Last M.A.N. standing
 They joined the Metro Transit fleet 18 years ago. "Solid, built like a tank," is how one longtime vehicle maintenance employee describes the M.A.N. 40-foot diesel buses that were the workhorse of Metro's fleet for many years. The last of the M.A.N. buses rolled off the Ryerson Base lot at the end of last month, heading for the old bus retirement home.
Metro ordered 157 of the M.A.N. buses in 1986 and 1987. They seated 44 passengers and were highly visible in the Metro fleet with their brown, yellow and white color scheme. They logged an amazing 83 million miles of service in King County and were reliable coaches that stayed on the road and didn't require much maintenance, at least until their final years when parts became hard to come by.
M.A.N. by the way is an acronym for Maschinenfabrik-Augsburg-Nuernburg, in reference to their German heritage, and enough of a mouthful to make it easy to understand why we've always referred to them simply as "M.A.N.s." The M.A.N. buses are gone, but they won't be forgotten. M.A.N. coach number 3152 will be added to the historic fleet maintained by the Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association [external link].
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