Birney Safety Car

There’s something special about vintage buses that are so much more personable than the new modern, get people there as fast as you can, buses.

Classic buses were just that-classic.  They were beautiful machines and it was obvious that much time and care was taken when it came to putting one together.

This beautiful Birney Safety Car is part of Corgi’s Vintage Bus Line Diecast Replica series.

For those of you unfamiliar with cable cars they consist of a passenger compartment and sit on railroad car wheels and travel on tracks.  They are propelled by electricity made possible by the two large contact wires extending from their roofs.

The flexible contact wires glide along electrified cables strung overhead.

Starting at the top the beige hood has two large black electrical boxes seated on twin rails.  From each electrical box extends a long black wire with a contact on its end.

The wires loop under hooks and can be pushed down and out so they may glide with the overhead contact power wire.

Eight protruding air vents run the length of the rails.

On each side of the roof are a series of wooden slates that serve as ladders.

Each side of the Safety Car starts with a body length green banner with the name of the railway in tan letters.

Below that is a series of eight two-pane windows that can raised or lower.

Their frames are burgundy on the top and light tan on the bottom.

The lower windowpanes are partial covered by a series of light tan open slats.

The light tan color continues below the slats and end in a green strip with tan tripping and back to tan.

On the font of one side is a burgundy entry door with six windows.

Below it is a tan fold out stair.

Underneath the front and the back of the Safety Car are wooden slat luggage carriers.

Four rail wheels with axles and a large black undercarriage.

The front(s) of the Safety Car has three large windows.  It is decorated in tan, burgundy and green with a single headlight, a horn and twin ‘21’ insignia.  A bumper extension protrudes just below the headlight.

The rear of the Safety car is a duplicate to its front.

Basically the safety Car has two fronts allowing it to go different directions on track without turning around.

Inside two rows of seats line up with the windows and several vertical handrails extend down from the ceiling in the front and back close to the conductor’s seats and door controls.

The Diecast Replica is scaled at 1:48.  Details are amazing and paint application is tight, clean and histrionically accurate.