BlueBrixx Classic Old Hingebus (Tan) Set 102960

BlueBrixx's Classic Old Articulated Bus is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from 460 blocks in tan, weighing around 450 g. Designed by Alex, bricks by Qunlong. No stickers or prints.

The back half is pushed, not steered

An articulated bus looks as though the rear section must be doing something clever. It is not. On almost every one, the trailer simply follows.

The front section has the engine, the driver and the steered wheels. The joint is a turntable with a rubber bellows over it, and the rear axle runs straight — so the back end tracks the front through a corner the way a trailer tracks a lorry.

Which creates the one problem articulated buses have: on a tight turn the rear wheels cut the corner more sharply than the front, and the middle of the vehicle swings out. Drivers are trained for it, and city bus routes are surveyed for it.

The reason to accept all that is arithmetic. An articulated bus carries around 50 per cent more passengers than a rigid one on the same route, with one driver. On a busy urban line the driver is the largest running cost, and adding length is far cheaper than adding buses.

Germany built them early and in numbers — the first were converted from bus-and-trailer combinations in the 1950s, and the layout has barely changed since.

In the BlueBrixx range

Sets 102632 (Double-Decker) and 102746 (Long Distance Bus) are the other buses, all designed by Alex.

Specifications

Pieces: 460 · Designer: Alex · Series: BlueBrixx-Specials · No stickers · Weight: approx. 450 g