29h and 282 Duple Roadmaster Coach (1952-60)

Some more pictures now regarding the 29h Duple Roadmaster Coach, especially the cream/green one. I like the magnifying glass presentation of the basic model in the September 1952 issue of Meccano Magazine. These early graphic representations of the model always show it as slightly too low on its wheels. This cream/green one seems to have been introduced parallel to the regular blue and red finished examples, as it occurs in the US catalogue of 1952 already. As far as Im aware this is the only explicit advertising of this export model, as later US and other catalogues (US 1953 shown above) only show the blue one and also the red version. Thats why I cannot find an end-date of this model. It seems that the boxes have straight, pre-1957 lettering only, which might be an indication. Others may have more information on this. Here it is, the cream/green one, this one with green hubs, other hub colours are cream and red. The standard box with the blue and red models on each side, shows the correct cream colour dot, done as a sticker (possibly pasted over the green or red dot?). The picture-side oval for the catalogue number of this coach is remarkably black and tiny. Other boxes show a bigger red oval. The initial issues were packed in trade boxes, this export version as well. A view of the green one and its red and blue contemporary colleagues. Anybody else may explain the later yellow/red one, its availability and date of introduction and discontinuation! Finally a demonstration of the remarkable colour match of this coach version and the Samua autobus parisien, French no. 29d/570 (the seemingly missing link between the British Double Decker 29c and the same 29f Observation Coach). By the way, here they are together, in the 1955 US catalogue, page 18!Kind regards, Jan

Jan That is a brilliant example of the green/cream version with green hubs - especially the box with the cream end spot! Excellent. Here are my examples, sadly without a box and with a couple of chips. And lastly all three plus two others, the yellow and light blue. Missing are of course the usual red and mid-blue. Kind regards Bruce (150) #562

Greetings According to the article in the last issue of CLASSIC TOYS magazine written Graham Bridges with help from Roger Bailey, published July/August 1996 the first issues of the 29h Duple Roadmaster Coach in 1952 had a smooth interior roof that does not have a rib that runs the full length of the interior. According to the author, this rib was presumed to aid the flow of molten mazak to the extremities of the rivet spigots. Apparently the spigot posts used to secure the base plate were not filling properly and this amendment to the tooling rectified the problem. Here is my 29h Duple Roadmaster Coach that arrived in our household for Christmas 1952 with its smooth interior roof. Kind regards Bruce (150) #645 16 June 2015

About the boxes. This coach was launched in tradeboxes of six items reference 50 163. It was soon given the dual reference yellowbox with upright DINKY TOYS and no oval on the sides showing the model drawings, no colour spot either. Next was the same yellow box but with red ovals and colour spots on the end flaps. Finally in 1959 - 60 the model was packed in the yellow/ red boxes. No lighter yellow boxes are known (or are there) meaning that the end of production was 1960.

dinkyfan wrote: 'Bruce and Jan--A very nice writeup on the Duple Roadmaster bus, and its various configurations. I always thought it a handsome bus, and only wish I had acquired a few more of them. My only model is the later yellow with red flashes. I attempted to try and find out more abut this color, but found very little after looking in the usual places. I re-looked through my U.S. catalogs, which I have through 1959, and did not see the yellow version ever shown. Most of the references seem to say it was a late color issue, but no dates are given. Most of the sources both show and state that it came with white tires, and some of the pictures show white treaded tires, of the sort seen around 1958-1959.The one I have, with photos below, is apparently an early yellow version, as it has smooth black tires. I am not sure if the last versions had the glossy baseplate, but mine is the usual 'mottled' color from earlier. I can not find record of when or who I purchase this from, but it is over 15 years ago. It did come with a box, but I cannot be sure that it is the original one, and I tend to doubt that it is. It is a dual numbered 29h/282 box, yellow, with picture, and Dinky Toys in small lettering, which would seem to indicate around 1954-1955. There is no black oval with 282 on it near the image of the bus. It also does not show the yellow color, only the red and blue versions, and there is no color spot. In fact, I don't ever remember seeing a box showing the yellow one. Seems that I also noticed that some seemed to indicate this was possibly an export only model. Any comment on that would be welcomed!Possibly others can add more, as the other colors seem well documented. Regards, Terry Hello Terry With the yellow 'US School Bus Version', I refer to the same article in CLASSIC TOYS magazine. It lists this version as being available between 1957 and 1960, with the previous scheme of red with brighter red ridged wheels, and dark blue with light blue hubs continuing until 1959 with the yellow version finally being withdrawn in 1960. The earlier green and cream with either cream, red or green hubs was available from 1952 to about 1957 also. The yellow version was generally available with either the smooth or treaded black tyres. Like many Dinky Toys, occasionally the factory used white tyres, although in many cases, there was a lot of swapping going on by young enthusiasts. As for boxes, the article states the yellow version came in its own box showing the yellow model on one side and the red model on the other, which can be assumed that the yellow model replaced the dark blue version. It also states that the yellow model was packaged in a red and yellow sided box without any illustrations. The box that came with your model is not the original, as this colour was not in use in the 1954-1955 period when dual numbers were included. I have seen a photograph of a yellow model sitting on a pictorial box with a yellow end-flap spot, although I cannot recall exactly where I saw it. If I can locate the image I will post it here. Finally thank you for your words about the model itself, 'I always thought it a handsome bus, and only wish I had acquired a few more of them.' I too am in agreement, as I thought it was very modern-looking. I even liked the 281! In fact, I liked everything that Meccano produced - at least as far as 1963 as from then on the wheels started falling off in the factory, not to mention the opening doors, boots, bonnets, seats, steering wheel. . . . . and the move away from the traditional boxes. But then that is another topic! Kind regards Bruce (150) #649 17 June 2015

Hello all: Here are some photos of typical New york City buses of the 1950's, of which probably Meccano used as examples for the color variations of the 29h/292 bus for issue to the USA. The brand is a Mack chassis type. Regards, Jose.

Hi Bruce: Here's a photo of the rare turquoise(light blue) Duple Roadmaster Coach with its box. Cheers, Jose.

Bruce Thanks so much for adding the information about when the yellow with red version was made. That does make some sense......was that color made available everywhere, and not a US version? My 1959 US catalog only shows fhe red one. Have any of you ever seen a yellow one in a catalog? Regards, Terry

Both the blue and red ones I showed above have smooth inside roofs. Moreover, neither of them have individual boxes and may have come in trade boxes, before 1954. Hi Jose, nice to 'see' you again. As you have no doubt observed I started this thread with the green/cream one which you advised me to buy recently! Kind regards, Jan

dinkyfan wrote: 'Bruce Thanks so much for adding the information about when the yellow with red version was made. That does make some sense......was that color made available everywhere, and not a US version? My 1959 US catalog only shows fhe red one. Have any of you ever seen a yellow one in a catalog? Regards, Terry' Hello Terry As far as Australia is concerned, or more correctly, Armidale in New South Wales, I never knew of the existence of any other colour scheme apart from the red and dark blue. I did see in a Meccano Magazine a diorama of a racing event prepared by The Toyman that shows a couple of Duple Roadmasters in a two-tone colour scheme, although I did not know their colour as the photograph was in black and white. I only became aware of this version through eBay and some of the early literature I obtained, plus of course CLASSIC TOYS magazine in 1996. So it was quite a learning curve to learn of all these variations. None of the catalogues shows the 282 in yellow, nor for that matter any of the leaflets I have in my collection. I have no idea why this colour version never appeared in print. I must check the Meccano Magazines. Kind regards Bruce (150) #652 17 June 2005

Latindinkyfan09 wrote: 'Hi Bruce: Here's a photo of the rare turquoise(light blue) Duple Roadmaster Coach with its box. Cheers, Jose. ' Hello Jose I wondered what had happened to the photograph of your boxed example, so I guess you were still loading it when I first logged into this Thread. And here is mine, sans box! A little the worse for wear, but still worthy of retention! This example was upgraded from a very chipped one I picked up through eBay back in 2001. Kind regards Bruce (150) #653 17 June 2005

Hi Bruce: In the 1955 US issue catalog, there is a color example of the 282 two-tone bus in color with the rare red hubs. Check the photo of the cover from the DTCA archives. Cheers, Jose.