Take a ride back in time on vintage buses
Some people preserve local history in museums. Others drive it around town.
Alex Demczak, 62, wasn’t always a bus driver, but in his retirement, he puts his heart into restoring and piloting three vintage motor coaches like the ones he remembers from childhood. As the owner of Antique Coach Excursions, he charters restored buses from the 1950s and ’60s for weddings and other events.
When he was growing up in Crafton, Mr. Demczak’s father, also named Alex, drove for Oriole Motor Coaches, one of several companies that were acquired to form the Port Authority in 1964. The family owned only one car, and at the end of the day, young Alex would join his mother or another family member to pick up his father from work.
Mr. Demczak was especially fond of Frank Schaffer, a mechanic at Oriole who had the “patience of an oyster,” he said. While the boy waited for his father, Schaffer would show and explain the inner workings of the company’s buses.
One of ACE’s buses looks very much like ones Mr. Demczak remembers. His 1957 GMC transit coach, now known as ACE 465, provided nearly two decades of service in San Diego before ending its career in Yuma, Ariz. Then it sat in Arizona for nearly two decades before it was purchased by the Pacific Bus Museum, which sold it to Mr. Demczak in 2015. He estimated the bus has traveled more than 4 million miles.
To honor Oriole, Mr. Demczak painted the bus in the company’s colors — bright orange with a cream top, a triangular accent on the front and a half-heart accent around the wheels. When he unveiled it in 2016, Mr. Demczak invited relatives of former Oriole employees from across the country,
including Irene Collavo Matway, the daughter of Oriole’s founder.
The bus that once carried people to work, school or the grocery store now carries bridal parties, their guests, groups on historical tours and many others.
Mr. Demczak says that what is most important to his business is making history accessible to people of all ages, giving them a chance to travel back in time or create their own nostalgia-tinged memories.
“It’s such a cool and unique thing. It just wraps this whole wedding. It’s just perfect,” said Andrea Collins, the mother of the groom of a recent wedding that chartered ACE 465.
Every detail on the bus is correct, right down to the floor wax. Mr. Demczak still uses traditional linoleum wax and waxes the floors twice a year. His vehicles are kept in as similar as possible to their original condition. He wants his company to not just be a charter, but a “traveling experience.” That means a bumpier ride than many people are used to, and no air-conditioning.
ACE drivers, including Mr. Demczak, wear vintagelooking uniforms and talk about the history of the coach over the PA system. ACE 465 also includes a restored fare box that was purchased for $150 in pieces. It took two weeks of restoration, but now riders are met with the same pay station as they would have in the 1950s.
This trip, however, costs much more than it did in the ’50s. Mr. Demczak said he charges under $200 per hour for most charters within the Pittsburgh area. He tries to keep the cost as low as possible, taking into account operational costs including diesel. The ACE 465, for example, gets only 6 miles to the gallon.
Small groups and families who want to experience the bus but not charter it can take tours hosted by ACE. Mr. Demczak says that they may soon offer tours to Kennywood, the classic amusement park in West Mifflin, and holiday shopping tours of the Strip District and Downtown. He also hopes to open up their new facility near Burgettstown to school and club groups.
In addition to ACE 465, Mr. Demczak has a 1969 GMC model 5303 and a 1964 GM PD -4106. The 1969 model was originally a Greyhound bus servicing Disneyland in Los Angeles and may be the only one of its type still in operation, according to Mr. Demczak. The 1964 model, a new addition to the fleet, was used during the filming of “The Glorias: A Life on the Road,” which is to be released in 2020. Mr. Demczak hopes to have it in operation for charters starting next month.
So why keep these buses running? Mr. Demczak says it’s about remembering “when times were certainly simpler.” He recalled how buses like these were made, assembled and driven by people who were young then. Now they’re in the 90s.
“What a testimony to those folks,” he said.
For information on ACE charter buses, call 724-9479000 or visit www.antiquecoachexcursions.com.