Great Western Coffee Shop

Interesting feature, with potential I should think here in the UK (except we no longer have under-utilised lines... d'oh!)

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/05/half-bus-half-t/

 (http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/05/half-bus-half-t/)"Toyota and its truck-making subsidiary Hino Motors have signed on with Japan Rail Hokkaido to develop vehicles which carry 25 people and reportedly burn one-fourth the amount of diesel fuel required by conventional buses. Japan Rail started testing them about 18 months ago, and bringing Toyota aboard could speed up development and commercialization of what may be the mass transit vehicle of the future."

"Combining the versatility of a bus with the speed of a train has allowed Japan Rail to tailor routes and services to the communities it serves. Rather than scuttling service on under-utilized lines, Japan Rail has simply switched to smaller vehicles." 

Photo here: http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/autopia/images/2008/05/27/dmv01.jpg

It doesn't look as good as this !

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/519790339_002e2950b0.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/25498841%40N00/519790339&usg=__KL0nuXNS2NGFp8xTIPJD2A3Smw0=&h=683&w=1024&sz=125&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=6vRo30k322IRbM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgwr%2Brailcar%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1

(B****y hell - what a link !)

Especially as it only points to this!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/519790339_002e2950b0.jpg (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/519790339_002e2950b0.jpg)

... or this, if you want the largest picture size!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/519790339_002e2950b0_b.jpg

 ;)

- which is exactly what I had in mind when I Capitalised the title of this thread (i.e. the GWR Railbus)

Ah ... I can see one of those lovely old railbuses running from Didcot to Westbury in the early morning ... then back up to Oxford for a quarter to 10.  Daytime round trip from Oxford, via Westbury to Salisbury, then a 17:00 from Oxford to Wesbury and back up to Didcot ...

One heritage unit, one heck of a marketing / sales opportunity from Oxford to Salisbury for tourists during the day, a restored Swindon to Oxford direct service at pretty close to peak time, and a true peak hour service from West Wilts to Swindon.  But where on earth at Didcot would one find heritage equipment  ;)

I prefer this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsit-g18GSg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsit-g18GSg)