Vintage South Street Trolley Bus

[Chops]

Not entirely sure of the bloodline, but it appears to have started with the West German firm Einheim. Also makes an appearance under "Brawa."
From there it reappears in Japan under "South Street Trolley Bus." Anyone in the know? Thought it was busted dead on arrival:



But it was remarkably simple. After a failed run with the catenary, got it to do this:

https://youtu.be/ev_vlRdJdsM

From here, scenic to a vintage state, 1970's, and re-insert the small baseboard into the layout proper of Armodilloville.

[LC&DR]

Great!

I have never seen one of these actually running before, not at all bad for its age. Thank you Chops.

[Rog (RJ)]

Why is the video size so small?

[Chops]

I am not sure about video size. A bit annoying, not sure if it is something to do with Vimeo or the user's end. Sorry about that.
In the current parlance, which I detest, I "reached out" to Vimeo, never heard a word back. Squint is best I can tell you.

Chase, the Malamute, looks on in wonder as I scenic Armadilloville West.

For the road I had considered plaster, then paper, then bath tub calk, but in the end I splashed on some flat black.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Using this old Life Like Scenery kit to maintain a '70's vintage feel. The dust is powdery, the lichen is toast,
but it is still quite usable.

Planting the bus service on its own baseboard helped progress considerably, as I am able to get about and fill in the
spots. Additionally, after a long stare at the instruction manual, it dawned on me that all the masts are to the
interior of the lap, which prevents the bus from climbing up on the bases. This was never mentioned in the manual.
Additionally, theoretically one can add in additional S curves to give the traverse a more interesting
view, but after one failed attempt I went back to the Keep It Super Simple paradigm that has worked so well on both
Henley and Armodilloville.

[hunslet]

Hi all.
You may remember my mini layout where I run trolley buses and H0e equipment posted earlier.
The buses were made originally by Eheim and were later taken over by Brawa.
There were three types of bus. four wheeler with trailer, Six wheeler with optional luggage trailer, and six wheel "Bendy Bus"
all could run on AC or DC current for use with Marklin AC controllers or conventional DC power.
The buses will only run in the forward direction regardless of polarity as the trolley poles will not run backwards.
I find the the roller type trolley contacts run better than the later slider but the slider makes the bus run closer to the catenary track.
Here are a couple of websites with more info on the system.

http://home.kpn.nl/helde862/Eheim/eheim.htm

http://www.modellbahnboerse.org/obus.htm

Similar trolley busses were made by Europa, Rivarossi and in Japan.

Regards, Colin.

[Chops]

Hello Hunslet, I greatly appreciate your information. I first saw an Einheim set at a model train
show in 1991, and I was most intrigued. However, newly married and one on the way, I shelved
that idea for the next three decades, found this set on eBay, paid a kidney for it, and still
quite intrigued. While other young men dreamed of Pontiac GTO's, I dreamed of trains, trolleys,
and buses. Well, here I am again. I will be studying the links you posted with great interest.

Off the cuff, what year of manufacturer do you place my South Street Trolley, made in Japan?



The effort continues...

[teedoubleudee]

Thought for a moment that was Reg Varney in the driving seat

[glencairn]

Off the cuff, what year of manufacturer do you place my South Street Trolley, made in Japan?

I believe the South Street Trolley Bus was made in the 1960s

Trolleybuses are in use on two unusual mountain lines, the Tateyama Tunnel Trolleybus line and the Kanden Tunnel Trolleybus line, both of which are mostly or entirely in tunnel and serve mainly tourists and hikers in a scenic area. These are now the country's only trolleybus lines, but seven Japanese cities had trolleybus systems in the past. Trolleybuses were part of the regular urban transport service in the cities of Kawasaki, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama, mainly during the 1950s and 1960s, but lasting from 1932 to 1969 in Kyoto. The last urban system to close was that of Yokohama, in 1972. In Japan, this mode of transport is regarded as a railway, so the requirements of the Act on Rail Tracks/Railway Business Act are applied. The drivers are required to get a licence of railroad engineer as well as a driver's license.

Glencairn

[Chops]

Thank you, Glencairin. Moves us a little closer to who made this rig clearly of Eneheim, then Brawa descent. The trolley pole design will predate 1962. Other than that, I can find no reference to the reason it is stamped “Japan on the bottom. The box it came in seems to depict the Golden Gate Bridge, behind it. One supposes it doesn’t really matter, but I am curious this thing is about old as I am and works exceptionally well. As to the mountain duty, I recall the set that I saw in 1994 was crawling up a rather steep conical mountain and then turned about and back down.

[hunslet]

I found this info on the Worthpoint site with a South Street sets for sale - now sold !

"SOUTH STREET ELECTRIC TROLLEYBUS SET made in Japan for Silvine Model Importers (Glenside, PA)Boxed track set (circa 1960)"

Also from the same source.

SOUTH STREETELECTRIC TROLLEYBUS SET made in Japan for Hobby Imports (Baltimore, Maryland) Boxed track set (circa 1960) Trolley has working interior lights & headlights AC-DC motor runs on either a power pack or ordinary train transformer (neither included) actual trolley is 4-3/4" long;

Search for "South Street model trolley bus" to see more.
May give a lead to more info.
Regards, Colin.