Many of their windows shattered and bumpers rusted, the old buses sit in a South Holland storage lot overgrown with weeds.

There is a propane-fired CTA bus retired decades ago. There is a Chicago Motor Coach built in 1951, the oldest running CTA bus still in existence. An evergreen and rust colored Chicago Motor Coach from 1948 sits on the lot, making it the oldest CTA bus in existence.

To some, the buses seem like nothing more than rusted scrap, maybe worth a few dollars at a salvage yard.

But to a group of PACE bus drivers and self-proclaimed "bus nuts," the buses represent years of work and a future dream of outlining Midwestern bus history at a hands-on museum.

"We would eventually like a building where we can showcase our collection," said Bruce Zummo, vice president of the Chicagoland Historical Bus Museum. "We would also like to give demonstration rides, showing people some of the actual buses that existed and pointing out how they changed over the years."

The Chicagoland Historical Bus Museum started two years ago. Its president is Chicago Heights resident John LeBeau.

LeBeau is a PACE bus driver in the Markham branch who began collecting buses several years ago.

"I like driving them," he explains. "Basically, what I wanted to do was save what I was driving.

"By the time I decided I really had to start saving them, they were more difficult to come by.

"It gets to the point where you think they're always going to be around, but they're not."

The museum's 21 members had originally hoped to build a shelter and museum for the buses on LeBeau's Chicago Heights property along Glenwood-Dyer Road. That parcel, however, is now being sold to the Ho-Chunk Nation to help the Native American tribe fulfill its plans of building an entertainment complex and casino in Lynwood.

The South Holland storage lot will do for now. But no visitors are allowed. The lot also offers no running water or electricity, making the group's restoration work extremely difficult.

There also is a problem with vandalism, the group's buses having been damaged by people walking along the nearby railroad tracks.

"It's like we take one step forward and two steps back," Zummo said.

Chicago's weather also is taking a toll on the buses, many of which feature their original decor, including advertising signs plastered above the seats boasting about events and products from long ago.

While there are museums related to rail and plane travel, few focus solely on the history of buses. There is the national bus museum in Harrisburg, Pa. The Pacific Bus Museum is in California, and there is a local museum in an Ohio town.

Zummo said there is definitely a need to highlight the rich history of buses at a Midwestern museum.

"Rail and planes are more flashy than buses," Zummo said. "Buses are considered a transportation tool for the underprivileged or lower class.

"We're trying to get away from that. More people have been on a bus than on trains or planes combined."

The group already has picked up a few new members and has become a tax exempt organization, making it easier to acquire donations.

The group is hoping enough "bus nuts" will come forward with donations and ideas for a location to make the museum a reality.

On Saturday, the group was expected to travel to Ames, Iowa, where it was to pick up two buses being donated by CyRide, the local transportation authority. That will bring the group's total to 13.

Today, LeBeau plans to take one of those buses and a 1972 bus used in Loves Park near Rockford to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union for their annual antique show.

Then it's back to the South Suburbs to continue making their dream a reality.

"We need volunteers," Zummo said bluntly. "You don't even need to know a lot about buses. We're willing to teach if you're willing to give the time."

Patrick Ferrell may be reached at pferrell@starnewspapers.com or (708) 802-8832.

Copyright © 2004, The Star