THE ENGLISH DINKY BUS & COACH

A personal journey and dream

Author: Roger Bailey Format: Hardback, Size 302 x 217 mm Pages: 150

Price: £25 Where to buy: See review text

During Meccano’s production of Dinky Toys, from 1934 to 1979, there were always buses and coaches in the range. They were often based on obscure real vehicles, with a variety of casting and liveries.

Over thirty years in the making, Roger has been on a personal journey to catalogue and list all the variations of the English Dinky buses and coaches, throughout their production lives. Roger has been an occasional contributor to the pages of Diecast Collector since the very first issue and it is wonderful to see his incredibly extensive knowledge and experience gathered together in one publication.

Starting with the 1934 Motor Bus, Roger takes us on a trip via the Tramcar, Double Deck Bus, Leyland Atlantean, Routemaster London Bus, Atlantean City Bus, Streamlined Bus, Duple Roadmaster, BOAC Coach, Vega Major Luxury Coach (to name just a few) right through to the marvellous No 283 Single Decker Bus that lasted from 1971 until the end. There is even a section on models that were planned but never produced, which makes for truly fascinating reading.

The success and popularity of the Dinky vehicles inevitably led to quite a bit of copying by other manufacturers, both in diecast and plastic - again, this provides many pages of fascinating information.

Published in A4 landscape format, with marginally oversized hard covers, the book makes for a wonderful read, with every page packed with photos and detail. A superb reference that must be considered to be the ultimate work on the subject. Roger’s passion for buses and collecting comes together perfectly.

Initially, Roger will be selling copies in person at upcoming Sandown and NEC toy fairs, with appearances at selected bus rallies also planned. A postal delivery option may be available in the future. ■