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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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.
