AIRFIX PARK ROYAL RAILBUS

[chev32]

I noticed on the hattons site that Helgan have a park royal railbus in the works ,(there are no photos attached )is this going to be the same model as the airfix kit ? I  have the old airfix model and just debating wether to put the time and money into building and motorising it ....thanks

 

 

[brossard]

Branchlines show a complete motorising and interior kit for 55.00.  This is from a catalogue I obtained from 2008.  Things will have moved on pricewise now.  They don't have much of a web presence.

 

Based on the W&M Railbus, this Heljan model will probably be around 100.00.  If it were me I'd go for the Heljan model.  It will most likely have better body moulding and detail than the 30 year old (?) Airfix kit.  Then there's the painting and finishing - always a challenge to get this right.  

 

John

[chev32]

Branchlines show a complete motorising and interior kit for 55.00.  This is from a catalogue I obtained from 2008.  Things will have moved on pricewise now.  They don't have much of a web presence.

 

Based on the W&M Railbus, this Heljan model will probably be around 100.00.  If it were me I'd go for the Heljan model.  It will most likely have better body moulding and detail than the 30 year old (?) Airfix kit.  Then there's the painting and finishing - always a challenge to get this right.  

 

John

Thanks John thats what i thought might be the case  I already have a branchline kit but found a few problems with the  motor mounting ,I was looking at using the holywood foundry motor set up but when you do the maths the Helgan mode is a better deal

[RosiesBoss]

G'day, all,

 

I have a fondness for the old Airfix kit, having made one in the 1970s and always wanting to motorise it.

 

A couple of years ago, I purchased a complete new motor bogie for the Hornby Class 142 railbus through eBay for a few pounds and fitted it to a new Dapol kit. I finished the model with a full interior and passengers. I think the total cost was less than A$20.00

 

Here are some images.

 

 

 

This conversion worked well and was very cost-effective. I won't bother with the Heljan model.

 

Regards,

 

Rob

[BernardTPM]

The Airfix railbus kit dates from around 1961 so is over 50 years old - the real things were pretty new when it came out! Very good for its age, though the vents in the windows are more like the Mk.2 coach pattern than the railbus ones as can be seen from the prototype photo above.

[John Tomlinson]

Many years ago I did the Airfix/ Dapol kit and Branchlines motorising. It works but is very noisy as the body seems to act an amplifier! Starting from nothing I'd go for the Heljan model - based on the general quality of their products and mechanisms - there's lots of other DMU projects you can do if you want some actual modelling.

 

I'm very intrigued by RosiesBoss use of a Hornby 142 above, and wondered how much of the chassis is the 142 unit, and how close it is in terms of wheelbase to the real thing?

[RosiesBoss]

G'day, John,

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

Only the motorised bogie from the 142 unit was used, together with the pickup harness. The rest of the chassis, as shown in the picture, came from the Dapol kit.

 

If you look carefully, you'll see the screws which hold the Hornby motor/gearbox (the "bogie") to the Dapol chassis/floor and the screws which, in turn, hold the floor to the body. This facilitates periodic maintenance and adjustment.

 

I'm not sure whether the Dapol model is true to the original wheelbase, but you can see that, in motorising it, I have preserved the Dapol wheelbase. I was pleasantly surprised just how easy it was to use the Hornby spare parts for this project. 

 

Cheap and cheerful it may be, but I take a lot more pleasure from models I make or rebuild than those that are purely RTR. I've had so much fun motorising other kits: Stirling Single, City of Truro, Kitmaster 08 shunter, Keil Craft Birmingham tram (finished as a Hobart tram) - as well as an Ertl "Toby" (long before the Hornby and Bachmann versions). I just enjoy a good challenge!

 

Regards,

 

Rob

[John Tomlinson]

Hi Rob,

 

             Many thanks for the reply. I'll be looking out for one of the 142 units to give it a try!

 

Best wishes,   John.

[hayfield]

HArrow model shop did a whitemetal casting many years ago, I have one and it makes into a nice little unit with weight low down. I have no idea if these are still available, but the whitemetal London Transport coachesthey made  still are

[stewartingram]

Many years ago I walked into the then new R & D Models shop at Mitcham's Corner in Cambridge. (Anyone else remember that?). I picked up a continental railbus - not sure of the make but I can take a look later if you want. The wheebase was virtually identical to the old Park Royal kit, so I fitted it to it. (As it happens I liked it so much I then treated it to a replacement Dapol kit and rebuilt the body. Lovely runner, much of the underfloor gubbins was carved from the kit and a combination of kit/rtr details passed muster though obviously wrong. I still have it, though as I believe Heljan will be bringing one out I shall probably replace it.

 

Stewart

[hayfield]

You could make your own chassis, using the Airfix plastic chassis.

 

Fit Romford wheels with a gear fitted. You need to cut a hole in the chassis above one set of wheels to fit the small flat Mashima motor and make a cradle to hold it out of plasticard. Make some wipers to pick up the current from all wheels. Cut a hole in the floor of the body to clear the top of the floor and you can glue or screw the chassis to the body. A very cheap way of motorising the railcar.

 

I will see if I can up load a photo at some point

[Horsetan]

Branchlines ....don't have much of a web presence.....

Correction: they don't have any web presence!

[meil]

Web presence: http://branchlines.blogspot.co.uk/

[PGC]

Hi Rob,

 

             Many thanks for the reply. I'll be looking out for one of the 142 units to give it a try!

 

Best wishes,   John.

 

Or you could try one of the High Level Pacer replacement bogies - they will run far better than the Hornby bogie.

 

http://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/ and click on Bogies at the top of the page.

 

Hope that helps - I'd do one of these myself except they never ran in East Anglia!

 

Phil

[Grovenor]

Web presence: http://branchlines.blogspot.co.uk/

That is not a presence, it's an absence, just what the previous owner left behind.

Regards

Keith

[Horsetan]

Web presence: http://branchlines.blogspot.co.uk/

Er....not created by them!

[MJI]

I motorised mine using a motor and gears I bought a LONG time ago, runs like a pig as the pickups are rubbish, but I don't know where I put it.

 

 

I noticed on the hattons site that Helgan have a park royal railbus in the works ,(there are no photos attached )is this going to be the same model as the airfix kit ? I  have the old airfix model and just debating wether to put the time and money into building and motorising it ....thanks

 

According to my avatar they never made model railway stuff and you forgot the h. He is a bit pernickity

[John Tomlinson]

Or you could try one of the High Level Pacer replacement bogies - they will run far better than the Hornby bogie.

 

http://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/ and click on Bogies at the top of the page.

 

Hope that helps - I'd do one of these myself except they never ran in East Anglia!

 

Phil

Hi Phil,

 

             Many thanks for this suggestion as another option here.

 

John.

[nzgresleyfan]

I have a Harrow powered Dapol kit with a Branchlines interior.  I'm rather pleased with it, it runs well and was simple to put together.  With all the new models out there now I'd probably get something different rather than an RTR version of something I have already built, but I'm certainly keen to see how it looks.  Especially in relation to the windows!

[hayfield]

Here are a couple of photos of a simple motorrisation of the Airfix chassis

 

You can see the layout from above, whipers are attached to small pieces of copperclad. The motor is sitting in a cradle and I guess I stuck it in the cradle

 

 

From under the chassis, simple gaps cut into the chassis to clear the motor and gears, and a plasticard cradle to hold the motor

 

 

 

Pin point bearings into the axle boxes hold the wheels in place

[plarailfan]

Here's my contribution, it runs on a "Keenway" battery powered chassis on my Tomy layout.

I shortened the body so it would blend in with the Tomy models.

[31A]

Many years ago I walked into the then new R & D Models shop at Mitcham's Corner in Cambridge. (Anyone else remember that?). I picked up a continental railbus - not sure of the make but I can take a look later if you want. The wheebase was virtually identical to the old Park Royal kit, so I fitted it to it. (As it happens I liked it so much I then treated it to a replacement Dapol kit and rebuilt the body. Lovely runner, much of the underfloor gubbins was carved from the kit and a combination of kit/rtr details passed muster though obviously wrong. I still have it, though as I believe Heljan will be bringing one out I shall probably replace it.

 

Stewart

 

I remember R & D Models at Mitcham's Corner - happy days!

 

 

Or you could try one of the High Level Pacer replacement bogies - they will run far better than the Hornby bogie.

 

http://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/ and click on Bogies at the top of the page.

 

Hope that helps - I'd do one of these myself except they never ran in East Anglia!

 

Phil

 

As far as I know the nearest they ran to East Anglia was the Bedford-Hitchin line - not sure whether that counts - probably not, really!

 

I've had a Dapol one in the drawer for years; the 142 mechanism suggestion looks like a way forward!  Something to look for at the next toy fair.....

[Clive Mortimore]

Or you could try one of the High Level Pacer replacement bogies - they will run far better than the Hornby bogie.

 

http://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/ and click on Bogies at the top of the page.

 

Hope that helps - I'd do one of these myself except they never ran in East Anglia!

 

Phil

Hi Phil

 

They got as far east as Hitchin.

 

I never built a Branchlines chassis for a Park Royal. I had several goes at motorising them with Romford/Jackson coach wheels and various motors and gears. I did buy a Pacer to use the power unit from that under a Park Royal and a MTK Wagon Basher that came my way, on a downsizing excerise the railbuses were disposed off, except the Wagon Basher (nobody wanted it). At one point in time I was lucky to find a motorised Airfix Park Royal that had been painted a very bright green that I never got round to repainting or puting a new body on. It ran quite well, not sure of the chassis but it had a huge X04 or X03 motor in it.

 

In my collection of railbuses I had a Ambrico AC Cars railbus, I got that working with the recommended Ks motor. Sometimes. The worst in the collection was an MTK Bristol. Five pairs of tubes of epoxy resin later it was still a box of bits.   

[stewartingram]

I remember R & D Models at Mitcham's Corner - happy days!

 

 

 

As far as I know the nearest they ran to East Anglia was the Bedford-Hitchin line - not sure whether that counts - probably not, really!

 

I've had a Dapol one in the drawer for years; the 142 mechanism suggestion looks like a way forward!  Something to look for at the next toy fair.....

 

Saw one on Coldhams Lane diesel depot at Cambridge once, in fact I think I saw most types of railbus there over the years.

 

Stewart

[MJI]

Mine was a small motor the gears in a gear box and fitted to a coach axles, the gear end was axle suspended.

 

Will look it up now!