I "spoke" up because, over the decades, I've come across a number of cases where such plans have fizzled. The experience of a friend of mine was one such case, but for privacy reasons I won't detail his case. This would not be my decision. I'm really a lurker here, interested but not involved. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I suggest you do your "due diligence" before committing yourselves. Considerations you should make: - Price of the vehicle - Repairs to make the vehicle roadworthy -- especially the tires which dry-rot on stored vehicles - Budget for maintenance and repairs - Official ownership of the vehicle, and possible complications (taxes, etc.) thereof - License and registration for vehicle - License required for driver(s) (CDL may be required) Would the driver be a volunteer or (I shudder to consider) an employee? - Storage location, security, and costs - Insurance for vehicle and contents. (Two distinct policies likely needed -- and how do you insure irreplaceable antique computers anyway?) - Effect of owning/operating a vehicle on the club's general liability insurance premium - Administration and control of the bus, including dealing with storage, drivers, maintenance and repairs, and dealing with unforeseen issues. (Who takes responsibility? It can't be ad hoc.) I have volunteered for a number of clubs over the decades and from time to time have seen enthusiasm wax for the possible ownership of a vehicle for purposes like this. Fortunately, none of those came to fruition. The closest actual experience I've had was when an employee organization I belonged to decided to purchase a bus to transport employees the one-hour drive from a major city to the relatively rural lab where we worked. It was a nightmare. I was closely involved with some of it but somehow missed out on many of the complications, like licensing, hiring the drivers from amongst the employees of the site, etc. I *was *involved when the bus broke down on the highway, full of passengers, possibly due to the diesel engine not being broken in properly by the inexperienced drivers. About the time I was leaving that employ, I believe the decision was made to sell that bus and buy a few commuter vans instead. Less relevant was the case when our local ABANA Affiliate (blacksmithing) chose to fit out a trailer for hauling our equipment to demonstrations state-wide. We avoided the ownership and insurance questions by leaving the registration in the name of the original owner -- who thereby took all the risk for the thing, a fact that was driven home when one volunteer failed to couple the trailer to his truck properly and the trailer *passed him* on the (fortunately small) roadway. We had to equip the trailer with brakes due to its potential maximum weight. The towing vehicle had to have the mass and capacity to pull such a load and had to be equipped to actuate the trailer's brakes. Fortunately, the trailer's owner was a highly competent mechanic and did this work (with help) for free. The whole matter devolved upon the actual owner of the trailer and one or two of us. Ultimately we abandoned the trailer and came up with an alternative solution. My point is that any sort of vehicle, be it bus or even trailer, could prove a major headache for the group. Headaches like this can cause friction within a volunteer group and lead to totally unnecessary divisions. Do what you will, but think it through first and address all possible issues before purchasing the thing. Bruce NJ On Fri, Apr 2, 2021 at 9:01 AM Jeff Salzman via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Sometimes, an old bus can be bought for little money. One could easily be gutted and fitted with anything we could arrange to showcase in it.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/180150850286348/
On Fri, Apr 2, 2021, 8:45 AM Bruce via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Jeff:
Consider scaling back the idea.
Instead of any sort of vehicle (the major cost, especially considering insurance, licensing, maintenance, storage, repairs, etc.), consider putting together some portable containers or crates, possibly modeled upon the ones used by professional musicians on road tours.
There are lots of ways to do this, but one way would be to have two displays in one crate, connected by hinges on one side and clasps on the other. (Putting this hardware on the corners would offset the displays by 90 degrees, should that matter.) Place the crates on folding tables, trestles, or intrinsic fold-out legs to raise them to a useful height.
Now you just need a vehicle to carry them in, and if nobody in the club has one, rent it. All the complications of a club owning a vehicle (and they may be considerable) are avoided this way.
Bruce NJ