Ian Allan Publishing announced the follow up to last years London General RML at this years Showbus, once again an RML has been chosen and will be decorated in Southdown style livery used by Cavendish Coaches on services in the East Sussex area. The model is a limited edition of 1500 pieces and looks set to be the first commission release of one of the re-tooled Routemasters. Order forms were available at Showbus and are due to appear in future issues of "Buses" & "Bus & Coach Preservation" magazines. Anyone who ordered last years London General model will shortly automatically be sent an order form by Ian Allan. The models are priced £20.95 inc P&P.

31903 AEC Routemaster RML - Cavendish Coaches - RML 2324 CUV324D - 11 Eastbourne

        The following models have now been released.
32202  Bristol RELH ECW coach - National (Crosville)
28904  GM Standard Leyland Atlantean - Fylde Borough Transport
29612  Leyland Olympian double deck bus - Arriva serving Yorkshire
99103  1/24th Daimler Fleetline DMS - London Transport (Catford routes)
32201  Bristol RELH ECW coach - United (released by EFE at the Showbus Rally)
22802  Roof box RTL - London Transport (Route 51A - Commission for London's Transport Museum)

I mistakenly associated one of the pre-production models shown at Showbus with the wrong Scottish operator. Please accept my apologies if this has caused any confusion.
14013 Bristol Lodekka FLF : Operator should have read Northern Scottish not Western SMT.

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31801 the new-tooling of the Airport Routemaster (RMA)

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The display of forthcoming models in the EFE Marquee at Showbus

        The new model announced at the Showbus event today was a London Transport AEC Regent RLH double deck bus, there were no samples of the model on show however.

        The LT Museums latest commissioned EFE model a Roof Box RTL on route 51 is due to be released via the Museums stall at this coming Sundays Showbus Rally, the model 22802 carries fleet number RTL 501 and period side advertisements.

A second version of the model (22802A) has also been produced and features different side advertisements, the near side one bears the signature of Peter Hendy who is the Commissioner of Transport for London, only 48 examples of this version have been produced and only 5 of these are being offered for sale via an Ebay charity auction organized by the Friends of the London Transport Museum.
A number of other rare EFE models are also being offered in the same charity auction along with a selection of various transport related items. Further details can be found by visiting the Ebay site page.

        This years annual Showbus International Bus Rally takes place at Duxford Imperial War Museum on Sunday the 24 September, the event has been sponsored by EFE since 1995 and as usual an exclusive model will be available from the EFE marquee at a special low price. As mentioned in the 14 September news item this years model will be the first release of the new Bristol RELH Coach which will be adored in traditional green and cream livery of United Automobile Services.

32201 United Bristol RELH ECW Coach (scanned from an EFE release sheet)

Other attractions to be found in the EFE marquee include an extensive collection of model fleet boards which have been fully updated with all the recent releases. The ever popular EFE Tombola will return to give visitors the chance to win some rare models or even a 1/24th DMS model, two of which will be up for grabs for just a £1 entry fee!

EFE will announce details of a brand new model bus at the event which is due to join the range in the coming year.
Samples of the new truck tooling will be on show along with a special separate display of all the new & re-tooled Routemaster Series models, these will be officially launched at the event and a display of the various full size Routemaster bus types including RMF1254 is also planned to tie in with this.
No doubt the usual selection of recent and forthcoming models will be on show along with a few as yet unannounced models.

This years working model layout will be the Kingsway tram tunnel in London, which runs from Bloomsbury to the Embankment.
Finally EFE staff including Frank Joyce will be on hand to meet collectors and answer questions about their extensive range of models.

In addition to all the EFE models there's also expected to be around 500 classic & modern P.S.V.s on display around the museum site and a large airside market selling models, books and other related memorabilia. Duxford's large collection of aircraft and military vehicles will also be fully accessible to visitors.

For further details about the event, visit the official site at www.showbus.com.

        The following models are expected to be released during the week ending 30th September.
32202  Bristol RELH ECW coach - National (Crosville)
28904  GM Standard Leyland Atlantean - Flyde Borough Transport
29612  Leyland Olympian double deck bus - Arriva serving Yorkshire
99103  1/24th Daimler Fleetline DMS - London Transport (Catford routes)

        The following models have now been released by EFE and should be available from the normal outlets.
24324      Weymann BET Single Deck Leyland Olympian Bus - Fishwicks of Leyland
28813      Leyland Titan Dual Door - Stagecoach East London (Route N15)
28814SB Leyland Titan Dual Door - Stagecoach East London (Route 86 / Showbus 2006 adverts)

        The latest Subscriber's Newsletter has confirmed that the first RELH coach release will be available from the EFE Marquee at this years Showbus International Rally on Sunday 24th September. The model 32201 will carry United Automobile Services livery. The model is also being made available via mail order to EFE Subscriber members who are unable to attend the event.

        The RT re-tooling and upgrade has now been started following the completion of the Routemasters, it has been decided during this process to create the missing 2RT2 variant of the bus with it distinctive drivers cab windows.
150 such vehicles were built in 1939/40 before war restrictions ended production and all entered service on central area London Transport routes. Seven of vehicles were overhauled in 1954 and given green Country area livery for use on routes out of Hertford garage between 1955 and 1957. Their red cousins were removed from public service in 1955 with the majority being demoted to training or staff bus duties. Most of the 2RT2's were withdrawn in 1959 and sold on mass for scrap in 1960.

RT113 a preserved wartime (2RT2 type) AEC Regent

        An EFE advertisement has appeared in Buses magazine showing a new London Transport 1/76th DMS, however in a slight twist this model will be produced as a smaller scale replica of the forthcoming 1/24th Romford Depot DMS 99104.

        Two commissioned Wright single deck buses have been produced by EFE, both models have very low production figures.
Further details have been published on www.britishmodelbuses.com site including ordering details for the Volvo model.
29804A Dennis Lance Wright Renown Single Deck Bus- Go Ahead Coastline
              (commissioned by the Omnibus Society) 144 models only
27612A Volvo B10B Wright Renown Single Deck Bus - Keighley & District
              (for the 2006 UK Bus Driver of the Year Final in Blackpool on the 9 & 10 September) 250 models only

        The following models are expected to be released during the week ending 16th September.

24324      Willowbrook BET Single Deck Bus - Fishwicks of Leyland
28813      Leyland Titan Dual Door - Stagecoach East London (Route N15)
28814SB Leyland Titan Dual Door - Stagecoach East London (Route 86 / Showbus 2006 adverts)