Pacific Bus Museum

What do Forrest Gump and Oppenheimer have in common? Both movies had buses in main scenes provided by the Pacific Bus Museum. 

The museum is an active organization of “bus enthusiasts” based in Northern California that started in the 1980s, dedicated to showcasing the history of this mode of transportation. 

It has over 20 coaches ranging from the 1920s to the modern era, mostly from California and the western United States. Visitors can explore the collection, along with bus artifacts and memorabilia, on guided one-hour tours.

The museum regularly rents out its buses to production companies. You can recreate the Forrest Gump scene in which Jenny looks out to Forrest out the back window of a 1959 GM TDM 4515 bus and flashes a peace sign, or hop aboard the loaned 1929 Yellow Coach that served as transportation for John Walton Sr.’s trip home for Christmas in The Waltons: Homecoming. 

The museum also sponsors historic bus excursions where the routes of a particular bus system are retraced, usually aboard a vintage bus.

Volunteer bus mechanics, archivists and bus fans will all like this family-friendly museum.