[Bonus: Special postcard included] RM Re-Library 10: JNR's unique diesel railcars - Rail buses and modified passenger cars DC -

RM Re-Library is a reprint of two or three of the best volumes from the RM LIBRARY, which has a long history of over 270 issues.
The 10th volume in the series is the first to combine two books with different themes.

However, they both have in common that they were unique, minority and short-lived among JNR diesel railcars, and because they were both written by the same author, the direction and density of the descriptions are highly consistent. They are included in Volume 7 of the RM Library, "The Rail Bus: Its Life," and Volume 81, "The Kiha 08 and its Family."

The rail bus refers to the later Kiha 01, 02 and 03 models, of which 49 were manufactured between 1954 and 1956. It was created by reusing bus body technology and attaching a bus engine to a bus body, with the aim of increasing frequency and reducing costs on quiet lines. There were successful precedents in Germany and other countries, but in Japan, comprehensive control was not realized, the lifespan of the bus body was short, and problems such as passengers being left behind during rush hour occurred, so it was short-lived and only one car is preserved. However, it was a model that was well-loved by model fans for a long time.
Diesel railcars converted from passenger cars, as typified by the Kiha 08, were an attempt to convert existing passenger cars into diesel railcars at low cost, for areas where new diesel railcars could not be built in time as smokeless engines were rapidly being promoted. Three to five prototypes of each type were made, including double-cab, single-cab, control trailer, and trailer, but because they were based on heavy passenger car bodies, there were problems with running performance, and since new diesel railcars were also on track, they were not mass-produced, and they were retired even sooner than the car body lifespan. These were also known as an easy modification project for model fans.
This book contains a wealth of information on the origins of these unique diesel railcars, explanations of their types, various documents, and photos of their types, making it the definitive resource on this type of vehicle.