originally powered by an International Red Diamond RD450 but sometime in the 1970s, the school district repowered it with a less-pwoerful GMC 401 V6. Aside from a few minor updates, Wahkiakum School District operated this in near-factory original condition from the time it left Kenworth's Renton manufacturing facility, until it was retired in 2004.
Sadly, due to uncontrollable circumstances, this bus was lost from the fleet in February, 2011. I would love to hear if this bus survived, although the likelihood of that happening is very slim.
FIRST INSPECTION, DECEMBER 2006
BRINGING IT HOME, FEBRUARY 2007
CLEANUP AND RESTORATION, SPRING 2007
