Prototypical Busses for Central Tokyo

[Philphil]

Hello all,

 

I checked around to see if someone had already posted this question, and didn't see anything close, but please forgive me if I missed something! 

 

Nearly any model train layout, especially one where the prototype is set in Tokyo, needs more transportation options than just trains, I'm talking about BUSSES!

They're seen nearly everywhere, and they're certainly something that I'm currently missing...

Could anyone tell me which busses would be prototypical for operating in central Tokyo, for example, around the areas the Yamanote line runs?

 

There are so many colorful options, and I just seem to get lost in all the possibilities!

I do know of the Toei bus, for which I'm looking for multiple n-scale models of, but there must be more, right?

 

~Phillip 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2018 by Philphil

[Socimi]

The main bus operator in Tokyo is Toei Bus, a part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation ("Toei"), wich also operates the Asakusa, Mita, Shinjuku and Oedo Subway lines.

 

The Toei bus fleet is as follows:

 

Isuzu Erga

 

https://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/eng/i/services_bus_01.jpg

 

Hino Blue Ribbon

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Toei_Bus.jpg

 

Nissan Diesel Space Runner RA

 

https://blog-imgs-61.fc2.com/s/k/m/skmovie2010/ToeiBus_K-P514_NISSAN_DIESEL_SPACERUNNER_RA(PKG-RA274KAN).jpg

 

Mitsubishi Fuso Aerostar

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4486/24190272108_7c2117828c.jpg

 

Currently, i have the Tomytec Mitsubishi Fuso Aerostar:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10209258

 

More Info:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toei_Bus

 

Hobby Sarch:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/search?typ1_c=104&cat=&state=&sold=0&sortid=0&searchkey=Toei+Bus

 

Sumidacrossing:

 

http://www.sumidacrossing.org/Musings/files/130407_Bus_Models_for_Japan.php

 

Major Private Railway companies also operate bus services as feeders for their lines:

 

Tokyu

 

Seibu

 

Tobu

 

Keio

 

Keikyu Haneda Airport Shuttle

 

Keisei

 

A very european Mercedes-Benz Citaro, also Keisei.

 

Edited January 27, 2018 by Socimi

[bill937ca]

Buses in Tokyo are not centralized.  There is the municipal TOEI bus network of over 1,000 buses but in a city of 33,000,000 this is just a drop in bucket. Most bus fleets are run by private bus companies, many owned by railway groups.

 

Bus networks are mostly used as feeders to railway stations. Less than 3% of commuting trips in Tokyo are taken by bus.  This info and that below are taken from RAIL INTEGRATED COMMUNITIES IN TOKYO by John Calimente, Bachelor of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, 1994 on page 88.

 

"There are 21,300 km of bus routes in Tokyo Metropolis, 95% of which are run by eleven private companies (Yajima, 2000, p. 624), including Tokyu Bus
Corporation. The remaining 5% are run by the Transportation Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Ibid)."

 

Here are some photo galleries:

 

http://www.kevinsbusrail.com/tokyo-bus.html

 

http://www.kevinsbusrail.com/keisei-bus.html

 

http://www.kevinsbusrail.com/tokyo-rail.html

[bill937ca]

7 minutes ago, Socimi said:

The main bus operator in Tokyo is Toei Bus, a part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation ("Toei"), wich also operates the Asakusa, Mita, Shinjuku and Oedo Subway lines.

 

Toei is one of smaller bus fleets with 1,000 buses and 5% of the total fleet.

Edited January 27, 2018 by bill937ca

[Socimi]

38 minutes ago, bill937ca said:

Buses in Tokyo are not centralized.  There is the municipal TOEI bus network of over 1,000 buses but in a city of 33,000,000 this is just a drop in bucket. Most bus fleets are run by private bus companies, many owned by railway groups.

 

Bus networks are mostly used as feeders to railway stations. Less than 3% of commuting trips in Tokyo are taken by bus.  This info and that below are taken from RAIL INTEGRATED COMMUNITIES IN TOKYO by John Calimente, Bachelor of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, 1994 on page 88.

 

"There are 21,300 km of bus routes in Tokyo Metropolis, 95% of which are run by eleven private companies (Yajima, 2000, p. 624), including Tokyu Bus
Corporation. The remaining 5% are run by the Transportation Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Ibid)."

 

Toei Bus operates mainly inside the Yamanote Line Loop, while private companies' buses don't.

This is because an early 1900s law forbids any non-state/municipally run company to operate transportation services inside the Yamanote Line Loop.

This is still in effect and it's as valid for busses as it is for railways.

 

Furthemore private railway's busses operate as mere feeder lines for the company's main railway line, mostly in the ouskirts and the suburbs; as opposed to Toei bus wich operates fully indipendent lines in the city center.

[bill937ca]

You will find private buses at Yamanote line stations like Shibuya, stations on the Chuo line like Nakano, Ogikubo, and Kichijoj. That is central and lots of private buses there. None of the TOEI bus lines run frequently. I have gone through there timetables. 

 

I idea that all private railway trains end at the Yamanote line has been recognized as outdated and a mistake.  The Fukutoshin is largely operated with private railway trains.

Edited January 27, 2018 by bill937ca

[railsquid]

27 minutes ago, bill937ca said:

You will find private buses at Yamanote line stations like Shibuya, stations on the Chuo line like Nakano, Ogikubo, and Kichijoj. That is central and lots of private buses there. None of the TOEI bus lines run frequently. I have gone through there timetables. 

 

 

Eh? Many of them do, as I have used them. Off the top of my head, as I used it for work, the 都01 from Shibuya to Shinbashi.

 

As a general rule Toei operates on the inside of the Yamanote line and the area east of the Arakawa River, and sundry other areas such as Odaiba.

 

Route map here: https://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/bus/map/pdf/allmap.pdf

 

Areas not covered by Toei are operated by private companies, mainly associated with railway companies.

 

 

 

[railsquid]

Along the western side of the Yamanote there's often a clear demarcation: Toei on the East, here at Meguro (street view):

 

https://goo.gl/maps/1Wau2X9xXxD2

 

and private company or companies on the west, here Tokyu at Meguro:

 

https://goo.gl/maps/JtbG1YMGWXv

[JR 500系]

Buses! Nice!

 

Aside from Toei, There's also Tokyu buses and Keio buses that ply around the Yamanote line, and if you go further away from the centre, you can find Nishi Tokyo buses and Tobu buses...

 

And we haven't gone into the large list of Coach buses!   :)

[railsquid]

And Seibu, Kanto and Kokusai...

[Davo Dentetsu]

Looking forward to seeing a possible Tomytec Volgren Scania now that Australia are exporting buses to Tokyo and beyond...

[miyakoji]

I kept scrolling down, and there was no post from JR500.  Ah, there it is

[Philphil]

Wow, thank you guys for all of this information, it's really helped me to narrow down what to buy! (Well, somewhat, ha!)

Did Tomytec or anyone else ever make more than just this one (https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/sakatsu/item/181000251248/)Tokyu bus in 1/150?

I haven't been able to find much on them, maybe that's just because I have trouble searching the web in Japanese... 

[railsquid]

Calling @JR 500系 ;)

[bill937ca]

Here is the full Tomytec bus line from day 1.

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/bus053.html

[JR 500系]

3 hours ago, railsquid said:

Calling @JR 500系 ;)

 

Reporting in !

 

3 hours ago, Philphil said:

Wow, thank you guys for all of this information, it's really helped me to narrow down what to buy! (Well, somewhat, ha!)

Did Tomytec or anyone else ever make more than just this one (https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/sakatsu/item/181000251248/)Tokyu bus in 1/150?

I haven't been able to find much on them, maybe that's just because I have trouble searching the web in Japanese... 

 

Hi Phil , Ami Ami has the Tokyu bus in stock, and yes it is in 1/150. The All Island Bus series start with the prefix JB, and goes by region. You can also get the Kokusai bus from HS too for the general Tokyo area.... unfortunately, i cant find the Keio bus that is a standalone... they usually only come in sets... 

[bill937ca]

On 1/28/2018 at 1:36 AM, JR 500系 said:

Buses! Nice!

 

Aside from Toei, There's also Tokyu buses and Keio buses that ply around the Yamanote line, and if you go further away from the centre, you can find Nishi Tokyo buses and Tobu buses...

 

And we haven't gone into the large list of Coach buses!   :)

 

You missed Kanto Bus.       http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10461242

 

 The Kanto bus is a business with a line network in the west part of Tokyo 23 wards of the Chuo Line and the Seibu Line, headquartered in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, and the eastern part of Tama.
- From Tama, Saitama direction, the route connecting the station and the station between the north and south is full without going through the city center of Shinjuku and Ikebukuro, which has shortened the time.

[railsquid]

4 hours ago, bill937ca said:

 

You missed Kanto Bus.       http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10461242

 

 

Don't worry, I didn't. One of my local bus operators...

 

bus-stop-ice by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[Philphil]

14 hours ago, bill937ca said:

Here is the full Tomytec bus line from day 1.

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/bus053.html

Ah, thank you! This is incredibly helpful, and I doubt I'd ever find it on my own!

 

[chadbag]

On 1/30/2018 at 9:19 AM, Philphil said:

Ah, thank you! This is incredibly helpful, and I doubt I'd ever find it on my own!

 

 

I know this is probably too late, based on the receipt of a package of busses, but don't forget things like Hato Bus, which are tour busses that drive you around Tokyo.  I saw a bunch of them at various stations waiting to start tours and the wife and daughter took one of the tours when the boy and I took an E7 to Omiya.

 

Don't know if anyone makes a 1/150 version but I got a 1/15x Tomica one (Tomica are the matchbox like, but much higher quality, toys and the bus happened to be 1/15x).

 

https://www.hatobus.com

 

[railsquid]

There's a plastic Tomytec one, and IIRC a diecast Kyosho one came out a while back.

 

If we're going down the coach bus route, there are various airport buses (e.g. the orange "Friendly Airport Limousine" ones) and a whole variety of long distance coaches. But don't ask me about availablity as models.

[Philphil]

The Airport Limousine busses are all over Buyee, though I haven't been able to purchase one yet. There seem to be at least three coach variations in that particular paint scheme which would give lots of variety. Though I did manage to purchase one of the light blue Kyosho airport shuttle coach busses. Don't remember the operator's name off of the top of my head though.

As for the tour busses, I really would love to find more that are prototypical for Tokyo. I do have two of the Skytree Shuttle busses and one dark green Kyosho coach bus (again, don't remember the bus operator off of the top of my head), but that's about it. So hopefully there are others...?

9 minutes ago, railsquid said:

There's a plastic Tomytec one, and IIRC a diecast Kyosho one came out a while back.

 

If we're going down the coach bus route, there are various airport buses (e.g. the orange "Friendly Airport Limousine" ones) and a whole variety of long distance coaches. But don't ask me about availablity as models.

 

25 minutes ago, chadbag said:

 

I know this is probably too late, based on the receipt of a package of busses, but don't forget things like Hato Bus, which are tour busses that drive you around Tokyo.  I saw a bunch of them at various stations waiting to start tours and the wife and daughter took one of the tours when the boy and I took an E7 to Omiya.

 

Don't know if anyone makes a 1/150 version but I got a 1/15x Tomica one (Tomica are the matchbox like, but much higher quality, toys and the bus happened to be 1/15x).

 

https://www.hatobus.com

 

 

[bill937ca]

Note that Tomytec is issuing a new Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation  bus, the Sayonara Fuji Heavy Industries New 7E K468.

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10519943

[JR 500系]

On ‎21‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 12:42 PM, chadbag said:

 

I know this is probably too late, based on the receipt of a package of busses, but don't forget things like Hato Bus, which are tour busses that drive you around Tokyo.  I saw a bunch of them at various stations waiting to start tours and the wife and daughter took one of the tours when the boy and I took an E7 to Omiya.

 

Don't know if anyone makes a 1/150 version but I got a 1/15x Tomica one (Tomica are the matchbox like, but much higher quality, toys and the bus happened to be 1/15x).

 

https://www.hatobus.com

 

 

You're in luck! http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10397179  

 

but Kyosho buses, or Popondetta ones, are diecast hence they are not exactly cheap... but you do get really good quality and side view mirrors!

 

The rest of the Hato buses can only be found on Yahoo Auctions which can be bought through Buyee... There seems to be a special 2 bus set with 2 Hato buses, and that Isuzu Erga 3 from collection 17 which is also a high decker Hato bus... 

[chadbag]

Yeah they are not cheap.  Luckily I got a TOMICA one ;) that is 1:15x scale IIRC.  Not as detailed looking, but only around $3.50 (USD).   And luckily my layout is not yet needing busses, and it is not Tokyo based, so the temptation factor is low.

 

To tie this in to the 500 Shinkansen "Hello Kitty" thread, the Hato Bus the wife and daughter took their tour on was totally "Hello Kitty" themed.  At least on the inside.  Don't know about the outside...  The Kitty strikes everywhere.

 

Thanks for the pointer!