Hello, hope all is well.

I know how you feel about the ubiquitous railbus, it is one of my favorite ones too. Hopefully, there will never be a Z world without a railbus in it. I don’t think it will ever be dropped out of the Marklin line anytime soon.

Here is a place which has one but a 88168, for sale and it seems like a fairly good price too.

http://www.zscalemonster.com/marklin/rolling/ Might have to scroll down the page a bit. A good seller also. Don’t know where you might find another one which isn’t already used, I don’t know how you might be impacted with import taxes.

You just became interested in the z railbus a bit late. In 2017, the first release of the revised railbus (88166)with the new core-less motor was announced. In 2019 another railbus was released, (88167) this time with the trailer. The red railbus was released again in 2021 (88168) which also included the trailer. This one may have low production due to Covid. So, you see, the z scale railbus has been repeatedly announce in the Marklin line. I have not seen a railbus for the past two years but what I think of as the original railbus, the Kittel (steam prototype)has been released in two versions. Also the extended railbus, the ETA has been announced as an insider model just this year.

I don’t think Marklin will ever stop making the railbus, there are so many variations which could be made and I know there are many collectors who will gobble them up. The railbus has been a tradition in the Marklin line since 1973 and many can be picked up in the secondary market for a reasonable price, be careful, make certain it has a good motor because these are hard to find. If you get one, they are simple to work on, just take your time.

Happy hunting, hope it works out for you. Take good care.

Dwight

Might also be worth going around to a few dealers while in Germany, to see if they have any second hand ones.

Hello, hope all is well.

That is a variety and you are right, the price looks right. Careful making your selection, as some may be unpowered. Finding one which is stated as working, may be possible.

I don’t think there would be a problem attaching the cleaner shell to this. I think it would fit in place of the red shell. You just would not have the cleaner effect. Some have told me the cleaner actually causes microscopic scratches to the track surface. I don’t know about this, but use your own judgement.

Take good care.

Dwight

Hello, hope all is well.

I thought that was the case.

The cleaner bus frame, likely only has provisions for one light. Only one end of the cabin would be lighted. I don’t know if another light could be added to the other side. The early versions of the railbus trailer only has a single lamp in the middle. I think in the really early days, the trailer was actually the motorized frame without the motor. These were somewhat heavy and present a pulling issue for a motorized railbus, at least on my layout.

The red railbus is so common, the cleaner bus shell has much more going for it.

Take good care.

Dwight