I think I've caught a nasty (bus) bug...

[BritishRail60062]

I remember the Leyland Nationals all too well and compared to the Enviro 200's of today. They were not that bad despite the stick they got from some of the drivers. I would give anything to ride a Leyland National again and the same with the Leyland Titan's and the MCW Metrobus Mk1's .

[BritishRail60062]

North cord went bust I recall.

Sadly so and what s shame because the detail was amazing on their model buses as I have a fair few in my collection that I have built up over the years. Maybe Rapido Trains could buy up their tooling and perhaps could produce the former Northcord models under a new name "Rapido Minature Vehicles" or something unless another company has already bought the former Northcord tooling for all of their model buses. Just as a thought for the future in terms of expansion .

[richierich]

Rich, EFE already do the standard Olympian, with both flat and curved windscreens offered. OOC did one before that, but it was something of a caricature - not a good model at all. The EFE model is not too bad, and represents the standard ECW/Leyland body style. It is not quite right for the Roe version, but that hasn't stopped EFE from choosing the odd operator livery that used Roe bodies; the differences are mostly subtle, apart from the front grilles.

 

A full-height Olympian might be something different to model, but there weren't many customers for those - London Buses took several hundred with dual door bodies.

But the EFE model is not a Lowheight body 13' 8", which ECW produced in the majority, (like the Pirate Models kit 453)

 

Corgi OOC did a terrible representation. No more to be said about that one. . . .

 

All EFE did was take the single door Titan casting and modify to look like an Olympian, and it represents a full height 14' 2" body, which they passed off as Leyland (BET windscreen), Roe (flat screen WYPTE spec), and Roe (Alexander curved screen, London Country / Bristol Omnibus spec).

 

Even a true LT spec Olympian (L4-263) is subtle different because the chassis uses low profile wheels, and hence the lower deck body structure is quite different with few interchangeable parts with NBC spec, or even Full Height ECW bodies supplied to the likes of Colchester or Grimsby-Cleethorpes.

 

The EFE tooling, if produced in dual door, could pass off as L1-3.

 

So the perfect RTR model of a NBC spec Leyland Olympian with low height body has yet to be produced. . . .

[richierich]

The Olympian was also produced as a plastic kit by Tower Models and IIRC it is of the low height version. They are not very common unfortunately and can often be more than a second hand diecast at £15-£20 a go. I have a couple of these kits and they appear to be accurate models.

It not a bad model with some work, especially on the interior.  I've built twenty odd of these. Some Shawplan laser glaze would make to model. Tower no longer produce these kits. However I believe the tooling is owned by Parkside Models (as in wagon kits), so it wouldn't be impossible for someone to start producing these again. wish they where still available because two would make a ECW Commuter Olympian coach. 

 

Indeed I'd welcome some decent plastic kits of buses.

[HillsideDepot]

Thinking this one through, and looking at Rapido's APT-E & HSDT choices, they'd probably go for something which wasn't mainstream, even if it ultimately led to a production version.

 

On that basis, anyone for a Bristol VRX? https://www.flickr.com/photos/1cliffie1/5826006857/in/gallery-bristol_passion-72157628749971025/

[4630]

.

[Red Devil]

Or maybe a Guy Wulfrunian?

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/islandyorkie/8317986618/in/photolist-dF2RCo-6tZH8C-dCRcJa-7KFr4d-aeEQ6d-7jZfvB-dEWrxg-dEWvYg-dF2Vuo-6gqQAY-7k49Md-dF2VjY-4RctSd-dEWrLz-dEWrjH-dEWqZg-ffXBwo-fzVn3d-6eSmBD-5Dm2CK-6goWWP-B7Gsbx-4LPNht-qHQijT-bsvKyU-wMxPYi-86NeJR-dgsjMC-e3ii6y-k49j6h-9jA9Tr-8hGZxL-oMev2z-hb4hMN-x82VAC-aStydB-x82VzW-7jZfAR-7jKssv-7jPmsy-7jPmoG-7jKsun-7jKQmP-aFJ1xa-wz11KC-4CB8X5-dRpv83-4EoiRi-7jJYtB-7jKsqP

 

Far too many boxes on wheels 

 

The Wulfrunians immediate forbear is far nicer looking....plus the early ones were some of the very few provincial RT chassis.

 

 http://www.sct61.org.uk/wr84

[newbryford]

Jason if you really fancy producing a bus, how about a Leyland National. For all the hatred they received at the time they were in many ways a trail blazing bus (actually acrid black smoke trail blazing bus) that the EFE model just doesn't capture. With you attention to rivets on the APT you guys would do an awesome job with a national and are a must on any layout set in the 70s and 80s...

 

And some of the research could be used for a Class 140/141/142.....

 

Cheers,

Mick

[RANGERS]

Sadly so and what s shame because the detail was amazing on their model buses as I have a fair few in my collection that I have built up over the years. Maybe Rapido Trains could buy up their tooling and perhaps could produce the former Northcord models under a new name "Rapido Minature Vehicles" or something unless another company has already bought the former Northcord tooling for all of their model buses. Just as a thought for the future in terms of expansion .

CMNL/ Northcord did indeed cease trading after the company who produced the models for them went bust. Most of the tooling was owned by the producer and the price put on the tooling by the receiver (governed under Chinese law by the level of the company's debts I believe) was way in excess of what it would cost to produce new, so CMNL/ Northcord went down that route and a new company Northcord Model Co produced a handful of models.

 

Unfortunately cashflow and a general downturn in the market meant they could only afford to re-start production of a couple of models, the E400 I think was possibly the only one which made it to market, the E200 and possibly others I believe were produced prior to the liquidation, and all did pretty poorly on account of a price hike of over 50%.

 

NMC haven't released anything for over two years and their main importer has no stocks suggesting the new company is at best dormant or may have ceased trading altogether.

[BritishRail60062]

Its a crying shame isn't it? As the range of model buses they made was superb and also I think CMNL was the only model bus maker that made Japanese bus models in 1:76 scale to be available easily in the UK as I collect model buses from all over the world. When NMC was formed, I think the price hike to around £46 and upwards per model was the final nail in the coffin for NMC as having done a business course myself. Its a matter of getting the price right because if its too low, it won't balance the books or make a decent return on the investment needed for the tooling, market research etc. Price it too high and no one buys the product . Shame really as I do like their Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400 when it was around. Maybe a new company could make a new one along with a Plaxton President. As for the Enviro 400. I am sure the Enviro 400MMC would be another good model for rapido to consider considering its modern day and also Alexander-Dennis could work with Rapido on this E400MMC and the ALX400 models like ADL did with CMNL when they developed the original Enviro 400 bus model that came out in 2007/8. The Enviro 400MMC however does look a nice bus in the real world thought unlike what I say for the StreetDeck Daimler OM934 .

[RANGERS]

Its a crying shame isn't it? As the range of model buses they made was superb and also I think CMNL was the only model bus maker that made Japanese bus models in 1:76 scale to be available easily in the UK as I collect model buses from all over the world. When NMC was formed, I think the price hike to around £46 and upwards per model was the final nail in the coffin for NMC as having done a business course myself. Its a matter of getting the price right because if its too low, it won't balance the books or make a decent return on the investment needed for the tooling, market research etc. Price it too high and no one buys the product . Shame really as I do like their Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400 when it was around. Maybe a new company could make a new one along with a Plaxton President. As for the Enviro 400. I am sure the Enviro 400MMC would be another good model for rapido to consider considering its modern day and also Alexander-Dennis could work with Rapido on this E400MMC and the ALX400 models like ADL did with CMNL when they developed the original Enviro 400 bus model that came out in 2007/8. The Enviro 400MMC however does look a nice bus in the real world thought unlike what I say for the StreetDeck Daimler OM934 .

 

 

I'm not sure that will ever happen either. Things may have changed at ADL but the terms they were looking to impose to licence the MMC400 when it first went into production in late 2013, made it a complete non-starter for any manufacturer, the same was the case for the Plaxton Elitei. 

 

The previous E200/ E400/ 500 models were licensed informally by ADL when the company was still a fledgling business following the Transbus collapse and it was easier to navigate such decisions through the hierarchy (with or without them knowing!) The ALX400/ 500 were licensed at the same time. The case would have been made at the time that it was a good PR tool (which it undoubtedly was) but the view seemed to change as ADL grew. By the time MMC came around ADL seemed to think the demand for models was millions of units per annum and they were losing out on a share of a multi million dollar market.

 

The Elite single deck was formally licensed to Oxford whilst Plaxton was still a separate business, albeit wholly owned by ADL, just before it was fully integrated into ADL in 2010 hence the clauses and demands on the manufacturer were much less onerous. The same was the case for the other Plaxton models produced by Oxford and Corgi, the latter had a long standing agreement dating back to 1995. 

 

A number of the more recent ADL products have been produced as kits, notably by PSG Models, and others are reputedly in the pipeline including the MMC400. 

[rapidotrains]

Yesterday the whole family went on a "transit" excursion, taking two GO buses, two GO trains, a subway (underground) and two streetcars (trams). Luckily in the Toronto area we can do this sort of thing quite easily. Being the holidays, all forms of transport were fairly empty.

 

The highlight was definitely the ride on GO's Alexander Dennis double deckers. These have had all sorts of maintenance issues - apparently it's the only place in the world where they are subjected to constant, daily operation on motorways at 65 MPH.

 

The kids loved sitting in the front seats and ducking for all of the low bridges. We made a lot of noise. Thankfully we were alone up there for most of the trip, and when other people did join us they didn't stop smiling. It's nice to see kids having fun on the bus. It's a far cry from when I was on a Travel West Midlands bus and the passengers demanded that the driver call the police when two 10-year-olds were (harmlessly) joking around upstairs. 

 

Here are some photos. The similarity between Isaac's hat and the containers on the bridge is purely coincidental.

 

 

 

 

 

From the bus to the train at Oakville Station...

 

 

It was also our first trip on Toronto's new Bombardier streetcars. They've had all sorts of delivery issues because they are, quite simply, a lot more finicky to build than Bombardier had anticipated: low floor, pivoting bogies with axles only 12" above the rail, need to fit into existing (tight) loading gauge. You can see that loading gauge in action in the photo below. This is the Union Station streetcar loop.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Jason

 

 

 

 

 

[ruggedpeak]

 

It was also our first trip on Toronto's new Bombardier streetcars. They've had all sorts of delivery issues because they are, quite simply, a lot more finicky to build than Bombardier had anticipated: low floor, pivoting bogies with axles only 12" above the rail, need to fit into existing (tight) loading gauge. You can see that loading gauge in action in the photo below. This is the Union Station streetcar loop.

Looks a great day out.

 

Perhaps Rapido should start making full size stuff

[BernardTPM]

Yesterday the whole family went on a "transit" excursion, taking two GO buses, two GO trains, a subway (underground) and two streetcars (trams). Luckily in the Toronto area we can do this sort of thing quite easily. Being the holidays, all forms of transport were fairly empty.

 

The highlight was definitely the ride on GO's Alexander Dennis double deckers. These have had all sorts of maintenance issues - apparently it's the only place in the world where they are subjected to constant, daily operation on motorways at 65 MPH.

The kids loved sitting in the front seats and ducking for all of the low bridges. We made a lot of noise. Thankfully we were alone up there for most of the trip, and when other people did join us they didn't stop smiling. It's nice to see kids having fun on the bus.

Double deckers on motorways; always good fun for kids:

[richierich]

Where back to Bristols now!

 

How about a nice Bristol VRL / ECW coach, as ordered by Sanderwick (Ribble) for the Lancashire - London Motorway services? I bet these with the Leyland 0.680 did more than 65mph on the motorway!

 

http://www.rvpt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/DSC_0107-Standerwick-60-ECW-Bristol-VRL-LH6L-Liverpool-South-Parkway..jpg

 

http://bcv.robsly.com/vrstand.html

[Legend]

Hey for real excitement , how about a school trip to Blair Drummond Safari Park circa 1970 on a pair of old Patons (a local Paisley bus company) open back door double deckers.Its actually amazing they made the distance from Paisley to somewhere north of Stirling as they usually broke flown in a cloud of smoke taking us from School to local swimming baths! Made the trip through the lion enclosure interesting , although the back doors were protected by a mesh attachment! Like Jason I get completely confused on Chassis , engines etc but they were probably Daimler (?) PD2s

[HillsideDepot]

Where back to Bristols now!

 

How about a nice Bristol VRL / ECW coach, as ordered by Sanderwick (Ribble) for the Lancashire - London Motorway services? I bet these with the Leyland 0.680 did more than 65mph on the motorway!

 

http://www.rvpt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/DSC_0107-Standerwick-60-ECW-Bristol-VRL-LH6L-Liverpool-South-Parkway..jpg

 

http://bcv.robsly.com/vrstand.html

 

I had a ride on one of these, just once and then not on a motorway, but impressive nonetheless. Bristol Omnibus had 0.680 powered VRT buses, with automatic gearboxes, and they made a wonderful noise! They could motor too, although being autos they didn't get up to speed without a good run. I used to catch the 1715 from Bath home from work, with a Chippenham Out-Station driver on his trip home. I'd often be the only passenger left on by Corsham and the flat run from The Cross Keys and then down Chequers Hill was never taken gently, especially not with Malcolm at the wheel of a "Growler"!

 

I have driven a Gardener 6LXB powered VRT at rather more than the 65mph mentioned above along the Keynsham by-pass. Yes, a 6LXB. It was one of a pair we had at Bath fuelled by LPG as a low emissions experiment. They usually only ran on the 14s in the city, but the 1994 Bristol Festival of Transport was the ideal opportunity to take one for a day-out. 

[RANGERS]

Hey for real excitement , how about a school trip to Blair Drummond Safari Park circa 1970 on a pair of old Patons (a local Paisley bus company) open back door double deckers.Its actually amazing they made the distance from Paisley to somewhere north of Stirling as they usually broke flown in a cloud of smoke taking us from School to local swimming baths! Made the trip through the lion enclosure interesting , although the back doors were protected by a mesh attachment! Like Jason I get completely confused on Chassis , engines etc but they were probably Daimler (?) PD2s

Perhaps they were Tigers...

[durham light infantry]

http://www.modelbuszone.co.uk/tmb/kits/marsden.htm

 

Neil mortsen of Marsden models does some fantastic resin kits.

 

Mike

[newbryford]

Where back to Bristols now!

 

How about a nice Bristol VRL / ECW coach, as ordered by Sanderwick (Ribble) for the Lancashire - London Motorway services? I bet these with the Leyland 0.680 did more than 65mph on the motorway!

 

http://www.rvpt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/DSC_0107-Standerwick-60-ECW-Bristol-VRL-LH6L-Liverpool-South-Parkway..jpg

 

http://bcv.robsly.com/vrstand.html

 

 

You've stirred the dormant bus bug in me and had to go and read the Wikipedia page about Ribble/Standerwick........

 

We used to have the Standerwick/Ribble "White Ladies" on the Clitheroe-Manchester X23. Very nice they were too!. Clitheroe depot had an eclectic mix of vehicles as it serviced a some country services, as well as express to Manchester.

There were two ECW bodied Bristol LHS's  (outside my old school) for local village work - there are a couple of narrow bridges with sharp corners. They were marketed as "Betty's Bus" after one of the regular drivers - Betty Gray.

 

My brother used to work for Ribble in the payroll/computer department at Frenchwood Avenue. They trained him up as driver. He often did part-time out of Clitheroe at weekends and one of his regular duties was the last Manchester on a Sunday teatime. This was the bus that I used to catch back to my digs in Oldham for Sunday-Thursday. I always had to pay the full fare in case a ticket inspector turned up!

 

Cheers,

Mick

[richierich]

I had a ride on one of these, just once and then not on a motorway, but impressive nonetheless. Bristol Omnibus had 0.680 powered VRT buses, with automatic gearboxes, and they made a wonderful noise! They could motor too, although being autos they didn't get up to speed without a good run. I used to catch the 1715 from Bath home from work, with a Chippenham Out-Station driver on his trip home. I'd often be the only passenger left on by Corsham and the flat run from The Cross Keys and then down Chequers Hill was never taken gently, especially not with Malcolm at the wheel of a "Growler"!

 

I have driven a Gardener 6LXB powered VRT at rather more than the 65mph mentioned above along the Keynsham by-pass. Yes, a 6LXB. It was one of a pair we had at Bath fuelled by LPG as a low emissions experiment. They usually only ran on the 14s in the city, but the 1994 Bristol Festival of Transport was the ideal opportunity to take one for a day-out. 

 

Guide Friday for use on the York City Tour, converted some ex-York West Yorkshire Bristol VR3s (WWR417-420S) to LPG, and hence converted to Gardner 6LXB to spark ignition. I think this was on the back of the converted VR you drove.

[richierich]

You've stirred the dormant bus bug in me and had to go and read the Wikipedia page about Ribble/Standerwick........

 

We used to have the Standerwick/Ribble "White Ladies" on the Clitheroe-Manchester X23. Very nice they were too!. Clitheroe depot had an eclectic mix of vehicles as it serviced a some country services, as well as express to Manchester.

There were two ECW bodied Bristol LHS's  (outside my old school) for local village work - there are a couple of narrow bridges with sharp corners. They were marketed as "Betty's Bus" after one of the regular drivers - Betty Gray.

 

My brother used to work for Ribble in the payroll/computer department at Frenchwood Avenue. They trained him up as driver. He often did part-time out of Clitheroe at weekends and one of his regular duties was the last Manchester on a Sunday teatime. This was the bus that I used to catch back to my digs in Oldham for Sunday-Thursday. I always had to pay the full fare in case a ticket inspector turned up!

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

Pirate Models made a nice kit of the Standerwick Bristol VRL, if you can find one, quite rare today. I have part built one, which one day I will finish!

 

The Bristol LHS FBV271-2W are the extra short 7' 6" wide version built at the end of LH production. Both still survive too in preservation. 

[dibber25]

I seem to recall being worried when Rapido announced it was going into British 'OO'. A worrying distraction for the company which we modellers of Canadian railways rely on for pretty much everything. By all means, a GO bus in 'HO" but steer clear (I used the pun intentionally) of 1:76 British buses. It's a collector market - a bottomless pit into which more than one manufacturer has fallen. Indeed, it is the Lima story but on rubber tyres (sorry tires). Your bug can probably be cured by therapy.(CJL) 

[rapidotrains]

I seem to recall being worried when Rapido announced it was going into British 'OO'. A worrying distraction for the company which we modellers of Canadian railways rely on for pretty much everything. By all means, a GO bus in 'HO" but steer clear (I used the pun intentionally) of 1:76 British buses. It's a collector market - a bottomless pit into which more than one manufacturer has fallen. Indeed, it is the Lima story but on rubber tyres (sorry tires). Your bug can probably be cured by therapy.(CJL) 

 

I think my bug will be cured by spending more time on classic British buses. I'm joining the Transport Museum, Wythall.

 

Or maybe that will make it worse.

 

You don't have to be worried about distractions. We haven't started making full-size reproduction 1960s-era Cyberman costumes... YET.

 

-Jason

[durham light infantry]

You don't have to be worried about distractions. We haven't started making full-size reproduction 1960s-era Cyberman costumes... YET.

 

-Jason

You could do both Cybermen and MCW Orion bodied PD2's. Both would be the initial releases in the Rapido "Monstrous masses of shivering tin" range.

 

Google it!

 

Mike