A little brother to the Eastgate McDonald's

In what is most likely going to be a rare occurrence for Ryan Road, I am presenting you with my SECOND post IN ONE WEEK!  I figured I'd be lucky to post an update every month or two, but today was just one of those days and I figured what the hey.

As I'm writing this sentence I realized this is the perfect follow-up to this week's earlier post.  Back in December 2015, I was out toward the I-275 & US 127 interchange on the north side of town chasing after something else when I happened across this McDonald's:

Upon seeing it, I was immediately reminded of the Eastgate McDonald's that I posted earlier this week.  I dug up some property records and found out that the two restaurants were both built the same year, 1984.  This one is slightly smaller at 4612 square feet, vs. Eastgate's 4946.  I realize that there are a few differences between the two, but the resemblance is quite striking.

This place did not have an indoor playplace and I don't think the front patio was ever anything else.  When I took a look at the property records, the image they have on file from 1992 doesn't show any type of play equipment outside.  The next image is from 2003 and there was nothing other than tables there even then.

So, faced with a day of feeling blah, I decided it was time to pay this McDonald's a lunchtime visit and scope out the interior.  Thankfully it was before noon and not very busy, so I was able to get some photographic documentation of this great-looking restaurant.

My favorite part of this is the solarium.  It was nice being able to eat in the sun without freezing my tail off.

The decor wasn't anything spectacular, but it's a nice throwback to the classic fast-food restaurant look.

There were just enough people there, including the custodian who really takes his job seriously (and I mean that in a positive way), so interior photos were not necessarily as many as I would have liked.  Even still, what I do have pretty well captures the restaurant.  Even though I don't spend much time out this way, it'll still be a sad day when/if this is stripped of all its character...er, I mean, "modernized."

More photos can be found here: McDonald's, Waycross Rd, Cincinnati, OH on Flickr

This blog post requires no refrigeration

Death of a McDonald's

Toward the latter part of October 2015, I was browsing through photos of a Flickr contact of mine who had just uploaded photos of a recently-closed McDonald's on the east side of Cincinnati.  Property records show it being built in 1984.  I'm the type of person who likes to take their own photos of stuff, so I decided to pay a visit in late October (the 26th).

When I visited the first time, there were some people in the building doing final closing-up activities, so I didn't want to venture too close to the building.  I was a little disappointed that I drove all the way there and couldn't get too close, but something is better than nothing.

Eastgate McDonald's, days after closing

the parking lot was blocked off and activity was still going on inside

a very unique shed on the property; many weren't as elaborate

playground equipment and the roof sign, heaped onto the patio

Most notable about the whole closing process was the treatment of the signage...it wasn't simply removed and carted away.  The posts were cut off and the signs were shoved to the ground and smashed to pieces in the name of asset protection.  The drive-through boards received the same treatment.  In fact, the parking lot lights and flagpole were also sawn off above the bases.

McSign McCarnage...

In any case, because of the activity going on, I snapped a few quick photos and then left.

One week later I decided to make another visit in hopes of getting more and better photos.  That ended up paying off, as the lot was empty.  I was able to take some better photos of the outside and some through-the-window shots.

remnants of the drive-through

one of McDonald's two sign corpses was dragged to the drive-through lane

labelscar from the McDonald's sign.  Shame they painted the brick; I always liked the look of unpainted brick

looking into what appears to be an indoor play area

looking in through one of the front windows

looking through drive-through window #1

looking through drive-through window #2

looking through one of the side windows

For whatever reason I ended up skipping a week in visiting this place.  Maybe I decided that I had enough photos and didn't need to return.  Whatever the reason, something told me to go back on the 16th of November.  Upon my return, I was a little surprised by what I saw...but only a little.  It used to be that when McDonald's relocated to a nearby location, the building is re-roofed and made to look less McDonalds-like and then marketed to other businesses.  Lately, though, it seems like most of the buildings are torn down.  The latter was the case here.  And like my first visit, someone was around; this time the excavator operator was still in the machine.  I snapped a few photos and left.

no more McDonald's here :(

Not satisfied with being unable to walk the site one last time, I made a fourth visit a week later.  By that time, there was very little left of the building.  There were a few traces left of what once was, but not many.

The playplace would have been right here

the former location of drive-through window #1

looking toward where the rear of the building used to be.  Drive-through window #2 would have been to my left.

former front and entrance side of McDonald's

an overview of the building's former location.  I was standing in the playplace area.

finally, a parting shot.  Looking at what would have been the rear of the building.

More photos can be found here: former McDonald's, Eastgate/Cincinnati, OH on Flickr

This blog post should not be used as a placemat.  Bits of food may become stuck in the crevices and cause an unsanitary condition.

Ohio's last Superior bus

Superior was a manufacturer name commonly seen on school buses up until the early 80s.  Superior Body Company (later Superior Coach Company) began building buses, among other vehicles, as early as the 1920s.  Sheller-Globe acquired Superior in the late 60s.  On April 1, 1977, new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards were rolled out for school buses, which increased manufacturing costs.  Add to that the fact that districts across the US were buying fewer buses and the fact that there were at least 5 other major manufacturers who were also building school buses, the company was faced with lower profits.  By 1980 or 1981, Sheller-Globe liquidated Superior buses.  Superior as we knew it was basically dead.  The name was revived by another company a few years later, but their buses were nothing like the classic Superiors.

School buses typically have a service life of somewhere around 15 years, but it wasn't uncommon for the older buses being in service for up to 20 years, even in Ohio's climate.  That all depends on quality and maintenance of the buses.

By about 2006, there were still 4 of these buses running around Ohio, owned by a district for the purpose of transporting school students (I am not counting buses owned by collectors or for non-school use).  Kenton Schools had two, Hubbard had one, and Apollo Career Center had one.

Then around 2009, Kenton City Schools retired a 1972 model (37 years old!).  Sometime in 2014, Hubbard Public Schools retired a 1976 (38 years old) and in early 2015, Kenton retired their other Superior, a 1980.  As of February 2015, there was one Superior left in Ohio operating as a school bus.

In September 2015, I got a text from one of my buddies:

"The 1976 IHC Superior in Lima has been retired"

That's it.  No more Superiors.  To be fair, 39 years was a good run.  Here's a look at Ohio's last Superior school bus with photos taken in 2009.

This bus had many of the features I remember on a few buses I rode to school.  When I started in the 1980s, my district still had a handful of Superiors around.  I miss the red-only warning lights that made the "tick-tock" sound as they flashed, along with Superior's fiber-optic light monitor.  It was somewhat crude, yet ahead of its time.  Another one of my favorite features of this bus is the BACKING sign.  They fell out of favor within the last 10-20 years due to maintenance and rust issues; many districts that had them opted to remove them altogether.

Let's step inside:

A couple of my other vintage bus memories include the stanchions rather than the commonly-seen barriers in front of the front seats, and the marble-style flooring (which might still be available, but very few operators get it):

(Superior info source: Wikipedia)