‘Glacier’s Reds’ explores history of park’s iconic tour bus

Ray Djuff dove into the history of Glacier National Park’s historic red buses and found that their continued existence is owed to determined people who wanted to see the iconic fleet drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road for years to come. 

“Something I mentioned throughout the book is that if it weren't for fate and chance, those buses would have been taken off the road numerous times,” Djuff said. 

Djuff’s newest book “Glacier’s Reds — The quest to save the park’s historic buses” takes a look at how the bus tours became a staple in Glacier National Park, as well as the many close calls that nearly took them out of commission.  

Glacier’s red buses have been cruising roads in the park in some capacity since 1914, when Roe Emery and Walter White of the Cleveland-based White Motor Company began transporting people in the park. The fleet of 33 buses is “widely considered to be the oldest touring fleet of vehicles anywhere in the world,” according to Xanterra’s website, park vendor and current owner of the Red Bus Tours. 

Djuff said one of the most important moments in the history of the jammer bus was what he calls “the crisis of 1999.” He is referring to a time when the entire fleet of red buses had to be taken off the road due to safety.  

“The safety issues were related to new engines and upgrades that were installed in 1989 and 1990,” Djuff said. “They were poorly engineered, and unfortunately, over a period of a decade came to cause irreparable harm to the buses, particularly the frames and the suspension.” 

The question then became “how could they be fixed?” he said. It was another instance of fate throughout the bus's history that led to the eventual solution — a Ford engineer would befriend one of the fleet’s mechanics. Dennis Schwecke was a Great Falls resident who decided to stop by their shop and strike up a conversation about the iconic buses.  

“He simply popped in one day to talk about the buses because he was that interested in them, and he started talking to Larry Hegg, a mechanic, and the two became acquainted,” Djuff said.  “Schwecke really helped to bring Ford into the project, which did the rebuild on the buses to get them back on the road.” 

He said it was advantageous for Ford to get involved with the project, as the corporation was looking to showcase its new clean burning fuel technology.  

It’s one of many moments in “Glacier’s Reds” that tells the tale of red bus lovers fighting to keep the vehicles on the road. During the writing and research process for the book, Djuff encountered many people whose lives were touched in some way by the buses.  

Djuff said his primary research started by going to museums and archives to get original documents about the buses, some of which were in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the Great Northern Railway headquarters was based at one time. He also traveled to Wyoming, where he studied the papers of Howard Hays, who became president of the bus company in 1927. He also frequented the Glacier National Park archives office and is a member of the Glacier Park Foundation, a group of former concession workers. He said by talking and forming friendships with former red bus drivers, he was able to glean their stories of their time on the Sun Road.  

Djuff is a retired Calgary journalist who is also a co-author of “Glacier’s Historic Hotels and Chalets: View With a Room,” author of “High on a Windy Hill —The Story of the Prince of Wales Hotel,” and co-editor of “Glacier from the Inside Out.” 

“Glacier’s Reds — The quest to save the park’s historic buses” is available online on Amazon.com and is at many local bookstores, including park stores operated by the Glacier National Park Conservancy. 

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.