In addition to being one of the morerespected members of the bus industry,Venture Tours has an interesting history.

The company was founded by a motherand son partnership with prior experiencein a family bus business. Over the years ithas operated a very wide range of equip-ment and eventually acquired the originalfamily bus garage that got them started.Today, the company is one of the first tooperate the new Van Hool TD925 double-deck coaches.

Early Gallop Years

Jimmy Hall and his mother, DarleneHooks (born Darlene Gallop), learned thebus business working for Gallop Bus Lines.Owned by Jimmy’s grandfather, Ray Gal-lop, the company was headquartered at 600S. Military Highway in Virginia Beach, Vir-

ginia. In the early 1990s, the company oper-ated a fleet of nearly 50 coaches with themajority MCI but a few Prevosts, Eagles, andolder GMs. Jimmy and Darlene expected tomake a career of the bus business and even-tually move into management and owner-ship of the company.

In his younger years, Jimmy remembershelping his grandfather make runs to bringout clean coaches full of fuel and drive backthe previously-assigned coach to thegarage. Jimmy would pick up the trash andclean the coaches while his grandfatherdrove. His summer months were spent inthe yard, cleaning and fueling coaches. Thestory is told that the regular drivers wouldoccasionally get coaches stuck in themuddy yard. When that happened, youngJimmy would be sent over to get the busesunstuck.

The untimely death of Jimmy’s uncle inlate 1987 resulted in a request for him to joinGallop Bus Lines on a full-time basis eventhough he was only 19 years old at that time.Jimmy took over the bus garage and the 48-coach fleet in spite of his age and workedalong with the regular staff and put in morehours. Jimmy relates that the shop staff werevery friendly and helpful. During the fol-lowing nine years, Jimmy wore many hatsfor Gallop Bus Lines including dispatching,buying new buses, selling used buses andordering parts.

Jimmy met his future wife, Allie, whenworking for Gallop. They were married inSeptember of 1997 and now have two boysand a girl. As the kids have gotten older,Allie has become more involved in the busi-ness and office in recent years. The young-sters are already getting involved in the busi-

14 • National Bus Trader / August, 2009

VentureTours from

Virginia

by Larry PlachnoPhotos courtesy of Venture Tours and

ABC Companies

A major milestone for Venture Tours came inSeptember of 2008 with the delivery of theirtwo new Van Hool double-deck TD925coaches. Jimmy Hall and his family went toABC Companies in Winter Garden, Florida toaccept delivery of the two coaches. In the backis Claude Payne of ABC, Jimmy Hall and hiswife, Allie, and their three children.

ness by helping to clean buses and do otherodd jobs around the garage.

Founding of Hall Bus Lines

In addition to working for Gallop BusLines, by 1993 Jimmy was also involved withbuying and selling coaches. He acquired a1979 MC-9 from MCI in Blackwood, NewJersey and upgraded the coach with a newinterior and video system. Pending a sale toa new owner, the coach was leased to Gal-lop Bus Lines when the 8V-71 engine blew.

Due to the cost of repairing the engine,Jimmy elected to charter this coach insteadof selling it. This resulted in the founding ofHall Bus Lines. Equipment was parked atthe Tour Time America/Martz lot in Chesa-peake, Virginia while Darlene’s home in Vir-ginia Beach served as the company office.The fleet doubled in 1995 when Jimmyacquired a 1979 Prevost LeMirage from FourCity Tours in Hampton, Virginia.

The illness of Jimmy’s grandfather in1995 and his subsequent death substantiallychanged the ownership and managementsituation at Gallop Bus Lines. Jimmy andDarlene found that the opportunity forupward movement to management andownership of the company had substantiallydiminished. Jimmy elected to resign fromGallop Bus Lines and invest his time in hisown little bus company.

In 1996, Jimmy concentrated on buildingup the fleet of Hall Bus Lines. In January ofthat year he purchased a 1979 ex-GreyhoundMC-9 from Dave Paquette at ABC. Shortlyafter that, Jimmy made a major step forwardby purchasing a 1992 Prevost H3-40 fromDave. This put Hall Bus Lines into a differ-ent league with a newer and more modern

coach. In May of that year, Darlene joinedher son full time in the business and in thesummer months they incorporated andchanged their name to Venture Tours. By theend of 1996, the company was operatingnine coaches.

Move to a Larger Garage

All of this expansion required that thecompany seek better and more permanentfacilities. Venture’s first terminal was onebay leased in a garage in Chesapeake, Vir-ginia – a facility that had also been leased byJimmy’s grandfather in the 1970s. A small

office was rented nearby with space for twodesks and a few filing cabinets.

In 1998, Venture Tours moved to a largerfacility that could hold two to four coaches,provided their own fuel tank, and also hadoffice space. It was interesting that theaddress of this facility was 1212 GallopAvenue, spelled just like the name of Jim-my’s grandfather. Venture remained at thislocation for seven years and grew to a fleetof 23 coaches.

Venture Tours operated some interestingand diverse equipment in the 1990s as thecompany expanded. In 1996, its first year asVenture Tours, the company operated two1979 MC-9 coaches, four Prevost LeMiragesranging in age from 1979 to 1983, one 1992Prevost H3-40 and also leased a 1977 MC-8from John Oakman at National Coach Works.

In 1997, the company expanded its fleetto 10 coaches and again made a major moveforward. A 1978 MC-8 and a 1985 96A3 wereacquired. However, the most interesting newacquisition was a 1989 Prevost articulatedH5-60 that came from Hampton Jitney. Witha seating capacity of 72, the articulated notonly offered 16 more seats than the compe-tition but presented a more modern appear-ance than some of the older coaches.

1998 might be called a watershed year forVenture Tours. The company purchased twobrand new 1998 H3-45 Prevosts, the first newcoaches for Venture Tours. Venture Toursalso made a major move forward with a newcontract. Other additions to the fleet in 1998included two Prevost LeMirages, two 102A3coaches built in 1985 and two 102C3 coaches.The MCI coaches came with 43-passengerinteriors plus carpeted floors and the 102A3

16 • National Bus Trader / August, 2009

The original coach that got Jimmy Hall into the bus business was this 1979 MC-9. Purchased fromMCI in Blackwood, New Jersey, the coach was originally painted in the colors of Gallop Bus Linesas shown here. In later years, the coach was repainted and the name changed to Venture Tours.

The acquisition of a 1979 Prevost in 1995 doubled the size of the original fleet. Originally paintedblue, this photo of the coach shows it in later years painted in the standard Venture Tours colors.Shortly after adding this coach to the fleet, Jimmy and his mother changed the company name toVenture Tours.

coaches looked brand new. Jimmy investedin satellite TV for both of the 102A3 coaches.

Due to the extra leg room and satelliteTV on the 102A3 coaches, Venture offeredthem to the sports teams at Old DominionUniversity. Venture got the contract whilethe university saved money on their trans-portation. Passengers liked the additionalleg room and the ability to watch satelliteTV while driving down the road.

Venture Tours ended the century byadding five more Prevosts to its fleet in 1999.Two were nearly new 1997 H3-45 coaches.They were followed by a 1987 Le Mirage anda 1993 H3-40 that came from an MCI year-end blow out sale. The final fleet acquisitionof the old century was a 1990 H3-40 thatcame from an operator in Charleston, SouthCarolina. As the century ended, the VentureTours fleet now amounted to 23 coaches.

Dealing With 9-11 And The Economy

2000 was a fairly quiet year for VentureTours from the standpoint of equipment. Theonly activity was the sale of one coach. How-ever, 2001 saw substantially more equipmentactivity plus expansion into two new markets.

Early 2001 saw the addition of anotherH5-60 articulated plus a brand new 2001 H3-45 with a wheelchair lift. The purchase ofthe wheelchair lift turned out to be very pro-ductive since it opened the door to new busi-ness. In addition, a 1988 MCI 102C3 was pur-chased from an auction in Pennsylvania.

A step in the right direction was the pur-chase of a 1997 Prevost entertainer coach. Itcould convert to sleep 25 people at night andseat up to 26 for daytime travel. It wasequipped with two large TVs with satelliteplus a microwave oven and refrigerator. Thecoach was originally purchased with the

intention of using it for teams and it was keptvery busy.

Venture Tours decided to sell six oldercoaches during the summer of 2001. Thisended up being a good move because therewere several cancellations following the Sep-tember 11 tragedy. On the other hand, busi-ness picked up with sports teams becausethey became nervous to fly and the sleepercoach became constantly busy. As a result,one of the H5-60 articulated coaches wastraded in on another 25-passenger sleepercoach in December of 2001. The two sleepercoaches were transporting teams as far as 600miles or six to eight hours away for games.

Expansion With Groome Transportation

2002 saw more expansion into other mar-kets as Venture Tours acquired the businessof another company. Three repo coacheswere acquired from US Bank and driven

National Bus Trader / August, 2009 • 17

The acquisition of a fairly modern 1992 Prevost H3-40 in 1996 was a majorstep for Venture Tours. With this coach, Venture Tours took a step forwardinto more upscale charters. This photo of the coach was taken at the Nor-folk Naval Base adjacent to Chesapeake Bay.

This 1998 photo of a Prevost H5-60 articulated coach was taken at FortStory in Virginia Beach with the Old Cape Henry Light House and thenewer Cape Henry Light House in the background. Venture purchasedtheir first Prevost articulated in 1997 and then added more units in fol-lowing years. They were very useful on trips where their large capacityallowed them to replace two conventional coaches.

Venture Tours has had a great deal of success with sleeper coaches withVulcan Coach SuperCoach interiors. Shown here is a photo of Venture’ssecond 1998 25-passenger sleeper coach. The shell is a Prevost LeMirage.

This photo shows a current line-up of coaches parked in the back yard at600 S. Military Highway. The modern fleet and its large size is substan-tially different than the small bus company when Venture was founded.

back from California. Included were two1992 and one 1990 H3-40 coaches. However,the real activity came in the fall of 2002 whenGroome Transportation in Norfolk, Virginiaclosed down. Venture Tours made arrange-ments to purchase their equipment and takeover over their existing contracts and char-ters as well as their phone lines.

Included in the transaction were a 15-passenger 1999 Ford 350 diesel, a 1986 Boy-ertown trolley, and a 1995 Metrotrans 24-passenger Ford diesel minibus. Thisexpansion made Venture Tours more ver-satile in being able to offer a wide range ofvehicles for charter ranging in capacityfrom 15 to 72 passengers, plus the sleepercoaches and a trolley.

Two coaches were acquired from East-ers’ Bus Sales in Bassett, Virginia in 2003.One was a 1997 H3-45 on which a 1985102A3 43-passenger coach was traded. Thesecond was a 1995 H3-45 that was a repofrom a Miami operator. The big equipmentchange in 2003 was the sale of the last twoH5-60 articulateds. It was getting harder tofind qualified drivers for the articulatedsand the increasing price of fuel made themexpensive to operate. They were traded toColonial Coach in Chicago for a pair of 1988102C3 coaches. Also added to the fleet wasa 2000 Ford diesel minibus that was a repofrom US Bank in 2003.

Danny Langemeier joined Venture Toursin 2003 and became the head mechanic. For-merly with a Detroit Diesel company, Dannywas responsible for improving maintenanceand keeping drivers happy. Jimmy creditshis hiring as one of the best decisions thecompany has made.

As far as equipment goes, both of the102C3 coaches acquired in 2003 were soldin 2004. The 1984 Le Mirage XL was sold toa local bus company, Agape, and one of the1985 102A3 43-passenger coaches wastraded to Colvins for a 1993 102DL3 with awheelchair lift. The rear of the coach had alarge wheelchair-accessible restroom. Inaddition, a 1995 H3-41 was purchased fromMCI. 2004 also turned out to be a bad yearwhen two sleeper coaches headed north toNew York City were close to Selma and onehad a right front tire blow out. The driverlost control and the coach ran into an under-pass and was totaled.

Replacing the sleeper coach took a greatdeal of effort. A 1997 H3-45 was purchasedfrom Canadian Coach Sales. Originally arepo’ed seated coach, Canadian Coach Saleshad raised the roof, blocked off some win-dows, and updated the exterior. It was broughtto Bruce Basden at Vulcan Coach where a newSuperCoach interior was installed.

Moving to the Old Gallop Facility

By 2005, the old facility and office hadserved for seven years and was increasinglyinadequate. Jimmy and Darlene were look-

18 • National Bus Trader / August, 2009

Shown here is the interior of one of the spe-cial 1990 102C3 coaches. With only 43 seats,these coaches offered additional legroom aswell as a carpeted floor and enclosed parcelracks making a plush interior.

Among the more interesting coaches in the Venture Tours fleet were some 1985 102A3 coaches andsome 1990 102C3 coaches with fewer seats and more legroom. They were initially used on trips forsports teams.

Three different buses in the current fleet, from left to right: One of the two new Van Hool TD925double-deck coaches. A 2009 Prevost with the Volvo engine and Allison transmission with a spe-cial interior for transporting sports teams. One of the two MC-8 coaches modified with a trolleyappearance.

ing at building a new facility on five acresin Chesapeake, Virginia when Albert Helouoffered to sell the old Gallop Bus Lines prop-erty. Helou had purchased Gallop Bus Linesin 2001 and had renamed the companyAtlantic Coach. In 2005, Venture Toursacquired the former Gallop Bus Lines garageat 600 S. Military Highway in Virginia Beach.Atlantic Coach leased back a portion of thebuilding and continued to operate for twomore years. This was a homecoming forJimmy and Darlene who had learned the busbusiness at that location.

Equipment activity in 2005 included thepurchase of an H3-41 from MCI in Texas andthe sale of two 102C3 coaches built in 1990,the last with 43-passenger interiors. In addi-tion, a 1994 H3-45 was converted to specialwide two-and-one seating with a passengercapacity of 31. In basketball season, four orig-inal seat pairs were installed to give the coacha capacity of 36. It became popular with col-lege teams and to some extent replaced the43-passenger coach. The other 25-sleeper Pre-vost was then sold to Green River Lines inIllinois. Perhaps the biggest event in 2005was the acquisition of the first Van Hool byVenture Tours. This new coach had both awheelchair lift and a Caterpillar engine.

2006 was a tough year for Jimmy Halland Venture Tours. The stress of the 2004accident and the acquisition of the Gallopproperty in 2005 took its toll. Jimmy sufferedfrom ill health for a few months but a cor-rect diagnosis by a doctor and some med-ication brought things back to normal. Ahighlight of 2006 was adding Jessica Knappto the staff. Originally involved in quotingcharter rates and dispatching, Jessica now

wears several hats. Two coaches were pur-chased from Talmage Lewis in 2006. Bothwere 1999 56-passenger H3-45 coaches.

Moving Ahead With Van Hool Double-deck Coaches

Venture Tours had several fleet improve-ments in 2007. The most interesting devel-opment came early in the year at the UMAMotorcoach Expo in New Orleans. Here,

Jimmy and his wife, Allie, placed an orderfor two Van Hool TD925 double-deckcoaches. This was done on the show floorwith their sales representative, Claude Payne,and ABC Vice President John Oakman. In2007, the company sold four of its H3-40coaches including the 1992 model acquiredin 1996, the first year of Venture Tours.

Acquired from Bieber Tourways in Kut-stown, Pennsylvania was a 1999 H3-45 withtwo-and-one seating. This was one of the exec-utive coaches originally built for AndersonTours. It already had satellite TV, and VentureTours added wireless Internet. Venture alsoremoved the rear galley and installed regularcoach seats in the rear, thus increasing capac-ity and making another 36-passenger coach.

The body-on-chassis trolleys in the fleetwere replaced in 2007 by two unique coach-type trolleys acquired from Ambassatoursin Nova Scotia. They were modified fromMC-8 coaches dating from 1975 and 1976.In addition to being more durable than abody-on-chassis bus, these coaches seat 47passengers in upholstered bus seats, havefold-down 15-inch monitors with DVD-Radio-CD player, and have restrooms.

In October of 2007, Venture Tours pur-chased an E4500 MCI shell with a Caterpil-lar engine and B500 transmission from MCIsales. This coach was sent to Amadas Coachin Moneta, Virginia to be converted into a56-passenger coach but with special addi-tional touches. The coach ended up with cus-tom built, laminated parcel racks andrestroom, leather Amaya seats with wing tipheadrests, special window treatment, and15-inch monitors with a DVD player. Allie

National Bus Trader / August, 2009 • 19

Jimmy Hall told ABC salesman Claude Payne that he would purchase a new Van Hool when theymade a U.S. double-deck coach available. Jimmy purchased two coaches when ABC Companiesannounced the availability of the new Americanized Van Hool TD925 double-deck model. Shownis a pre-delivery photo of one of the coaches at the ABC facility in Winter Garden, Florida.

This 2009 Prevost H3-45 was originally delivered with a standard seating capacity of 56 passen-gers. In November of 2008, it was outfitted with 30 wide leather seats with six regular seats remain-ing in the rear. From November to March, the coach will be configured to seat 36 passengers forsports teams. From April to October, the coach will be used with a 56-passenger configuration forthe busy charter season.

worked closely with Amadas in selectingthe interior options and earth tone colorscheme. At that same time, one of the 1994H3-45 coaches with two-and-one seatingwas also sent to Amadas to receive lami-nated parcel racks and other upgrades.

Venture Tours was active in early 2008because the 2008 ABA convention was heldin Virginia Beach. The company was one ofthe operators selected to supply motorcoachservice for the convention. Shortly after that,Venture purchased its first 35-foot coach, aused F3500 acquired from Fun Tours. Thereasons for adding a 35-foot coach to the fleetincluded better fuel mileage and an increas-ing number of customers with smallergroups. It turned out to be the right decisionbecause the F3500 stayed busy in the fall inspite of the downturn in the economy.

In September, Venture took delivery of anew Prevost H3-45 with the Volvo engine.Although originally delivered with 56 seats,Venture purchased a set of two-and-oneseats for the coach. Plans are to convert theinterior to two-and-one seats during the win-ter athletic season for transporting teams.Then, in the spring, it will be returned to its56-passenger capacity for the heavy sum-mer charter business.

September of 2008 was a special time forVenture Tours because the two new VanHool TD925 double-deck coaches arrived.Jimmy remembers telling Claude Payneyears ago that he would buy a Van Hoolcoach when they made a U.S. double-deckcoach available. When Van Hool offered theAmericanized TD925, Jimmy and his wifeAllie were among the first to buy.

Both coaches seat 81 passengers and haveseat belts on all seats. Jimmy says that thedouble-deck coaches are very helpful forsome clients because it eliminates the needto charter a second coach when the group hasmore than 56 passengers but not more than81. The double-deck coaches have alreadybeen used on the only tour offered by Ven-ture, a weekly run to Atlantic City. The advan-tage of the double-deck coaches is that theycan handle what would normally be an over-flow crowd for a conventional coach withoutrequiring a second coach and driver.

The current Venture facility is located onMilitary Highway. It sits on just more thantwo acres of land. There are more than 20,000square feet in the building that includes aservice pit, an automated bus washer, andthree bays for repairs and service. There isalso a bus lift that can lift all of the coachesso that service personnel can stand under-neath. Parts inventory is substantial, andincludes a spare transmission. There is alsoa 60-foot paint booth and four more baysrented from a local body shop.

A portion of the building includes six offices,a kitchen and conference room. The dispatch office

has 60 lockers and a desk for drivers to do paper-work. In 2008, Venture hired its first full time dis-patcher, Sebastian Scott. He has more than 30 yearsexperience as a bus driver and also has experienceas a mechanic for a truck company. Venture rentsoffice space and parking to American Tours thatis owned by DC Trails of Lorton, Virginia.

Jimmy mentions that they have alreadymade some improvements on the building.In 2005, Venture downsized to 18 coachesto gain better control of the business. Today,the fleet is back up to 23 coaches and Jimmysays that he has a very positive feeling aboutthe future in the charter bus business. ❑

20 • National Bus Trader / August, 2009

Venture Tours has had great success with the Van Hool double-deck coaches. Like the earlier artic-ulated coaches, their extra capacity can make the difference between operating one or two coachesfor some groups. Taken by Venture driver Dennis McGhee, this photo shows one of the double-deck coaches on a trip to a ski resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia.

From the August 2009 issue of:

National Bus Trader

The Magazine of Bus Equipmentfor the United States and Canada

9698 W. Judson RoadPolo, Illinois 61064

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