2003 Thomas "Nuke Bus" 5.9 Cummins Cold Start

A quick walkaround and cold start of this 2003 Thomas with 5.9 24v Cummins and Allison 2000.
High headroom, virtually no rust, and low miles make this bus a nice find. Was an employee transit bus at a FL nuke plant.

[@SmackingTuna]

We just bought a 2002 Thomas freight liner 7.2 l and the bus ran pretty good. We tried our best to check it and test drive it. My wife said she thought she seen white smoke but I was nervous test driving I guess I didn’t hear her. We drove it about 30 minutes never ran hot seemed normal ol bus.. but after paper work and cash exchange we drove off.. I noticed white clouds of smoke then and we drove about 20 minutes down the road and I stopped and checked all the fluids and was scared to drive it any further so we parked it at Walmart which we drove 4 hours to get to this bus.. but all I did was turned the key and pressed a button and it cranked up we waited for air brakes to build and started driving and that’s when the lot of white smoke began.. I pray I did not just drop 4,000 on a bus that is severely damaged.. Gas gauge was almost on E and the guy went to a small gas station and filt up a 2 gallon can with diesel.. we were on our way to a truck stop to fill it up when we realized the smoke was bad.. did I not wait long enough or is it not normal and could it be fuel injectors dirty?? Please help guide us if you can.. it is 3/21/21 and here in a few hours we will drive that long trip to Walmart 4 hours away and try to get it to a rv storage to work on it..

[@bansku1137]

Did you get it figured out

[@cricketshine1160]

Nice bus!

[@cbthethird]

YEah man, its pretty sweet. Belongs to my buddy Kubla.

[@willcamp6319]

@@cbthethird what happened to the school bus you got from todd county ky

[@cbthethird]

@@willcamp6319 Merry Xmas man! Sold the bus after doing a 10" roof raise. It now resides in Del Rio Texas. Air Force guy bought it.

[@willcamp6319]

@@cbthethird merry Christmas thanks for the info

[@cbthethird]

@@willcamp6319 It is/was a real good old bus. The guys that took care of it were real nice fellers.

[@andrahayessucksnauttpnathd8041]

Why does it sound like a tc2000 when it starts up?

[@cbthethird]

They're both front engine school buses with 5.9 cummins.

[@curtiswaagner]

do you still have this bus? going to be in FL tomorrow

[@cbthethird]

Sorry- sold it about a month ago. Its now in Connecticut.

[@jonsyt4546]

drive it around

[@cbthethird]

I can't it was sold years ago.

[@matthewgeorge7247]

2003schoolbuspaymonthok😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@cbthethird]

I'm not sure what your comment is meant to imply. Sold this bus for a friend.