Busses and Where They Run

[GDorsett]

I am looking to collect three or four buses for a layout I am planning, but I have no idea where to start! There are a couple of fancy liveries and wraps that I want regardless, but I would otherwise like to have something somewhat realistic. Considering the goal of this particular town on the layout will be an old, somewhat isolated town with one road access outside of the rail network, I'd like to have one "used" bus for town use and two distance coach buses.

For the older, used bus, can I use a city bus that I fancy the paint on or are city buses usually repurposed/recycled/scrapped before they can be resold to private companies?

What sort of things do I need to know for distance busses?

If I get a bus and "rename" it, what sort of things can I expect to need to do to make it look right? Can I just patch-out the city/company/route names with a block of paint and letter over the patches?

[bikkuri bahn]

Realistically, the town you describe would likely just have local buses.   A typical bus company would have a local bus division, and also a long distance division, and even a tour bus section.  Some also operate taxis.  Liveries can vary, but typically the local buses will have a standard paint scheme.  The long distance buses may or may not share that livery.  An example that shares a livery is Kominato Tetsudo Bus in Chiba prefecture:

http://www.kominato-bus.com/aboutus.html

 

[JR 500系]

You could have one or two local buses since rail is already serving it, perhaps a little bus terminal for these buses too... As for distance coaches, you could also add a hotel or ryokan that is famed in that area, and likely to attract crowds to visit and hence the number of tour coaches arriving there ~ A nice carpark in front of the ryokan with some parking attendants with light sticks will add to the realism with these tour buses, somewhat like this:

 

 

[GDorsett]

9 hours ago, bikkuri bahn said:

Realistically, the town you describe would likely just have local buses.   A typical bus company would have a local bus division, and also a long distance division, and even a tour bus section.  Some also operate taxis.  Liveries can vary, but typically the local buses will have a standard paint scheme.  The long distance buses may or may not share that livery.  An example that shares a livery is Kominato Tetsudo Bus in Chiba prefecture:

http://www.kominato-bus.com/aboutus.html

 

 

So should I get a city bus for local "shuttle" service and repaint it into...something? Or can I get away with the original paint?

 

3 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

You could have one or two local buses since rail is already serving it, perhaps a little bus terminal for these buses too... As for distance coaches, you could also add a hotel or ryokan that is famed in that area, and likely to attract crowds to visit and hence the number of tour coaches arriving there ~ A nice carpark in front of the ryokan with some parking attendants with light sticks will add to the realism with these tour buses, somewhat like this:

 

 

 

I had planned on a ryokan or a hotel at some point, but not sure yet considering the lack of availability at larger scales...

I mean distance busses more for people to come to/from the village/town instead of it being a tourist trap.

[marknewton]

I've noticed looking at old photos of the narrow gauge lines and their surroundings is that the roads were mostly dirt, and the most common buses seem to have been forward control types. The colloquial name for these was "bonnet buses" apparently. So depending on the era you're modelling, you could try getting hold of some of these. The two on the right are Isuzu BXD50s made by Tomytec, and the rest are Isuzu BX141s made by Creative Master Northcord. The Tomytec buses are plastic models in 1/80th scale, and the CMN buses are 1/76th scale diecast models. 

 

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10169994

 

http://www.orientalmodelbuses.co.uk/Isuzu/JB5002.htm

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

 

[ben_issacs]

Mark,

I wouldn't call the left-hand group of buses 'forward control'. they are . in Romanised Japanese nomenclature, 'Bonnet buses', the two right hand ones would be 'forward control'.

It's interesting in the use of the British term 'bonnet' and not the US one 'hood'.

I have a Tomytec N scale bonnet bus from long ago, probably now well out of production, this was in their 'Bus Collection'.

Also, Tomytec made a series of short buses, of the type usually used for traveling to and from a railway station to a ryokan or hotel, again in the 'Bus Collection'.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.