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At the London Bus Museum’s Spring Gathering, held at Brooklands, Surrey on Sunday 7th April 2019, Bachmann Europe announced a brand new 1/76 scale model of the Cravens RT bus for its Exclusive First Editions range.

In the early post-war years when coachbuilders Park Royal Vehicles and Weymann were at full capacity and unable to fully meet London Transport’s enormous requirements for new RT buses, tenders to supply were sent to other manufacturers. Saunders Engineering of Anglesey and Cravens Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. of Sheffield built 300 and 120 RTs respectively. Saunders RTs were similar to standard RTs in many respects and were interchangeable with the Park Royal and Weymann bodies on overhaul, but Cravens RTs were quite different. The 5-bay window design could not be mixed with standard bodies at overhaul, and although well-built, all except one were sold when only seven years old. Cravens RTs were quickly bought by independent bus operators, glad to acquire youthful London-spec vehicles in excellent condition and gave long reliable service to their new owners in many parts of the UK. 

Today two complete Cravens RTs are preserved in full running order, RT1431 and RT1499, both with Ensignbus.

To coincide with the announcement, Bachmann hired one of the preserved vehicles (RT1431) to attend the event and in doing so members of the Bachmann Collectors Club were offered the chance to ride on the bus to and from the event.

CAD work for the model is now at an advanced stage with tooling expected to commence shortly. Features include a new single-piece body, detailed interior with new seating and handrails, and a new chassis. Four models will be available initially and these are expected to available in late-2019/early-2020:

E40301 Cravens RT London Transport green & cream liveryRRP £39.95
E40302Cravens RT London Transport green liveryRRP £39.95
E40303Cravens RT London Transport red & cream liveryRRP £39.95
E40304Cravens RT London Transport red liveryRRP £39.95

For the first time, members of the public are invited to join the design process by letting us know which routes, destinations and fleet numbers they would like to see applied to the initial models. Suggestions are invited by post: The Bus Works, Bachmann Europe Plc, 13 Moat Way, Barwell, Leicestershire, LE9 8EY or email: busworks@bachmann-europe.co.uk by 30th June 2019.

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