For those interested in old buses (and coaches)

[phil_sutters]

On 06/09/2024 at 17:53, Moxy said:

I don't think there is anything currently in production exactly like that.  Pirate Models used to do a whitemetal kit of a charabanc, but they are long since out of production.

 

Oxford Diecast did a charabanc, but completely different body, although you may be able to us the chassis & seats from it and build your own body.

 

https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/products/swiftsure-charabanc-swiftsure-charabanc-cb001

 

Probably your best bet is to look at plastic kits of road vehicles & modify them to suit.

 

Airfix do a gun & tractor set. You would probably need to splice the gun chassis to the tractor body, but it may be a starting point.

 

https://uk.airfix.com/products/88mm-gun-tractor-a02303v

 

Failing that, Roden do a London Type B bus which may be of use.  I don't think that has any seats in it though.

 

http://www.roden.eu/HTML/732.html

If you go down the Old Bill Bus route, this AEC charabanc may be a suitable prototype. This is a download from my photo-sharing group album, hence the references to Vintage Photo Theme Park etc. I don't know where the original postcard is currently.

 

Edited Wednesday at 14:27 by phil_sutters

[ardbealach]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

The bus second right with the double entrance behind the back axle intrigues me. Was it pay as you enter with a separate seated conductor?

Maybe it was a one of Lothian's Buses from Edinburgh which ran on the posh Morningside route? The first class passengers entered by the left hand door and immediately turned left, while all the others used the right hand door?  (Alisdair)

[phil_sutters]

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

The bus second right with the double entrance behind the back axle intrigues me. Was it pay as you enter with a separate seated conductor?

https://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/ysg101.htm  - This gives the history of this unique Edinburgh Corporation bus. Passengers did enter by the rear doors and paid their fares, as you surmised, to a seated conductor. Exit was via the front or middle doors.

[pH]

19 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

https://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/ysg101.htm  - This gives the history of this unique Edinburgh Corporation bus. Passengers did enter by the rear doors and paid their fares, as you surmised, to a seated conductor. Exit was via the front or middle doors.

Luxury!

 

I remember being on trolleybuses like that in Lucerne in 1966. Two of us had just spent a summer as conductors on town services from Greenock SMT garage on Bristol Lodekkas. To say we were envious would be a serious understatement!

Edited Wednesday at 17:23 by pH

[J. S. Bach]

I remember riding the two-axle and three-axle trackless trolleys in Athens. Very interesting.

[phil_sutters]

1 hour ago, phil_sutters said:

https://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/ysg101.htm  - This gives the history of this unique Edinburgh Corporation bus. Passengers did enter by the rear doors and paid their fares, as you surmised, to a seated conductor. Exit was via the front or middle doors.

Just in case some people haven't tried it, I found that nugget of information using 'Google Lens'. With the picture on screen I right-clicked and the option of Google Lens appeared. Clicked on that. A crop box appeared over the photo, which was narrowed down to the bus and then a double-click brought up various similar images on the right of the screen. Several were from Flickr. The problem with those is that they don't take you directly to the thumbnailed image. You end up with an endless stream of connected images. In this case there were all manner of buses. That's why the link is to a simpler site. Maybe I didn't do the right thing in Flickr. I find that site far too cluttered and often not easy to navigate.

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

I remember riding the two-axle and three-axle trackless trolleys in Athens. Very interesting.

I also rode the trolleybuses in Athens in the 1970's. Most were ancient Italian buses 30 to 40 years old. The military dictators had just been kicked out and new Russian trolleybuses were just starting service.