Traveling WV: ‘Bruiser’s Bus Rock Camp’

GAULEY BRIDGE, W.Va. (WCHS) — The Mountain State is loaded with mysteries, legends and lore, as well as its fair share of tall tales.

One of the most intriguing and enduring is the full-size bus that somehow ended up on a huge rock in the middle of the New River at Gauley Bridge.

Did raging flood waters deposit it there? Some say drunk college kids placed it as a prank. Most locals know the true backstory, but for the millions of drivers who have cruised along Route 60 in Fayette County, it has remained a subject of speculation since 1954.

Enter Walter Alexander Cole Jr.

Born in 1923 in Fayette County, known by most as “Bruiser” he simply wanted a private fishing camp. He obtained the rock which is deeded as an island, and purchased the 1934 Greyhound city bus for $1.

Somehow, he floated the bus on a barge down the Gauley River from Swiss to the New, attached four outboard motors, and slowly pushed the bus and barge upstream to his beloved rock.

“From there, he used hand cables and come along to wench it up there” current owner Terri Evans said.

“They mechanically advantaged that thing,” Terri’s husband, Bryan, said.

Bruiser added a porch and other luxuries over the years, but the old bus remains as solid as a rock (pun completely intended).

Sadly, time marches on and Bruiser passed away in 2012 at the age of 88, so did his best friend Danny Kinkaid, Terri’s father.

“My dad and Bruiser were best buddies,” Terri said. “We always came over here and fished, hung out, and helped him take care of the place.”

After Bruiser passed, his lawyer contacted Terri and advised her that she had first refusal to purchase the bus rock camp, something Cole never told her.

For three years, Terri and Bryan mulled the decision over, and Bruiser’s bus rock camp was left abandoned.

Finally, after a buyer from Virginia was located, the lawyer called Terri one last time.

“He said ‘are you sure? Bruiser really wanted you to have this place.’ I said we will take it” Evans said. “I’m so glad we did.”

That was in 2015, and since then the Evans have made a lot of improvements, making it their own personal escape from the daily grind.

“When you’re here you’re right across the river from everything,” Bryan Evans said. “But you’re also a thousand miles from nowhere.”

The property is completely private, is not available to rent, or reservable on AirBnB. However, it remains a local icon and the Evans plan on preserving it for years to come in Bruiser’s memory.