Why 25 people bought old school buses this weekend

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, particularly when it comes to old school buses.

Twenty-five school buses went to new owners on Saturday after the P.E.I. governmentauctioned off vehicles and assorted goods in Charlottetown.

Included in the lot of buses wasthe one that went up in flames in Eastern P.E.I. in September this year. The remains of that bus sold for $300.

Dennis Lowther, who has been running auctions for the past 25 years, said that was more than he ever expected to get for a scorched bus.

On average, he said buses usually sell for about $1,500. He said there's good reason for the low price.

"They're a used vehicle that very few people have use for," Lowther said. "They make campers, they make a storage unit out of it other than that, they're not much good for anything."

Nancy Gaudetbought one of thebuses. It set her back $1,000 and she saidshe's excited about her purchase.

Her bus didn't run when she bought it, butGaudet said she's going to get itrunning and use it for mobile storage.

"I'm not really sure why I bought itother than storage right now," she said. "I got lots of stuff to put in there, from plumbing things to furniture, all kinds of stuff."

Most new owners said they planned to use their buses for storage or as farm vehicles, which others said planned to use them for parts and recycle the rest.

Mobile home conversion

ButCameron Trowsdale had a different idea he bought a 2004 Freightliner bus to make into a tiny home, "commonly known as a schoolie," he said.

Trowsdale paid $2,600. He saidhe's been looking for a bus for about a yearnow.

The conversion will require him to gut the interior of the bus and comply withregulations from P.E.I.'s Department of Transportation before driving it on the road.

"You need to change the colour from not being yellow," he said. "Anything that distinguishes it as a school bus has to be removed the lights, the stop sign and all that good stuff."

After the build is complete,Trowsdale will have to get the title changed froma busto an RV. When the rebuild is complete, he said he hopes to travel around Canada in it.

But first, he has to figure out how to get the bus home to Summerside from the auction lot in Charlottetown.

"I'm still working that out," he said.

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