I know all about the lack of a quality school bus for HO scale if you model in the 1950s. In fact I've been searching for anything decent for about 25 years now.
Recently I came across some info (online) about a Johnny Lightning 1956 school bus.
Some sites say it is 1/87, while others say it is 1/64. I tend to believe it is more 1/64. I'd guess we would have seen it on someone's layout or heard about it before now if it really was close to HO scale.
So anyone know if this is HO suitable?
Over the years I've purged our layout of any vehicle that was not HO scale thanks to the many new offerings by Classic Metal Works, Busch, Woodland Scenics, etc...So if this bus is not close it would really stick out on our layout.
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
As far as I know the Johnny Lightning school bus is like the Matchbox trucks. Matchboxes trucks though tagged as 1/64 are very close to 1/87.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
How wide is it?
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
Probably the best way is to measure the wheels, width, etc. Rims were most likely 20" as std. Width would be 8 feet or less. Vehicles were restricted to less than 96" wide until 1990s as best I recall. It looks proportional from the photo.
Hmm, interesting info so far.
If I can find one, I might just buy it and see how it looks.
Would love to see one in person though. Maybe I can find one at the train show this weekend (Anaheim, CA).
There are multiple versions of this bus by the way. I've seen (online) them painted for the military, Simpsons, Monopoly, Partridge Family, and flames.
It is a slot car HO scale which is 1:64, visibily larger than a NMRA HO which is 1:87.
From Mt Pleasant, Utah, the home of the Hill Valley and Thistle Railroad where the Buffalo still roam and a Droid runs the trains
Southwest Chief There are multiple versions of this bus by the way. I've seen (online) them painted for the military, Simpsons, Monopoly, Partridge Family, and flames.
Thanks for the photo.
So yeah a little big
Definitely looks to be slot car HO scale.
It's just as wide as the 1/87 scale truck beside it so it's not to overly big. 24 scale feet in length. 7.5 scale feet wide and 8.5 scale feet tall.
jeffrey-wimberly Southwest Chief: There are multiple versions of this bus by the way. I've seen (online) them painted for the military, Simpsons, Monopoly, Partridge Family, and flames. Glad you said something about that. I have the Partridge Family version. Here it is between a 1/87 scale truck and a 1/87 scale van.
Southwest Chief: There are multiple versions of this bus by the way. I've seen (online) them painted for the military, Simpsons, Monopoly, Partridge Family, and flames.
Glad you said something about that. I have the Partridge Family version. Here it is between a 1/87 scale truck and a 1/87 scale van.
This looks fine to me in relation to the other 1/87 vehicles, except for the racing slick tires But then again it is the Partridge Family bus!
I'm doing a bit of surgery on the bus I have. I've removed the wheels and axles it came with and I'm putting in a set of wheels and axles from a junk Boley GMC truck I had laying around. So far it's looking good.
If that does not work, the Jordan 1934 bus may work; you could assume the school system did not have funds to upgrade their bus fleethttp://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/360-229
or, if in a city the Jordan 1940s City Transit Bus could be painted yellowhttp://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/360-244
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Not prototype but it looks better.
Southwest Chief I know all about the lack of a quality school bus for HO scale if you model in the 1950s. In fact I've been searching for anything decent for about 25 years now.
Mmmm - a quick google located this web page with pictures of old school buses from various eras: http://www.schoolbusdriver.org/oldshots.html and http://www.schoolbusdriver.org/oldshots2.htm
From a quick look, it seems like a Cor-Con summer camp bus (http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/223-1044) might be a sensible place to start, with a somewhat respectable result being achieved with a repaint job, and by replacing the octagonal stop sign with a rectangular sign saying "STOP".
If you can find one somewhere (ebay or whatever) a german Busch Mercedes bus might work with a repaint and some details/surgery : http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-41049
Herpa has a school bus - front and wheels might be a little too modern looking: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/326-6100, but that might be fixable with a little light cosmetic surgery.
Smile, Stein
Actually I'd say it was a little short (height). The school bus I drive is closer to 10' high. Mine happens to be close to 36' long, there are a lot of shorter ones. From Jeff's photo, I'd say go for it.
Good luck,
Richard
Found one at a pretty good price so I ordered it. When it arrives we'll see how it looks.
Whatever happened to good old fashioned kit-bashing ? ....
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
I think I rode on this bus in 2005. My other hobby is F&I War re-enactment and we were in Lake George, NY for the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lake George and the Bloody Morning Scout. We rode a blue bus to the site where the Bloody Morning Scout took place, which coincidently was also and old D&H railroad bed.
Robert H. Shilling II
Mark R. Whatever happened to good old fashioned kit-bashing ? ....
Why don't you check out my website and see
Done a lot of kit-bashing in multiple scales over the years.
Just thought this pre-built bus had promise. I like the short body and paint job, and was hoping it would work out for HO scale.
Okay.As part of the Life Like/walthers Secenemaster*(*I think)line of accessories,there's one called School Days that features a generic 50's era School Bus along with the students that's undere$10.00.
Hope it helps.
The Aztec Eagle.
More Cowbell!!
Yep. And it looks like a toy.
School days.
jeffrey-wimberly Yep. And it looks like a toy.
I model in the 50's and like alot of others have been looking for a suitable school bus for years. I did pick up the '34 Jordan model until I could find a replacement. The LifeLike bus does look bad and its a shame because it looks like if they had put a little more effort into it, it could have been usable. Maybe it could be fixed. Anyone out there want to sell a bunch of buses?Make a 1950's school bus and watch the orders come rolling in.
Santa Fe all the way! I model in the 50's and like alot of others have been looking for a suitable school bus for years.....Anyone out there want to sell a bunch of buses?Make a 1950's school bus and watch the orders come rolling in.
I model in the 50's and like alot of others have been looking for a suitable school bus for years.....Anyone out there want to sell a bunch of buses?Make a 1950's school bus and watch the orders come rolling in.
Agree 100%.
It seems a lot of us model the 1950s. So it is a little surprising no really top notch school bus has been made yet. But classic metal works has been coming out with some really nice bus models over the past few years. Might not be much longer before we see a true 1950s 1/87 school bus.
One problem might be the sheer variety of school buses back then. Most were heavy duty truck fronts matched to a bus body.
A model I would really like to see is a Crown Coach school bus.
These were very popular in Southern California. Here's a Wikipedia page about them:
Crown Coach
Forgot they also made fire trucks. And yes those would also be great. I have the Busch La France fire trucks which are nice. But some Firecoach fire trucks would be great.
I was thinking of kitbashing a few schoolbuses myself.The front ends are the easy part.What would be a good starting point for the body?
Yeah. I bought a couple 1/64 cars (one fire chief, one cop) off eBay about a month back. Since almost all my cars and trucks for my layout are either Matchbox, Hotwheels, Johnny Lightning, Maisto, and other assorted co, they fit right in. If you ask me, 1/64 (which is S-Scale, or Lionel) scale is a great substitute for 1/87 scale.
B30
Crap happens. When it does, stop, take a deep breath, and call the wreck train.
Actually, the LL bus could be used, but it needs a lot of work. New wheels from Jordan, paint the grill and bumper black, remove all the horizontal window frames and replace with thin strip,file the front window bar thinner. I'm not sure how it went state to state, but school buses in NY in the fifties through early sixties had one flashing light in front and back, right in the center. Add some turn signals and mirrors and it won't be half bad. I think either Concor or IHC made the International bus for the eighties, if you find one, you could cut down a CMW Ford or IH truck for the front, our schools had Macks, some REO's and lots of IH's.
I grew up in NYC and the schoolbuses I remember seeing were all Fords,GMCs and then a bit later almost all Internationals.Before they made yellow standard,there was a fleet I remember that was a pea soup green with a pale yellow or beige top.
A quick note, Herpa makes the IH school bus.
But isnt that from the 80s?