Tomytec Moving Bus System distributed by Faller

[woodbury22uk]

I had a circular from DMToys yesterday announcing several new Tomytec items but with Faller catalogue numbers. A retailer has confirmed today that Faller are now distributing the Tomytec Moving Bus System in Europe. One positive aspect of this is that the new style rechargeable chassis initiated by Walthers/Tomytec (Ref WBM-L01) is now also listed as a Faller item (Ref WBML2) to fit a Mercedes Citaro body.

Some sample links here:-

https://www.dm-toys.de/produktdetails/items/Faller_970356.html

https://www.dm-toys.de/produktdetails/items/Faller_976297.html

https://www.dm-toys.de/produktdetails/items/Faller_974545.html

There are also bags of spare tyres in the two sizes used by Tomytec chassis. Slight error in the tyre width in the DMToys listing. Should be 1.2mm wide rather than 12mm.

[Pengi]

ooo - looks very interesting -  for posting

[Bealman]

Does indeed.... well spotted! 

[Ben A]

Hi Mike,

Do you happen to know the scale of the Citaro bus - ie is it Continental 1/160 or the usual Japanese 1/150, which is a better match for British N?

Good to see you at the weekend BTW!

Cheers

Ben A.

[woodbury22uk]

Hi Mike,

Do you happen to know the scale of the Citaro bus - ie is it Continental 1/160 or the usual Japanese 1/150, which is a better match for British N?

Good to see you at the weekend BTW!

Cheers

Ben A.

Ben

I had assumed that it was 1/160 in line with the Walthers GMC 4512H bus which is in the same batch of announcements. But I do not know for certain. DMToys say 1/160 on their website.

The Rietze 1/160 MB Citaro never had a suitable Tomytec motorised chassis until the variable wheelbase BM03 chassis was introduced. There was and still is an adaptor on Shapeways to convert the 32mm wheelbase BM01 to suit the Citaro.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/3EHBPYSTM/adapter-o530-fur-tomytech-bm01-1-160?optionId=6764114

Bob at N train does a 3D printed Citaro in 1/148 scale.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/GH7GKUZXZ/citaro-kit?optionId=43423908




I am currently writing an article for the N Gauge Society Journal on using the Walthers/Faller chassis to motorise Oxford Diecast buses. I will be sharing the methods on here in due course. Photography is taking up a lot of time in preparing the article.

[Railwaygun]

I had a circular from DMToys yesterday announcing several new Tomytec items but with Faller catalogue numbers. A retailer has confirmed today that Faller are now distributing the Tomytec Moving Bus System in Europe. One positive aspect of this is that the new style rechargeable chassis initiated by Walthers/Tomytec (Ref WBM-L01) is now also listed as a Faller item (Ref WBML2) to fit a Mercedes Citaro body.

Some sample links here:-

https://www.dm-toys.de/produktdetails/items/Faller_970356.html

https://www.dm-toys.de/produktdetails/items/Faller_976297.html

https://www.dm-toys.de/produktdetails/items/Faller_974545.html

There are also bags of spare tyres in the two sizes used by Tomytec chassis. Slight error in the tyre width in the DMToys listing. Should be 1.2mm wide rather than 12mm.

this is the English version ( mainly!)

https://www.en.dm-toys.de/newsletter.211/items/newslettere327.html

[Dr Al]

I presume this now means the original Faller system is defunct?

Cheers,
Alan

[woodbury22uk]

I presume this now means the original Faller system is defunct?

Cheers,
Alan

I cannot see Faller deserting their own Car System. A lot of German buyers are heavily committed to it and Tomytec and Faller do not run on each other's track system without tweaking the steering and stop magnets. It is more versatile than the Tomytec Moving Bus System, catering for rigid trucks and artics. The big disadvantage of the 3 original Tomytec chassis were the lengthy front and rear overhangs and the solid body block stretching almost the full length of the chassis. Whilst the new Lithium-ion chassis is much more compact the body block is still 50mm long, 12mm wide and about 17mm high.

I notice that DMToys have sold out of the Lithium-ion chassis already, and other retailers still listing them are waiting for stock.