Oxford Diecast RM040

East Midland - 1:76 Scale

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Eras
Era 5 (1956 to 1966) British Railways Late Crest
Era 6 (1967 to 1972) British Rail Blue (Pre-TOPS)
Era 7 (1972 to 1982) British Rail Blue (TOPS)
Era 8 (1983 to 1994) British Rail Sectorisation
Era 9 (1995 to 2004) Initial Privatisation
Era 10 (2005 to 2015) Rebuilding of the Railways

Manufacturer description

It was in 1951 the decision was taken to develop a lightweight vehicle with the ability to seat 64 passengers, an initial estimate of 2,000 vehicles being suggested. Several protoypes appeared over the next few years and testing of the buses took place with development being carried out by a range of companies. It was not until the early sixties that the buses were seen on the streets of London in any quantity and by now a decision had been made to concentrate the future development of buses on one-person operated vehicles. No further Routemasters were built after 1968 although due to maintenance, refurbishment and deregulation they are still seen not only in the capital, but also in many locations throughout the UK and overseas.

Catalogue listing

Oxford Diecast East Midland – 1:76 Scale is a die‑cast model produced under the part number RM040. The model is presented in British Rail Blue livery, representing the pre‑TOPS era. It is aimed at collectors of railway and road transport memorabilia and measures approximately 13mm in length, reflecting the 1:76 (OO) scale.

The vehicle depicted is the classic East Midland double‑deck bus developed after a 1951 decision to create a lightweight vehicle capable of carrying 64 passengers. Prototypes were built and tested throughout the 1950s, with larger scale production and street deployment in London occurring in the early 1960s. The design was later focused on single‑person operation, and no new Routemasters were constructed after 1 January 1968. Despite the end of production, many examples remain in service across the United Kingdom and overseas due to ongoing maintenance, refurbishment and deregulation.