Heljan OO 8803 BR W79978 AC Cars 4-wheel Railbus Car Light Green
Heljan 8803 OO Gauge BR W79978 AC Cars 4-wheel Railbus Car Light Green
A new and highly detailed ready to run model of the AC Cars design 4 wheel railbus.
Heljan have designed the drive mechanism for the railbus very carefully, with the chassis and motor fitting below the window line, allowing the interior to be modelled and passenger figures to be added if required. The model is supplied with bufferbeam details pre-instaled.
The AC Cars railbus cars were allocated to the Western Region and operated on several well-known, though lightly used branchlines. This model of W79978 in the lighter shade of green with speed whiskers has destinations Kemble and Swindon. This journey returned the railbus to Swindon for servicing after a week on the Cirencester or Tetbury branches.
DCC Ready. 21-pin decoder required for DCC operation.
British Railways experimented with 4-wheeled railbus cars from a number of builders in the late 1950s. The German railways in particular had achieved great success with these lightweight, fuel efficient railcars, providing cost-effective passenger service on remote branch lines. The single car required a driver and guard, who could also act as conductor, collecting fares, allowing station staff to be reduced, trying to bring the costs back in line with the takings.