Well hello Big George

 

My dad passed away on February 21, 1991. However he woke me up right before midnight last night. It's kind of strange, because I haven't dreamed about him in a long time. However, this dream was as clear as if it happened yesterday.

 

Dad drove buses part time for B&B Bus Lines also known as Zimmerman Bus Company in Maryland for over 25 years. When I was way young and didn't have any school stuff going on, he would take me on his trips. We would go to all kinds of cool places and we got to see lots of stuff.

 

B&B was subcontracted by Trailways to run a route between Baltimore and Gettysburg, PA and other points in-between. It was a big deal because not many small companies at that time were licensed by the ICC. The bus pictured below is just like the one he drove on this trip except where it's green, it was red. 

Dad brought the bus home that afternoon and parked it up the street from the house.  Mom always packed us some awesome sandwiches and cookies and stuff. After dinner we headed out on a most memorable trip. We headed out on Washington Blvd towards the Baltimore Greyhound Bus Terminal in downtown Baltimore. This was around summer time 1970.

 

On a section of the Blvd, there's a steep hill with a railroad crossing at the bottom. The crossing gate was down, the crossing lights were blinking, the bell was dinging and there was a car stopped at the crossing. Back then cars were big. Even the small cars were big. I believe it was a 1964 Impala, but its been too long to remember clearly. I do clearly remember the six taillights glaring bright red.

 

Dad yelled " GET IN THE BACK AND LAY DOWN ON THE FLOOR"! We had no brakes and we were headed down that hill right for the crossing. By the time I made it to the back of the bus we had cleared the crossing. How dad made it through the gate without hitting that car or the gate is beyond me. We were lucky that the train had not made it that far yet.

 

We coasted for quite a ways until we stopped on the Baltimore - Washington Expressway. Back then there were no cell phones and there weren't any pay phones nearby, so there was no ways to call anyone. So dad eased us back on to the BW Expressway and  we headed to the bus yard in Lithicum and we got another bus with brakes.

 

I remember nothing else about that ride that night except how we kept saying how amazing it was that we didn't hit anything and no one got hurt. Dad always was a good driver and I always felt safe with him.

 

My dads name is George Lloyd Dorsey. We lovingly called him Big George. I miss you Big George, but please stop visiting in the middle of the night.