N Scale Mercedes O302 Coach

[kiwi_al]

Hi Guys,
Just wanting a bit of help, I've googled myself to drink trying to get a handle on which American Bus Companies purchased the Mercedes Benz O302 Coach. They were sold in the USA around 1968 as far as I can work out but I can't find which bus companies had them. I have a N scale Faller coach that I'm trying to paint up for the American market for my layout, It's in grey primer right now.

Prototype:

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/woodpeckar/83276717/

Model:



Many thanks

[Philip H]

kiwi,
Hum, I'm sure some one in the Northeast or west coast must have bought these, but as a kid in the south in the 70's and 80's, I don't recall seeingthese at all in the States.  Saw lot sof them iN Spain in 1976 and 1980 when we lived there . . . . :

[wm3798]

Could it be the Magical Mystery Tour?

[sirenwerks]

I think I used to see these shuttling tours around the Mall in DC.

[bobcat]

I can't say I remember seeing any buses like that in New York.

[Mark5]

The first foreign made buses I remember seeing were the Mercedes units used by the University of Maryland for their ShuttleUM student shuttles in the late 1970s early 1980s.

Mark

[sirenwerks]

Thanks, Mark. Years of therapy suppressing my time at UMCP and the nightmares all come rushing back with one photo.  ;D

[cfritschle]

Pages 128 and 129 of Highway Buses of the 20th Century by William A. Luke and Linda L. Metler has a photo of a U.S. version of the O-302 with this caption:

"The Mercedes-Benz Model O-302-40, built in Germany, was introduced in the United States in 1968.  A number of sightseeing companies bought the new European-style bus.  Rawding Lines, the Gray Line Sightseeing franchise in Boston, Massachusetts, was one of these companies.  The Model O-302-40, which was very popular in Europe and elsewhere, had a Mercedes-Benz OM355 diesel engine."

The bus in the photo has windows that are taller than the ones on the Wiking model, and it had four round sealed beamed headlights rather than the Euro-style lights on the model, but a least it is close.  I have not tried to find any info on the internet for the O-302, but it looks like you might be able to narrow your search to sightseeing lines.

Carter

[kiwi_al]

Thanks guys for the help - I appreciate it and thank you Carter you've put me on a better search course than I was on. Nearly there!