Rail Express September 2014 by Mortons Media Group Ltd

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● CLASS 68s START WORK ● COME TO DERBY OPEN DAY

Essential reading for today’s rail enthusiast

RETRO fREighT

To Hull

and back!

RAIL EXPRESS No. 220 SEPTEMBER 2014 £4.25

Charting the changing fortunes of freight traﬃc to the humber port from the 1970s

www.railexpress.co.uk

MODELLING

40 PAGES

OF NEWS, TIPS, REVIEWS AND LAYOUTS. ● ELR

CLASS 14 GALA

● 50026

THEN & NOW

● HITACHI

‘CONCEPTS’

NEWS

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Special trains celebrate Hammersmith & City 150

Following the success of last year’s Metropolitan Line 150, this year has been the turn of the Hammersmith & City.

By David Russell LONDON Underground ran a series of charter trains over two weekends in early August to mark the 150th anniversary of the Hammersmith & City Railway, which opened on June 13, 1864. The specials ran between Moorgate and Hammersmith top-and-tailed by Metro-Vick electric No. 12 Sarah Siddons and Metropolitan Railway E Class steam loco No. 1. There were also two stock movements open for the public to ride on, which ran from Northfields to Moorgate in the morning and back from Moorgate to Northfields at the end of the day. Three return trips operated between Moorgate and Hammersmith on August 2, with Sarah Siddons providing power for the outward leg. Coaching stock was made up of four former Metropolitan line coaches hired in from the Bluebell Railway (story below), Metropolitan ‘Jubilee’ carriage No. 353 (restored in 2011/12 thanks to a £422,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund), and a former Metropolitan Railway milk van. Each train required a large number of volunteer stewards, as one of the conditions of operating these trains on London Underground is that each compartment has to be stewarded. The loco-hauled compartment train made an unusual sight travelling through London’s underground stations, and it certainly caught the attention of the travelling public who were waiting on the platform. The journey west of Paddington was out in the open, where again the train attracted plenty of looks from people, not only at stations, but also in nearby

Metropolitan Railway electric loco No. 12 Sarah Siddons makes an unusual, but authentic, sight at Notting Hill Gate on august 2, hauling the rake of wooden bodied coaches back to Northfields after the first day on specials to mark the 150th anniversary of the Hammersmith & City Line. Tim Easter

streets, as much of the route is elevated. The trains had a 20-30 minute break at Hammersmith, where they remained in platform four, meaning that as part of the planning, a number of service trains had to be replatformed. Other trains en route had to be tweaked slightly in order to fit the special around the frequent London Underground trains, although no services were cancelled. Steam loco Metropolitan No. 1 hauled the return leg to Moorgate, and

although obviously not as fast as modern Underground trains (particularly when accelerating), the fact that the charter did not have to stop at every station meant that it could easily keep up with other services. Indeed, on a couple of occasions, it had to stop to allow the line ahead to clear. The loco certainly turned a few heads at King’s Cross St Pancras when the regulator was opened part way down the platform!

London Underground’s ‘heritage’ trips are popular with both the general public and enthusiasts, catering for those with steam, diesel and electric interests. Sarah Siddons’ next outing is on September 7, when it will work special trains in connection with the Amersham Old Town Heritage Day, hauling the 4-TC unit. It is likely that London Underground-liveried Type 1 No. 20227 will also see some more use during an event at some point.

Wooden-bodied Bluebell stock gains main line certiﬁcation Victorian-era carriages gain TOPS numbers for trip to London to take part in Hammersmith & City 150 specials. FOUR wooden-bodied ex-Metropolitan Railway coaches belonging to the Bluebell Railway have gained TOPS identities to enable them to operate on the main line, writes David Russell. After registration, the four coaches were hauled by Nos. 73119 Borough of Eastleigh+73136 as the 5M73/20.10 East Grinstead-West Ruislip on July 23, in readiness for their use on Hammersmith & City specials (see above) and Chesham line outings during August.

They have been given identities in the No. 99xxx series, with the last three digits reflecting their Metropolitan Railway number, and allocated to the MBCS privately owned coaching stock pool. The four teak coaches were built from 1898-1900 and acquired from London Transport by the Bluebell in 1961. After many years in store, they were superbly restored and returned to traffic between 1999 and 2006.

BlueBell Metropolitan railway Set TOPS NO. 99368 99387 99394 99412

LT NO. 515 512 518 516

METROPOLiTaN NO. 368 387 394 412

10 RAIL EXPRESS September 2014

TyPE Composite Brake Third Compartment Third Composite

Making a highly unusual combination of ‘EDs’ hauling wooden-bodied coaches on the Chiltern main line, Nos. 73119+73136 arrive at West Ruislip on July 23 with the ex-Metropolitan Railway set from the Bluebell Railway. Mark Lawrence

NEWS

fgW sleeper woes THE loco-hauled ‘Night Riviera’ sleeping car service between Paddington and Penzance suffered a sequence of failures in early August. First Great Western’s Class 57/6 No. 57603 Tintagel Castle failed with a reported oil leak at Beambridge, near Whiteball Tunnel in Somerset, while working August 5’s Down 1C99/23.45 Paddington-Penzance. The train was rescued by an empty HST from Exeter with power cars Nos. 43194+43177, which took it forward to Exeter St Davids, arriving 189 minutes late. Passengers for stations to Penzance were transferred to a second HST set with power cars Nos. 43091+ 43097, which was noted passing Totnes at 07.26 or 161 minutes late. Newly relivered DRS Class 57 No. 57310 Pride of Cumbria on hire to FGW (see Power by the Hour, p41) ran light engine as the 0C99/05.50 Paddington-Exeter to haul No. 57603 and the empty sleeper stock as the

NEWS IN BRIEF Whitby’s NEW platform 2 NEarly rEady for UsE

drs Class 57 No. 57310 stands at plymouth on august 6 with failed fgW classmate No. 57603 while working the 5Z79/11.05 Exeter st davids-penzance empty ‘Night riviera’ stock move. No. 57310 was itself in trouble at this point with low power, so it ran round and took the train to laira depot instead. Dan Phillips

5Z79/11.05 Exeter-Penzance Long Rock. However, No. 57310 was itself later in trouble at Plymouth station with low power, so it ran round and took the train to Laira depot instead. As a result, August 6’s Up

1A40/21.45 Penzance-Paddington was formed of a HST set with power cars Nos. 43129+43154 as far as Plymouth, where passengers transferred to the sleeper stock hauled by No. 57310 with No. 57603 at the rear. No. 57310 failed near Bathampton, east of Bath, in the early hours of August 7. The train was reversed with No. 57603 then in charge, heading for Bristol and taking the ‘Rhubarb Curve’ to the north of Temple Meads station in an attempt to reach London via Bristol Parkway. However, No. 57603 failed again outside Parkway, and was rescued by Class 66s Nos. 66413+66519, which hauled the train back into the station and then took the empty stock to Temple Meads. Later that day, FGW’s No. 57605 Totnes Castle ran light engine from after further problems on august 7, which saw the Up sleeper terminate at bristol London to recover the carriages and parkway, fgW’s No. 57605 was sent to collect the errant locos and stock from bristol failed locos, hauling them away as temple meads. it is seen passing didcot parkway as the 5Z70 to old oak Common the 5Z70/11.04 Bristol Temple formed of Nos. 57605, 57603, sleeper stock and No. 57310. James Bushnell. Meads-Old Oak Common.

thE project to reinstate platform 2 at Whitby station is nearly complete. staff training runs began on august 4 with ‘black five’ steam loco No. 45428 Eric Treacy being the first locomotive to use the new track, which includes a run-round in the station. the scheme has doubled in cost since first mooted and has now topped £2 million – funded by the Coastal Community fund, Network rail, railway heritage Committee and local Enterprise partnership. it will allow the Nymr to run five services into the resort, starting on august 16. bog hall sidings will still be accessible for stabling by charter trains.

NEWts CaUsE dElay!

WorK on starting ilkeston’s new £6.5 million station has been put back due to the discover of rare great crested newts, which are protected under European regulations. Extra flood protection has also to be installed to meet new rules. the station is now due to open in spring 2015 rather than this december as was originally planned. ilkeston is on the Erewash Valley route, north-west of Nottingham. Construction at the site between Coronation road and millership Way was due to begin in July. ilkeston lost its station during the beeching era, closing on January 2, 1967.

frEightliNEr moVEs to tEEsport

frEightliNEr is leaving its Wilton site on teesside and moving to a new terminal at teesport. pd ports owns the site and is building a £3 million terminal to serve the container business. the company has already invested £16.7 million in this facility in 2011. freightliner concedes that it has lost business during the recession at Wilton and says the site can no longer compete. the Wilton site has seen the cessation of coal traffic to the power station, leaving just freightliner using the line to the Wilton terminal. staffing will reduce from 17 to nine after moving to teesport.

September open day for Derby Etches Park Rail Express to co-sponsor the East Midlands Trains event to mark the 175th anniversary of railways in Derby EAST Midland Trains is staging a charity open day at Derby Etches Park depot on September 13 as part of series of events to mark 175 years of railways in the city. The event is said to be the first time Etches Park has been opened to the public, and so offers a rare chance to see behind the scenes at this important maintenance depot. It will have a range of EMT trains on show as well as a selection of diesel, electric and steam visiting locomotives. Subject to availability, highlights will include the DTG’s No. D1015 Western Champion, prototype HST powercar No. 41001, Derby lightweight DMU car No. 79900 Iris, former Southern Region General Manager’s Saloon No. 975025 Caroline and EMT’s single car No. 153376, which was recently named X-24 Expeditious after a Second World War midget submarine.

Steam locos will include Midland Railway 4-4-0 Compound No. 1000, which was built in Derby in 1902, and LMS 4F No 43924 from the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, which was built by the Midland Railway in 1920 and is the last surviving true Midland 4F. EMT will be naming a Class 222 ‘Meridian’ Derby Etches Park during the day, and there will also be a special unveiling of shunting loco No. 08899 in Crimson Lake livery with the name Midland Counties Railway 175 18392014. It is being repainted by Malc Simpson, an engineer at Etches Park who repainted No. 97561 (47973) in the same colours to mark Derby’s 150th anniversary in 1989. The Ivatt Diesel Recreation Society – which is currently recreating LMS diesel No. 10000, the first British mainline diesel electric locomotive – will be officially launching the new engine

for the loco at the depot open day. There will be a series of demonstrations throughout the day showing how the depot’s wheel lathe and jacks work, as well as a re-railing display. There will also be a number of model railway exhibitions – see page 7 in this month’s Rail Express Modeller for more details. Representatives from East Midlands Trains and Derby’s preserved railway companies will be on hand to answer questions. Mark Coney, head of fleet delivery for EMT, said: “Etches Park plays a crucial part in Derby’s railway heritage and it’s very important for us to mark the 175th anniversary of the railway in our city. We’re really proud to be opening the doors to Etches Park for the first time so people can come and see what goes on at the depot and view some great examples of heritage

and modern day rolling stock.” Gates will open at 10.00 and close at 16.30, with the last entry at 15.30. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.theticketfactory.com under Etches Park Open Day and are priced at £11 for adults, £7 concessions, and £29 families (two adults and three children). All profits will be donated to the Railway Children’s Charity. There is no parking at the depot; however limited disabled parking will be available at East Midlands Trains’ Academy, located on Hudson Way, Pride Park, Derby. A safe walking route will be available from Derby station (Pride Park entrance) to the depot. The event is being sponsored by Rail Express and its sister titles at Mortons Media, The Railway Magazine and Heritage Railway. We will have a stand there, so why not come along and say hello.

September 2014 RAIL EXPRESS 11

RETRO FREIGHT

With the Hull Docks pilot busy shunting wagons in Saltend Sidings on April 27, 1998, the dock shunter called in a favour with the train crew off the short-lived Hull to Crewe Freightliner service and No. 47376 was despatched to the then newly built Hull Steel Terminal to pick up a number of BXA and BWA covered steel wagons that were to be added the Hull to Doncaster Enterprise service. Tony Buckton.

Hull joined the Enterprise map in 1997 with a daily out and back trip working from Doncaster Belmont Yard. On January 19, 2001, Imminghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No. 56096 heads the train along the Selby to Hull main line between Welton Level Crossing and Melton Lane. The train is carrying bricks in OBA and ZCA wagons, steel rods in BDA wagons, and empty BYA and BWA wagons for loading with imported steel coils. The ICA tanks at the very rear of the train are for Omya UK's sidings at Melton Lane and will be loaded with calcium carbonate bound for Aberdeen. Tony Buckton

20 RAIL EXPRESS September 2014

RETRO FREIGHT running as the 6D89/03.20 Immingham Reception Siding-Hull Saltend End. They were detached at Britton Ferry Yard and the empties returned on Fridays, being tripped back to Immingham as the 6D89/07.35 from Hull Saltend on Saturdays.

ENTER EWS

Privatisation of the freight companies in 1996 saw the shadow operators merge into English Welsh & Scottish Railway. EWS set about changing working practices to gain better productivity from its staff, locos and wagons. The company was also aggressive in attracting new traffic to the railway, notably increasing the amount of imported steel through Hull Docks. This coincided with Associated British Ports (ABP) investing £3.4 million in a ship-torail transhipment terminal. The port was handling around 150,000 tons of imported steel products per year and the volume was rising steadily. EWS signed a contract in 1997 with the Hull-based firm Lockwood Shipping to move cold reduced steel coils from Poland, Sweden and Russia to Wolverhampton Steel Terminal, Brierley Hill and Round Oak in the West Midlands. By the time EWS introduced a daily Enterprise feeder trip from Doncaster Belmont Yard, Hull was being used to export steel from Llanwern to South Africa and China, and from Skinningrove to Asia and South Africa. Freightliner traffic returned briefly to Hull Docks with a daily service running from Manchester Trafford Park and returning to Crewe Basford Hall,

June 5, 1991, was the day that British Rail abandoned its Speedlink wagonload network, and Hull Speedlink Yard was closed after No. 37185 departed at 16.43 with the 6D85/12.25 Hull Saltend-Doncaster Belmont Yard. The train comprises one TTA Tank from Saltend and 11 OBA wagons that had brought in roofing tiles from Rugby. Tony Buckton

timed to synchronize with P&O Ferries’ service to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. But despite Freightliner’s best efforts, this new service only managed one or two containers daily, and so it was soon withdrawn as uneconomic – once again ending Hull’s association with intermodal traffic.

The daily Enterprise working brought wagonload freight back to the railway with the movement of loads from BP Saltend to Dalry (Ayshire), Plumpton Junction (Cumbria), Haverton Hill (Stockton) and Seal Sands (Teesside). Meanwhile the former Earles

Cement sidings at Melton saw a new flow of calcium carbonate for Aberdeen Docks. Due to the nature of the track layout, this traffic could only be attached and detached on the outward Up direction. Special instructions detailed that these wagons were to be marshalled at the front of the train to



No. 47198 heads along the main line from Selby at Gilberdyke on June 17, 1963, with the 4D64/04.36 York Dringhouses to Hull Freightliner Terminal. The line diverging off to the left goes to Goole and Doncaster. Eddie Parker

September 2014 RAIL EXPRESS 21

Performance

Flashback to May 19, 1984, and how Indomitable looked in large logo blue before its repaint into early Network SouthEast livery. It is leaving Exeter St Davids with the 1O24/18.17 to London Waterloo, seemingly making little impression with the group on the platform! Dave Jolly

❮ time, it was not surprising that we encountered signal

checks and two dead stands, taking over 8min to get into Reading from Southcote Jct to arrive ½min late. For reasons that I cannot now recall, I left the cab and joined the train for the run up to London. We incurred 2min overtime before leaving, but made a bright start to pass Twyford in 5min 14sec, a time that an unchecked HST can sometimes register some 30 years later. The maximum speed reached was 93mph, but this lost 19sec on the timing to Ealing Broadway. However, our driver was clearly aware of the 4min recovery time before Paddington and came to a halt in the platform 29sec early on the 19.02 scheduled arrival time. This was a competent rather than scintillating performance, and not one that was particularly typical of the Class 50s’ workload.

tO BRIDGNORth aND BacK

Returning to the present day, No. 50026 emerged from the sidings at Highley and was ready for off at its scheduled time of 14.05 but had to wait for the Class 20 special, causing a 10min delay. Our progress was not helped by a 5mph bank slip restriction before Eardington, but a little time was then recouped to Bridgnorth. The diesel service was placed in Platform 2 to allow the next steam service to arrive behind Ivatt Class 4 No. 43106. Phil took the driver’s seat on the homeward leg, leaving some 18min late. With just one cross to make, where the service train was already waiting, we were able to make good progress and lop a few minutes off the schedule in a 54min run including four stops that involved less than 4min at a stand (see Table 1). The route gives some scope for notch 7 acceleration. Coming off the 5mph bank slip restriction, this enabled 25mph to be reached in 20sec. There was also the opportunity to spice up the soundtrack of some lineside DVD recordings along the way. However, the highlight was the climb to Bewdley tunnel. I suspected a little bit of showboating as we dropped speed before the tunnel mouth to give a full English Electric orchestral performance through the tunnel on

26 raIL eXPreSS September 2014

notch 7, bringing back personal memories of Class 40s passing Morley westbound at 45mph and then employing full power within the tunnel confines. There was time to spot elephants and rhinoceroses at the wildlife park adjacent to the line at Foley Park, but the lions were not in evidence. Any reports of animals on the line here would need a more circumspect approach than Dartmoor sheep around Ivybridge on one of Indomitable’s Plymouth runs! Pulling into Kidderminster station, so convenient for national rail connections, it was time to run round the train ready for the following day. Jonathan Dunster said that a round trip is normally completed on around 20 gallons of diesel with load six, well below the British Rail experience which often had double the load and quadruple the speeds. Reflecting on the memorable day out, I turned to the Railway Performance Society’s electronic archive, which is to become a charity, where an outstanding run on No. 50026 was timed by Bob Jennings in 1985 with the 09.40 summer Saturday train from Paddington as far as Plymouth. By coincidence this was the day after the run described above on the five-coach relief, giving a snapshot of No. 50026’s routine existence in 1985. An abridged version of Bob’s log is shown in Table 2.

12 cOachES at 90Mph

There is a danger that younger modern traction followers will not be fully aware of what preserved locomotives could achieve in their previous existence and this run is a good antidote to that problem. Having run consistently at 90mph with a 12 coach 420 tonne gross load, the Class 50 was then delayed in Reading platform, departing 3½min late. Booked non-stop to Exeter St David’s with 7min recovery time, there was just one temporary speed restriction awkwardly located on the 1-in-80 climb to Whiteball, from which Indomitable made a fine recovery to reach Exeter St David’s no less than 8½min early having beaten the 2hr schedule by nearly 12min. The two significant climbs to Dainton and Tigley were taken flat out at 20mph and 33mph respectively

3. BAsingstoke to Woking Unit No. Vehicles/tare/ gross tonnes Train Date Recorder/Position Miles 0.00 4.76 7.18 10.48 13.75 19.01 22.66

50026 8/268/285 08.11 Exeter St David’s-Waterloo September 7, 1985 Neville Hill

timing point Sch. BASINGSTOKE d. 0 Hook Winchfield Fleet Farnborough Brookwood WOKING a. 20

M. S. 0 00 5 12 6 44 8 45 10 46 14 28 19 22

ave. M.p.h. 90 98 100 94 83

leaving time in hand to drift down Hemerdon bank, stop momentarily outside Plymouth station and still arrive 2min early. Finally, Table 3 shows a brief snatch of Indomitable at 100mph. I had ridden in the cab from Exeter to Salisbury and retired to the train for the run to Waterloo, probably with the arrival of a Salisbury driver. The posted 100mph on this stretch applied only to Class 442s at that time so the burst was strictly illegal. Even on the Western Region of the mid-1980s, Class 50s were not allowed to exceed 95mph anywhere other than the main lines between Acton and Reading, although evidence suggested that few were aware of this Sectional Appendix instruction. Modern diesel enthusiasts have much for which to thank those who spend their time and money keeping withdrawn diesels working, as well as those who run the preserved railways on which they can operate, giving them a second chance to savour what they were really like. ■ Thanks are due to the Severn Valley Railway for access and especially John Kane, Jonathan Dunster and Phil Swallow for their hospitality.

New announcements from Bachmann, DJ Models, C=Rail Intermodal and FTG Models â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FULL DETAILS INSIDE

No .1 25

DIESEL AND ELECTRIC ERA MODELLING

R O F R E W E M Bachmann N M U S releases LMS

Hornby delivers Greater Anglia Class 153 Sprinter

inspection saloon

Retooled 2mm Class 25 from Graham Farish

Issue No. 125 September 2014 Inside Rail Express Issue 220

September 13 will see East Midlands Trains offer a rare opportunity to visit its Derby Etches Park depot as it stages an open day for enthusiasts and the public. On display alongside the company’s varied DMU fleet will be an array of visiting locomotives and rolling stock, both old and new. For modellers, it offers an opportunity to explore and photograph a major maintenance depot while there is the added attraction of a number of diesel and electric era model railway layouts attending the event. Rail Express Modeller will also be staging a display of models with the editorial team on hand to answer any questions readers may have. Providing a taster of the sort of modelling inspiration that can be gleamed from such a visit, this view shows Class 222 ‘Meridians’ Nos. 222002 and 222015 undergoing maintenance in the newer of the depot buildings on February 17, 2011. Gareth Bayer

Editor’s comment

Simon Bendall Rail Express Modeller Editor

Newsdesk: Latest developments

A bumper month for new announcements sees DJ Models claim the Class 59 and Class 71 while C=Rail Intermodal has plans for new 20ft containers. Also newly released are images of the Dapol Class 73.

Reviews: Heljan Class 128

Heljan has sprung a surprise by delivering a further batch of unannounced Class 128 diesel parcels units, this seeing the Western Region gangwayed variant brought forward in time to include Royal Mail red.

Newsdesk: Bachmann 2014

Bachmann has opted to make its new 4mm scale range for 2014-15 one of consolidation but there is still room to announce the Class 90 and FFA/FGA Freightliner ﬂats along with the return of the refurbished Class 37/7 ‘heavyweights’.

Reviews: Bachmann LMS saloon

A strong contender for one of the models of the year, Bachmann has released its LMS-built 50ft inspection saloon. Also new is a twin pack of heavily weathered Mk.1s from the 1980s Doncaster test train.

Newsdesk: Graham Farish 2014

The new Graham Farish catalogue did not bring any new D&E tooling for ‘N’ gauge modellers but there are a number of reliveries along with the introduction of an imposing new coal-ﬁred power station.

Layout: Farkham

On the circuit for a number of years, Farkham portrays the heyday of the Railfreight sector in 1990 with an array of high quality wagon models on show. We peer around the buildings to describe the layout.

Exhibition diary

Reviews: Farish Class 25

There are new goodies in ‘N’ gauge as well with the arrival of the completely retooled Graham Farish Class 25, this being a world away from the elderly and crude Poole-era tooling that it replaces.

Reviews: Hornby Class 153

Headlining a bumper bundle of releases from Hornby is the single car Class 153 in Greater Anglia colours. Also new are further versions of the ‘blue spot’ ﬁsh van, including an interesting barrier van.

Reviews: Hornby Mk.3s

September is almost here so it is again time for the scale speciﬁc shows to come to the fore. You can choose from specialist shows in ‘N’, ‘EM’, ‘P4’ and ‘O’, all with diesel and electric layouts on display.

Also new from the famous Margate brand is a further batch of Mk.3 coaches, these all featuring new tinted glazing. As well as the ﬁrst coaches for the Midland Mainline HST, there are further NMT vehicles.

Serial: Elcot Road

After three and a half years, the construction of our Network SouthEast ‘P4’ project layout comes to an end as it is all but ﬁnished. To mark the occasion, there is a pictorial look at some of the end results.

JULY proved to be quite the month for new announcements as Bachmann’s big reveal was followed up by pronouncements from DJ Models, C=Rail Intermodal and FTG Models. Assuming everything comes to fruition; subjects now chalked oﬀ for production to modern standards include the meaty quartet of Class 59, Class 71, Class 90 and original FFA/FGA Freightliner ﬂats. With Hornby now getting a large amount of product through from China and Dapol making progress on various projects as well, including the eagerly awaited Direct Rail Services Class 68, it seems that the outlook for the manufacturers is improving after months of delays and price rises. This is no bad thing with the Christmas rush of deliveries fast approaching.

EXPRESS RATING A breakdown of our Express rating system

✓✓✓✓✓ ✓✓✓✓✓ poor ✓✓✓✓✓ average

✓✓✓ ✓✓✓✓✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓✓✓ ✓✓✓✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓✓

good

excellent

outstanding

Editor: Simon Bendall REMeditor@mortons.co.uk Contributing writer & modelmaker: Alex Carpenter Publisher: Tim Hartley Designer: Rosie Ward Reprographics: Jonathan Schoﬁeld, Simon Duncan Advertising: Fiona Leak Tel: 01507 529573, ﬂeak@mortons.co.uk Customer services, back issues and subscriptions: Telephone: 01507 529529 (24hr answerphone) Fax: 01507 525263 Email: railexpress@mortons.co.uk

Reviews: Weathered Mk.3s

Completing the latest releases from Hornby is a curious quartet of weathered Mk.3 coaches in debranded Virgin Trains colours. Also new is the latest book from David Larkin, this looking at parcels and non-passenger stock.

Like us on facebook facebook.com/RailExpressMag Follow us on twitter@railexpress Visit our website railexpress.co.uk

NEWSDESK

Colas Rail Freight Class 37/4 No. 37421, one of several new liveries on the EE Type 3.

Class 90 and Freightliner ﬂats headline Bachmann’s new range ONE of the most anticipated events every year is Bachmann’s unveiling of its new ‘OO’ and ‘N’ gauge ranges and this year was no different. Held back from the usual March date due to the cancellation of the Model & Hobby Show at Coventry and a desire to launch the new catalogues to coincide with the company’s 25th anniversary, Bachmann instead invited the trade to its Barwell headquarters on July 20-21. Opening the event, Bachmann’s soon to retire managing director, Graham Hubbard, said: “I cannot believe it is 25 years since my wife Ros and I walked into the then empty warehouse and started Bachmann here in the UK. Today we are a highly successful award winning brand with some 50 employees. I am also delighted that Mr Kenneth Ting, the chairman of our parent company Kader, has travelled from Hong Kong to share our very special weekend with us. The last 25 years have been an epic journey for us and one that has ensured that Bachmann is a truly established international model railway company”. However, the company, like its rivals, has endured a difficult year or so in its dealings with China, leading to product delays and price rises. With a considerable backlog of models still to clear, Bachmann has opted to make the next 18 months a period of consolidation. As a result, the new announcements were on a smaller scale than seen before, leading to much consternation in some quarters where a vast avalanche of products was seemingly expected to mark the special occasion. While the main headline was the launch of a new ‘OO9’ narrow gauge range, D&E modellers have several new items to look forward to.

‘Skoda’ is a goer

Decrying those commentators that said there was no market for high specification renderings of 25kV AC electric locomotives, Bachmann is to produce the Class 90. Following on from the Class 85 released back in 2012, the BREL-built electrics will be produced to the same high standard and should keep the company in limited editions and collectors’ club models for several years given the array of liveries that has adorned the fleet. While the Class 85 has not flown off the shelves, a situation that is undoubtedly not

M10 RAIL EXPRESS Modeller September 2014

July saw Bachmann unveil its new ‘OO’ gauge range for 2014-15 as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations as Simon Bendall reports.

A welcome addition to Bachmann’s 4mm range is the FFA/FGA Freightliner ﬂats. One of the examples preserved at the National Railway Museum, FGA No. 601652, is seen on June 23. While the 1960s 20ft container is scheduled for production, Bachmann has no plans to make the short-lived guard’s caboose. Simon Bendall

helped by the continued absence of a fully formed ready to plant UK-outline catenary system, Bachmann is sufficiently happy with its steady sales to persist with AC electrics. Development work on the Class 90 is already under way with the company working in conjunction with Freightliner to undertake a laser scan of a real loco to ensure the bodyshell is accurate. As a result, one of the initial liveries will be No. 90042 in Freightliner ‘Powerhaul’ colours with the others being No. 90023 in InterCity Swallow and Railfreight Distribution triple grey No. 90037.

The new Scenecraft container crane portrays an older design as used in the 1960s to 1980s.

Shake the box

Perhaps even more welcome news is that, at last, a manufacturer will deliver a modern readyto-run model of the classic FFA/FGA Freightliner container flats. Introduced from the mid-1960s, the Freightliner concept would revolutionise a large proportion of domestic rail freight before adapting to serve the explosion in worldwide container shipping. The skeletal FFA/FGA flats would form the backbone of Freightliner

Supplement No.125

NEWSDESK

Trainload Petroleum Class 37/7 No. 37706. The long-awaited platform tractor.

includes the first look at the platform tractor, this being designed to accompany the already available BRUTE trolleys.

Progress report

DB Schenker Class 08 No. 08907 should prove a popular release.

All-new Scenecraft coolant trolley.

services into the 1990s before gradual replacement with modern builds. Some still survive in traffic today as engineers’ vehicles. Bachmann’s model is to employ much die-cast construction to give it weight and rigidity with the company having measured the wagons preserved at the National Railway Museum to ensure accuracy. Portraying the diagram 1/084 and 1/086 ‘batch II’ flats, the models will feature Ride Control bogies, axle mounted disc brakes and both Freightliner and ISO container clamps. All will carry BR blue. The ‘outer’ buffer-fitted FGA flats will be produced as twin packs with an ‘inner’ FFA available separately to allow the set to be lengthened as required using bar couplings. Two versions of the models will be produced, one featuring 1960s-style 20ft and 30ft containers in the original Freightliner grey with red band livery. The other version will be supplied with more recent deep sea ISO containers in 20ft and 40ft lengths along with a 20ft ‘tanktainer’. Exactly which container designs and liveries will be portrayed has still to be decided. To complement the new wagons, a sizeable container crane will be added to the Scenecraft range. Measuring 348mm tall and carrying a RRP of £169.95, this portrays a typical container crane as employed at BR’s inland Freightliner terminals in the 1960s-1980s rather than today’s vast container facilities.

ADB975666 in all over BR blue. Turning to the wagons, the JJA Autoballasters will appear in heavily weathered form with the Railtrack lettering painted out but prior to the application of Network Rail logos. Arguably too dirty for this stage of their careers, only the generator and curved top ‘standard’ variants will be produced in this form. Other releases include the IPA cartic in weathered STVA red, a weathered and rusty BR grey 16t mineral wagon with top flap door and a GWR ‘Toad’ brake van in 1980s departmental yellow. The popular Scenecraft range gets a number of new buildings and accessories. Of interest to D&E modellers will be the postwar systembuilt station building and canopy, portable office, double track rail overbridge and low-relief power signalbox and milk depot. Accessories include wooden post yard lamps, lineside relay cabinets, concrete street lamps and a set of four coolant trolleys. Although previously announced, the new catalogue also

Heavyweight return

Among the various re-liveries, it is the debut of the Class 37/7 tooling as part of the standard range that is most notable. Previously only available in

limited edition form, the ‘heavyweight’ Type 3 will appear in Railfreight triple grey as No. 37706 Conidae in Petroleum colours and Trainload Coal’s No. 37796, the latter having DCC sound. Staying with the English Electric machines, Bachmann will come right up to date with a pair of Class 37/4s, these portraying No. 37405 in Direct Rail Services’ ‘compass’ colours along with Colas Rail’s No. 37421. The Class 08 gets three new liveries that span the decades, these encompassing No. 13287 in plain BR green, weathered and faded BR blue No. 08818 and DB Schenker red No. 08907. Other new diesel models portray Thornaby favourite No. 20118 Saltburn-by-the-Sea in Railfreight Red Stripe along with Nos. 25286 and 47001 in BR blue. The Brush Type 4 will appear in two versions, one with a weathered finish and the other with DCC sound and a pristine appearance.

Limited re-liveries

The only new DMUs this year are a pair of two-car ‘Turbostars’, these portraying No. 170521 in weathered CrossCountry colours and No. 171727 in pristine Southern livery. On the coaching stock front, the Mk.1 SK, TSO, RU and FK types all get new numbers in both BR maroon and BR blue/grey while the Mk.1 BG gets another run out in olive green as an Enparts van, this time in weathered condition. Staying with the departmental theme, the insatiable demand for breakdown train coaches sees the Mk.1 BCK given yellow as Brighton-based No. ADB977109 while a twin pack will portray former Mk. 2a BFK HST barrier coaches Nos. ADB975665 and

HST barrier coach twin pack featuring two BR blue Mk.2a BFKs.

Supplement No. 125

With so many previously announced models still to arrive, the latest status report makes interesting reading. Still at the research and development stage are the headcode box fitted Class 24, retooled Class 158, vacuumbraked Warflat, TTA bitumen tanker and new curtain-sided and tank containers for the FIA intermodal wagons. Now undergoing design are the Mk.2f coaches and accompanying DBSO along with the Type 27 Wickham trolley. Interestingly, Bachmann confirmed that both of these releases have fallen down the pecking order. In the case of the Mk.2 ‘air-cons’ this is due to the more advanced Mk.2e coaches being produced by Hornby while the design of the mechanism for the Wickham trolley has proved problematic, meaning it is now likely to be located in the trailer rather than the trolley itself. Now in the tooling stage are the all-new North British Class 43 ‘Warship’ and the 21t grain hopper while tooling samples were imminent for the Southern Railway PMV/CCT vans. Rounding things off, the Rails of Sheffield-commissioned LMS twins Nos. 10000/1 are undergoing artwork design as are the net-fitted TPO sorting van and BR tube wagon, while factory decorated samples were awaited for the 12t pipe wagon and revamped Class 150.

Mk.1 breakdown train coach as Brighton-based ADB977109.

Weathered JJA Autoballaster with painted out Railtrack lettering.

September 2014 RAIL EXPRESS Modeller M11

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