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Accurascale and Rails of Sheffield can today confirm that one of their most exciting and ambitious projects to date, the legendary Class 89, is nearing production completion with a delivery date to customers now also confirmed. Launched officially just over 2 years ago, Accurascale has been on quite the journey with the "Badger" but the finishing line for this charismatic prototype is now in sight. Earlier this month, the factory sent Accurascale progress reports, including images of the locomotives in production. Since these images were taken, the locomotives have been progressing through the decoration stage and are now moving onto final assembly. The factory have informed Accurascale that production will be complete in early December and shipment from the factory in China will commence then. They will arrive with Accurascale and Rails of Sheffield in mid-late February 2025 for dispatch to customers. Both Rails of Sheffield and Accurascale have a limited supply of models remaining, so if you wish to avail of one we recommend pre-ordering ASAP to avoid disappointment. Place your pre-order today via Rails of Sheffield or the Accurascale website. Pre-Order Your Class 89 Here View the full article

Hi Keith, The issue with older Irish coaches etc as very few ever documented numbers, and even fewer photographed the coaches in a train, it always tended to be loco focused. So, the lack of information really hinders us doing them for stuff from the 50s, 60s, 70s 80s etc. Cheers! Fran

Modellers waiting for our all-new, highly detailed Mark 1 56ft 11' coaches will be pleased to know the BR Blue and Yellow Accurascale Exclusives tool van have arrived in stock! Dispatch is well underway by our warehouse team with both direct and trade customer orders almost complete. With that in hand, we can now release the balance of stock for sale. With such a variety, we've compiled a list of diagrams to assist you in your quest to build some authentic trains using these suburban beauties . (For larger image, click here) Still not convinced? Project Manager Paul Isles recently took a trip to the K&WVR to see Mk1 Subs in action, watch the video below as he explains a little more about the project. Please note that some are in very limited numbers, so if you fancy one, act fast! Shop below and build your whole train, something that is quite rare in model railways today. Both DCC Ready and DCC Sound Fitted 31s are also available with all running numbers below! Pre-Order Your Maroon Mark 1 Suburban Coaches Here! View the full article

When we launched our Class 37 locomotives back at Warley we had decided to cover various subclasses and oddities not ever done in ready-to-run format before. After all, we were a young company and the howls of "duplication" weighed on our minds. However, we were amazed to hear the sheer volumes of demand for our dreamy Tractors to cover existing ground too, such as the famous Class 37/4 sub class. So, for our third run of these English Electric icons, the first half of the announcement (more on that later!) will cover these oft demand legends of the 1980s-present. Not only that, but the investment in additional tooling for these locomotives (as they are quite different to anything we have done before, including the modern Class 37/4s) meant we could add in some new features. So, for the first time, a working fan will be included in all models and the body shells will feature all new tooling, with separately applied bonnet top doors, enhanced grilles and more introduced onto the models. Let's have a look at what makes up this initial announcement: 37408 Loch Rannoch EWS Maroon/Gold Arguably the most popular of the Class 37/4s in the British Rail and early privatisation era, No. 37408 Loch Rannoch clinged obstinately to its large logo paint scheme – the last so adorned – until being called to Toton in mid-1998 for a repaint. Following a protracted overhaul, which included a new toughened centre window, it debuted in the revised maroon and gold of its owner EWS, sans-nameplates, in November and wasn’t reunited with its famous name until the following February. Over the next seven years, the former No. 37289 (built as D6989) was a regular performer on loco-hauled services around the country, particularly Birmingham/Crewe-Bangor/Holyhead, Cardiff-Fishguard/Rhymney and Crewe/Manchester, Leeds-Carlisle/Knaresborough and even in Scotland on the Fort William sleeper. It could also be found on a wide variety of freight and even Railtrack/Network Rail test trains and was variously allocated to Crewe Diesel, Motherwell, Cardiff Canton, Toton and Margam during this period. Outshopped in the same livery in March 2002, its rock star status meant that it was never long before it gained various accoutrements, including regular bouts of Eastfield ‘Westies’, silver buffers, white lamp irons, black headcode panels and even Immingham 40B shedplates. It seemed inevitable that Rannoch would return to large logo in due course and would have been a favourite for preservation, but after running away and colliding with its stabled rake of coaches at Rhymney on 1 August 2005 the locomotive was stored and repairs were not authorised. It was eventually scrapped at EMR Kingsbury in January 2008. 37414 Railfreight Construction The introduction of Class 156 ‘Super Sprinters’ on the West Highland from January 1989 and on the Far North/Kyle lines in the May triggered an exodus of Class 37/4s to freight work. By the end of that year, Laira, Motherwell and Tinsley had gained allocations, while Immingham and Thornaby both acquired three locos each in the middle of 1990, by which point half the sub class were south of the border. One of these was No. 37414, which was on china clay duties in Cornwall until transferred to the North Lincolnshire depot’s FABI pool that September. This loco, which retained its Western Region-style lamp irons at the No.2 end only, had been repainted in the Roundel triple grey scheme with Distribution decals in August 1989, but quickly swapped these for more appropriate Construction brandings after its move. This saw it mostly outbased at Buxton in the Peak District to haul aggregates, cement and the iconic ICI limestone trains. While it wasn’t completely allergic to passenger work during this period, it moved to Crewe Diesel in November 1992 to join the RCMC Regional Railways North West pool, initially to work Liverpool Lime St/Crewe-Cardiff trains, still wearing its classic Railfreight image. In March 1993 it became the first member of the fleet to receive the new Regional Railways livery along with the name Cathays C&W Works 1846-1993, becoming a stalwart of the North Wales coast and the famed ‘club’ trains from Liverpool and Manchester Victoria. It soldiered on until it was stored by EWS in March 2000 and was scrapped at TJ Thomson’s of Stockton exactly nine years later. 37420 The Scottish Hosteller Large Logo w/Highland ‘stag’ No. 37420 was the penultimate member of the Inverness ‘eight’, Nos. 37414-37421, the octet of locomotives allocated to the far north for working passenger and freight trains to Aberdeen, Kyle of Lochalsh and Wick/Thurso, that famously wore the Highland Rail ‘stag’ branding. Converted to Class 37/4 configuration in December 1985 its new specification included various cosmetic upgrades as well as electric train heat (ETH) capability rated at 30, enough to provide juice to six or seven pressure vent Mk.2s, modified CP7 bogies regeared for a top speed of 80 mph and Brush BA1005A alternators to replace the original generators. The Inverness batch was also fitted with Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB) equipment soon after ‘refurbishment’ to work the Dingwall-Kyle line and the recently commissioned section to Wick and Thurso. Like all 31 members of the sub class, the former No. 37297 (originally D6997), was released from Crewe Works in large logo livery. However, in comparison to the Eastfield and Cardiff allocations, and the RETB-fitted Class 37/0s that preceded them, this group did not universally receive names. Happily No. 37420 was one of the three that did, being dedicated The Scottish Hosteller on 28 June 1986 at the Inverness Open Day. After four and a half years working out of the Highland capital, it joined the Thornaby FCTY Trainload pool in May 1990 retaining its full Scottish regalia, albeit with a colourful Kingfisher logo on the cabside, until it became the last ‘37/4’ painted into the general user InterCity Mainline scheme the following December. Six years later it also became the last Type 3 to carry Regional Railways livery and it was switched off in July 2000. It was cut up at Hull’s of Rotherham in February 2008. 37421 Colas Rail Stored by EWS at Motherwell in March 2005 and sold for preservation at the Pontypool & Blaenavon Railway in 2009, No. 37421 was one of four Class 37s that was purchased by Colas Rail in 2013 for a return to the main line, along with Nos. 37116, 37175 and 37219. While the latter pair debuted for their new owner in the middle of 2014, it would be another year before No. 37421 would re-enter traffic along with BR green-liveried former Harry Needle Class 37/0 No. 37057/D6757, just in time to assist on the newly acquired Network Rail infrastructure monitoring contract. For the next four years, the Colas Class 37/4 was a solid performer on various test formations, until called to South Wales in May 2019 to provide power for Cardiff-Rhymney line commuter turns along with hired-in Nos. 37025 and 37418. This followed a fallow few months when the locomotive was under repair and eventually returned after a bogie swap with No. 37175. The Rhymney workings ended in March 2020 and it was back to test train work, mixed in with NR saloon duties with No. 975025 Caroline and the odd infrastructure duty. Cosmetically, towards the end of that same year it swapped its Colas ‘hard hat’ logos for new diamond stickers, although it has stubbornly retained its unique arrangement of single lamp irons on different sides of the locomotive at each end. Despite the increasing number of Colas HST power cars on the NR services, No. 37421 is still a regular atop PLPR (Plain Line Pattern Recognition) and UTU (Ultrasonic Testing Unit) formations and is expected to remain a key component of the operator’s fleet for several years to come. 37429 Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Large Logo w/Welsh dragon Representing the original Cardiff Canton batch of six Class 37/4 conversions is No. 37429, ‘refurbished’ by Crewe Works from No. 37300 (originally D6600) in March 1986. Nos. 37426-37431 were originally planned to join the rest of the sub class on the Scottish Region. However, before they were completed the London Midland identified a more pressing need for this batch, although they were allocated to Canton in South Wales due to this depot’s extensive knowledge of the English Electric Type 3s. The introduction of Electric Train Heat (ETH) fitted locomotives to the restricted weight Cambrian route from Wolverhampton to the Welsh coast allowed InterCity to supplement its tired Mk.1 fleet on London Euston to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli services with air-conditioned Mk.2 coaches, although Mk.1s – often Network SouthEast liveried sets – were still regulars on the summer-dated trains into the 1990s. Unlike their cousins north of the border, the Welsh ‘37/4s’ were primarily passenger machines and they also found themselves allocated to Liverpool Lime St/Manchester Piccadilly/North Wales-Cardiff and Cardiff-Bristol-Weymouth diagrams. Outshopped in large logo livery, it soon gained a small red Welsh dragon logo on the driver’s cabsides, and later acquired the Sir Dyfed / County of Dyfed nameplates from No. 37180 in April 1987. However, they were removed after just four months and the locomotive was renamed Eisteddfod Genedlaethol – after the famous festival – in the August. In January 1991 it was released from Glasgow St Rollox Works in Railfreight Construction colours, and notably retained its red-backed nameplates like the other three ‘37/4s’ to gain these particular squadron decals. It kept its name on its Regional Railways repaint in May 1993 and was stored in 2001. It was disposed of at EMR Kingsbury in February 2008. Specification Building on the already class leading specification of the existing Accurascale Class 37s, our new production run sees all new tooling to cater for the Class 37/4 variant (and other future variants!) which now includes the operating roof fan which is synced to the DCC sound file and also operates on DC! With subtle tweaks around the bonnet top doors, improved glazing fitment to stop them popping out in rough handing through the postal/courier systems, grille tweaks and building on the already impressive drive train and sound set up, the ultimate Class 37 in OO/4mm gauge has taken another step forward from the competition. Our new tooling also covers the new limited edition models for the SRPS and Key Model World for 37403 and 37710 respectively! Common Features Include: Heavy die-cast metal chassis Accurate tumbleholme, nose, cab roof and cantrail curves taken from 3D Laser scan and extensive surveys Timeframe specific details, including but not limited to; Bogies (Fabricated and three variations of Cast) Fuel tanks (As built and with later smooth-sided long range fuel tank) Three styles of buffer: large round Oleo, oval and squared oval With or without cab roof vents and bodyside windows Nose and roof aerials and antennas (where applicable) Three styles of windscreen: standard, centre toughened and all toughened Three styles of cab interior: as built, refurbished and modern DRS locos Four bufferbeam variations with different piping configurations Door kickplates where applicable Multiple body and nose slides to accurately represent almost every member of the class, including three variations of cantrail grille: early EE (for D6700-D6704), later EE and RSH Four roof styles: Original double riveted, single riveted, welded and welded with antennas Separately applied etched metal and high fidelity plastic detail parts, including grab handles, aerials, steps, wipers, nameplates, crests and more. Etched metal door kickplates (where applicable), ‘frost’ grille (where applicable) & super fine etched metal roof grille Scale width wire handrails Turned brass roof-mounted horns on centre headcode examples Full underbody tank detail with brackets and pipework Bogies feature separate footsteps, etched footsteps, brake cylinders, speed recorder, end brake rigging and very fine brake chain Brake blocks on trucks (bogies) in line with wheels (can be moved for EM/P4 gauges) RP25-110 profile OO gauge wheels with fine scale ‘drop in’ EM (18.2mm gauge) and P4 (18.83mm gauge) wheels available separately Accurate high-fidelity miniature snowploughs Fully sprung metal buffers, extra-fine factory-installed pipework and screw couplings Correct height mini-tension-lock couplers with NEM socket as well as a fully detailed bufferbeam Every model includes PowerPack / Backup Power Capacitor Bank for up to ten seconds of power free running, flicker free lighting and continuous sound High Performance traction, to include; High-quality five-pole motor with two flywheels Metal Helical Gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) DCC ready with PowerPack Super-capacitor for uninterrupted power and super low speed running All wheel drive and all wheel pickup Price, Delivery And Run 3 Part 2 So, what is the price for this newly enhanced and tooled awesomeness with additional features? All five locomotives will be offered in DC/DCC Ready and DCC Sound Fitted formats as per our usual style. The DC/DCC Ready locomotives are priced at £189.99 and the DCC Sound Fitted locomotives are priced at £289.99. "That's gone up!" you may say. Well, yes, it has. However! This does reflect additional features, and all new tooling along with revised electronics. On top of that, our previous price was set in 2019, and when you look at the Bank of England Inflation calculator, our prices are within inflation, so if anything, they're actually cheaper than they were in 2019! So, once again, we lead the way in the best value for the best quality and stand by our tagline of "realistic models at realistic prices!" These models are now available to pre-order via our network of retailers and of course, on our website direct! Delivery will be Q4 2025. We will have another Class 37 announcement in the coming weeks covering another variant of these wonderful locomotives, as well as a further announcement of our Accurascale Exclusive models between now and the end of 2024, so stay tuned for those exciting announcements coming very soon! In the meantime, you can pre-order your Class 37/4 below! Pre-Order Your Class 37/4 Here! View the full article

Hi folks, October is upon us once again, which means that the big Dublin show is getting closer and closer. We are delighted to support our friends from the Model Railway Society of Ireland once again by sponsoring the show which is now at a new venue at Mount Temple School, Malahide Road, Clontarf! To their credit, the MRSI has listened to feedback and the new venue promises to be a more pleasing experience with everything in one hall and with more space. We certainly cannot wait to see you there, as we will have the following with us: • An all new tooling Irish outline locomotive announcement • A full and exciting update on our ICR Project • Decorated samples and a full update on our Park Royal coaches • Samples of our grain and H Van wagons • Stock for sale including a couple of bargains too! We are bringing a bigger team with us this year too, with Paul, Patrick, Richard (of "New Junction" fame on Saturday and Sunday) and Fran in attendance to answer your queries and chat about our models. So, let the guessing games begin and we look forward to seeing you there! In the meantime, you can beat the crowds and pick up some of our wares below! Some may be sold out by the end of the month, so dont miss out and leave it too late! SHOP NOW: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/in-stock

With the recent announcement of Run Two of our highly acclaimed Class 66 locomotives, we've turned our attention to trains for them to pull. First, we announced a second batch of our cutdown HYA wagons but we also wanted to add something brand new to the mix in the form of the FCA bulk container traffic family. Designed from the ground up, this is an all-new project that has never before been done in 'OO' gauge, so we're very excited to introduce this completely new tooling suite. Prototype history Glaring omissions from the range of wagons acquired by English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) on its takeover of the BR freight companies in 1996 were general-purpose container flats. Freightliner had taken the vast majority of the fleet when it was spun off from BR that same year, leaving only a rump of ageing vehicles mostly used for containerised ‘binliner’ household waste traffic, as well as Railfreight Distribution’s newer but more specialised FIA ‘Multifret’ fleet for Channel Tunnel intermodal traffic. The result was an order for 400 flats semi-permanently coupled as ‘twins’ that were constructed by Thrall Europa at the former Carriage & Wagon Works at York Holgate between April 2000 and January 2001 and numbered 610001-610400. Primarily aimed at bulk traffic, the 92.7-tonne GLW 60ft platforms were part of a £200 million five-year investment for just over 2,400 vehicles by Ed Burkhardt’s company in 1997 that also included two other container-carrying types. These were both more specialised towards maritime or Channel Tunnel use, the 100 FAA ‘well’ style wagons and 150 FKA low platform ‘Megafret’ derivatives. Like many of the wagons constructed by Thrall, the FCAs were shod with the NACO ‘Swing Motion’ bogie. While this saved money, it limited the fleet to 60mph and forced a deck height of 1,023mm rather than the 980mm used for Freightliner’s Arbel Fauvet-built FSAs and FTAs. While this was acceptable for their bread and butter bulk flows, their use on maritime container trains, which were seeing an increasing number of 9’6” ‘high cube’ boxes, was restricted to major routes, or carrying standard height boxes only when mixed in with FAA and/or FKA. In April 2000, the first two FCA pairs, Nos. 610001/2 and 610003/4 moved to Derby for approval and type testing. Their first deployment was to the London area, when over 120 vehicles were allocated to the Brentford to Calvert and Cricklewood to Forders ‘binliners’, while a further 30 examples were reported working out of Thrislington carrying lime to Margam in South Wales in the distinctive low-height Rail Freight Services containers. The FCA would be associated with a range of other interesting duties over the next few years. They replaced two-axle FPAs on containerised coal traffic, were mixed in with wagonload vehicles in ‘Enterprise’ trains, and were partnered with brand new curtain-sided steel coil containers working out of South Wales. From the mid-2000s they turned heads on the East Coast Main Line when loaded with bright orange Rugby Cement 30ft ‘ISOVeyor’ flyash tanktainers and notably took over from KFAs to carry 20ft ammunition containers and other military supplies and equipment from a range of depots across the country. They have also been spotted carrying scrap carrying containers on the rear of the Outokumpu stainless steel trains between Tinsley and Immingham, while between 2011-6, they were used on various flows from Fiddlers Ferry and Drax carrying gypsum containers. From 2010, new owner DB Schenker began a programme of uprating the brake equipment for 75mph running, recoding the modified wagons as FYA. Two years later, the operator addressed the other major compromise in the original design, replacing the 915mm diameter wheels with 826mm versions to reduce the overall deck height to accommodate ‘high cube’ containers within the standard Network Rail W10 loading gauge. The first recoded FXA to be converted, Nos. 610023/4, was also outshopped in DB traffic red, the only full repaint so far of these wagons. For others, the removal of the EWS branding and often replacement with a DB sticker is the norm. Finally, July 2015 saw the debut of the first FQA, a three-unit 180-ft long variant that used a converted ‘outer’ wagon with its buffers and drawgear replaced with a receptacle for a bar coupler. One other interesting use for two pairs of former FCA ‘twins’ is partnering Network Rail Kirow ‘multi-tasker’ 1200UK crane No. 99 70 9319 013-7. These follow on from the 18 single-unit KFA variants of the FCA that have become the standard support wagons for the Kirow fleet operating with Balfour Beatty, Colas Rail, SB Rail and Volker Rail (ex-Grant Rail). Bringing the story up to date, as well as a much greater use on intermodal traffic, more recently, examples have been fitted with ‘Super Tench’ mesh-sided modules recovered from scrapped FJAs, while others are equipped with three 20ft steel slab carriers or flat platforms for carrying concrete tunnel liner sections. They are still heavily associated with military trains and the ‘binliners’, although the Brentford and Northolt flows now run to Severnside, near Bristol, although they also ran to Scunthorpe in the mid 2010s. The FCAs are also used on the Knowsley-Wilton (Teesside) service carrying Merseyside’s domestic waste to the incinerators. While the Rugby flyash working has fallen by the wayside, similar ISOVeyor tanktainers are used between Drax Power Station (via Milford Sidings) and Appleford carrying low-carbon ash to Forterra’s plant at Newbury as a major ingredient in Thermalite Aircrete blocks. The Containers The first run of the FCA includes two brand new container models that have never been tooled before in R-T-R plastic in any scale. The 20ft ‘binliner’ household waste container represents the later 8’6” high variant most commonly associated with the Northolt and Brentford flows, although it shares a family resemblance with boxes built for Avon County Council and Dagenham, as well as the Powderhall service in Scotland. These containers replaced the ageing 8’ high variety that were phased out in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and have seen service from West London to the Bristol area and North Lincolnshire. Although the 8’ boxes wore large GLC lettering for the Greater London Council, the 8’6” variants were delivered in the same yellow but with West Waste branding (for the West London Waste Authority). In 2017, Suez-Sita took over the waste contract, quickly rebranding the containers, while since 2018 an increasing number of refurbished versions have been appearing in the company’s blue livery with large Suez logo. The second all-new container covers an equally long-lived design. After years of relying on an eclectic range of British Rail air-braked vehicles, the early 1990s saw the Ministry of Defence containerise its stores and munitions traffic between depots within the UK and to overseas deployments. The existing wagon fleet was rationalised down to OCA, VAA and VGA types and these were supplemented by KFA container flats leased from Tiphook to carry the new Adamson-built 20ft boxes. These distinctive containers featured opening doors along the full length of three sides reducing the handling of sensitive loads. The format of the trains between the various MoD establishments remained basically the same until 2007 when the FCAs took over. The Model We are is proud to reveal the FCA family as the latest addition to its range of high fidelity 4mm/OO gauge wagons, complete with a range of appropriate containers that will open up many new opportunities for modellers looking to add interesting freight flows to their layouts. Designed from works drawings and multiple surveys, the first run sees the wagons combined with either 20ft West London ‘binliner’ or 20ft MoD ammunition containers, but can also be configured to carry a range of different-sized modules or boxes. Highlights of the design include the cast metal frame with plastic, wire and etched metal details, sprung buffers, highly flexible air pipes cast from rubber, the gorgeously rendered NACO bogies with rotating axle boxes, correct wheel profiles front and rear, full inner frame detail and brake shoes with rigging, and the numerous separately-added elements such as locking bars and operating equipment on the containers. As you can see from our images, the containers and flats are fully tooled, with first samples having arrived for inspection before moving onto the decoration phase. You'll be able to see these Engineering Prototypes first-hand at the Great Electric Train Show in October. The Accurascale Exclusive FCAs are anticipated to arrive in stock in Q4, 2025, so you've plenty of time to rake build using our Pay-monthly Partial.ly feature. Our FCA packs each feature two wagon flats and no less than six containers per pack! They're priced at £129.99 per twin pack and we're operating their usual 10% off when you buy two packs or more, along with a new offer of 15% off when you buy 5 or more packs directly from our website. That means each wagon just costs £52.53 when you factor in loyalty points rewards and postage and packaging being free, representing excellent value! The FCA's are only available directly so Pre-order yours today for no money down via the link below. Pre-Order Your Accurascale Exclusive FCA/FYA Packs Here! View the full article

The mighty Deltic was our first Accurascale locomotive and proved extremely popular, selling through in record time. Now Run Two is almost here and final production samples were recently forwarded to us by the factory for inspection. Back in 2022, our first Class 55 model was a resounding success, It became a multiple award winner, clinching the top spot in the 'OO' Model of the Year and 'Innovation of the Year' categories in the Hornby Magazine Awards, voted for by the public. However, not resting on our laurels! We have listened to feedback from our customers and put our heads down to make subtle changes which improve on what has gone before as we continue to pursue the goal of creating the definitive Deltic in 'OO' gauge. Having carefully listened to your feedback, our Project Manager went back to the factory with a list of subtle improvements. The Class 55 handbrake chains are mounted from the bogie to the body, just like the prototype. This proved troublesome due to the high fidelity of the parts used, particularly when adding one of our 3D-printed ModelU crew packs. Going back to the drawing board, we've redesigned our handbrake chains to feature a larger hook and pin, which prove much simpler to install. We've also asked for them to be a separate part in the accessory bag so those who want the extra detail only have to add the chains once. Working with our designers, we've also reengineered the chassis to lower the seating of the speaker in order to eliminate any interference with the body. Our coveted special edition boxes have also been completed, which include the Porterbrook Purple 9016 and D9000 'Royal Scots Grey'. With these adjustments completed and a handful of other refinements added, we're delighted to share the news that our Deltics will be departing our factory and sailing to the UK imminently. We expect shipping to take six weeks although with world events may mean it takes a tad longer. Some Deltics are still available to pre-order but are close to selling out. Pre-order yours today via the link below, or from your local stockist for the four main range locomotives! Pre-Order Your Class 55 Deltic Here! View the full article

Hattons Original favourites, the ICI Bogie Limestone hoppers join the Accurascale Exclusive lineup! Yes, We've managed to secure another of the tooling suites from ex-retailer Hattons in the form of the extremely popular ICI Bogie hoppers, joining our 'Moving Britain' range. History The ICI bogie limestone hopper was one of the first bulk bogie hoppers built, with the design dating as far back as 1931 with the LMS. The Vacuum only wagons were ordered by ICI Limited to transport crushed limestone from Tunstead quarry in Derbyshire (Peak Forest), to the Soda Ash plants at Northwich in Cheshire. Each wagon could carry 43.5 tonnes, the gross weight being 66.5 tonnes. They take the historical distinction of being the first ‘block freight’ train. A total of 152 wagons were built by Charles Roberts in Horbury between 1936 and 1953 in three batches, the first batch of 84 wagons numbered 3200-3283, the second batch of 36 in 1945 numbered 3284-3319, and the final batch 3320-3351 in 1951. With a working lifespan of 62 years, these wagons became part of the Peak District scenery and were very robustly built workhorses. The fleet had a few subtle differences, the most obvious being the ICI plate lettering on the hopper sides, 3200-3283 had the smaller type, and 3284-3319 having the larger lettering. As time went on, the lettering was removed completely on overhaul but the odd wagon managed to keep it or retain the scars from where it used to be. Generally the wagons were in pretty good condition up until the end of their working lives. The ‘BSC’ Iron Ore hoppers. These 123 ‘unfitted’ wagons followed on from the ICI hoppers and were built between 1952-1958 for John Summers and were very similar in design. The biggest tell tale is they are 5.6 inches shorter than the ICI wagons so are easily spotted in a rake because they are lower in height. The wagons passed to British Steel in the 1970s, and by 1980 were becoming surplus from British Steel Shotton. With perfect timing, BR was obliged to replace 13 wagons which were lost in accidents and scrapped between 1980-82, and ICI purchased most of the remaining wagons to increase capacity, also adding vacuum brakes and ICI lettering. The remaining purchased wagons (around 90) were used as a source of spares which surrendered their newer plate style bogies to the original build of 84 ICI hoppers built with diamond open frame bogies to standardise the fleet. The surplus BSC hoppers were sold as internal users or scrapped. These ex-BSC hoppers were mixed in with the ICI fleet and survived until the end, and the original Baldwin diamond frame bogies had all been replaced by the mid 1980s. The wagons have seen a variety of traction over the years, being hauled by LMS and BR 4F and 8F locomotives, followed by the Sulzer Type 2s (Class 24/25s) into the 1980s. Pairs of Class 20s were trialled from 1982 and by 1985 had seen some braking modifications. This led to a new subclass being created in 1986, the Class 20/3, and featured further braking modifications (not to be confused with the Class 20/3 conversions for DRS) but the subclass and conversion project was dropped by late 1986 replaced by single Class 47s. This gave way to the famous pairs of Class 37s hauling these trains across the Derbyshire scenery. Other classes such as 3F, 9F, Co-Bo, 31, 40, and 45 lending a hand too. Wagon rakes varied from 11 in the early 8F days, to 24-28 with a pair of Class 37s up front. The wagons remained in service into the 1990s, usually hauled by a pair of Class 37s, withdrawal from mainline duties came in December 1997. The main reason for their withdrawal apart from their age was that the entire fleet were vacuum brake only, and EWS were unable to commit to providing reliable pairs of Class 37s as the years went on. Classes 56 and 60 were air brake only and no use for this traffic flow, and with the Class 66 invasion planned, the situation wasn’t going to change. Comment was made by one of the scrapyards that these wagons were so solidly built they were very difficult to cut up, and still had lots of life left in them. A credit to Charles Roberts build quality all those years ago. The wagons were replaced from 1997 by redundant two axle PGA hoppers dating from 1979-1981, hauled by pairs of Class 37s or a single Class 60. Several ICI Hoppers are preserved in various places, both ICI and BSC types being represented. The Model A welcome addition to the 00 gauge ready-to-run scene when first released, these bogie hopper wagons formed part of the "Hattons Originals" range and have been highly sought since previous production runs sold out. Decoration samples are now complete with the first samples having arrived for assessment. While the models are shaping up nicely feedback on fit and finish will be triple-checked before being signed off. Our ICI bogie hoppers will be sold in 15 twin packs, 5 packs each for three eras; 1950s - 1973, 1973 - 1992 and 1992 - 1997, priced at £79.95 per pack. Delivery is anticipated for Q2 2025. We're offering the usual 10% off when you buy two packs or more, along with a new offer of 15% when you buy 5 or more packs direct from our website. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the link below. Pre-Order Your ICI Bogie Limestone Hoppers Here! View the full article

The announcement of our Class 60 locomotives has certainly piqued the interest among modellers as sales of these Mountain movers have defied even our lofty expectations, with well over 80% of the first run selling through! Today we can confirm the final piece in our line up for Run one, as we announce Accurascale exclusive 60055 'Thomas Barnardo' in DCRail colours. Some of you will have seen this model already in our launch video as it was originally penned in to be our charity special. Unfortunately, that has not been possible this time however keep a close eye on Run 2... 60055 was completed at the Brush locomotive works in Loughborough in 1991 and accepted by British Rail on the 15th of May that year. It Rolled out of the works the smart, triple grey Railfreight livery, wearing the black and yellow diamonds to denote its coal sector allocation. 60055 was named Thomas Barnardo from new, a name it would carry for the rest of its working life. Thomas Barnardo (1845 – 1905) was an Irish born philanthropist. He was born in Dublin and moved to London in 1868 in an attempt to save and educate destitute children following a cholera outbreak. From his first orphanage he set up in 1870 a further 121 were opened by his death in 1905, caring for around 60,000 children. Barnardo’s legacy was to establish the children’s charity in his name that is still very much active today. The locomotive bearing his name continued to work for the coal sector until under the “shadow franchise” period it became part of the Transrail fleet, this meant in 1995 it lost its coal sector markings in place of the Transrail “big T”. Soon ownership passed to EW&S Railways in 1996 but 60055 did not receive an updated livery for another decade until 2006 when the “big T” was covered by the iconic EWS “Three Beasties logo”. Unfortunately, 60055 did not last long in this condition as it was placed in to storage at Toton in November 2008 as part of EWS’ reduction in operational fleet. Moved by rail to Crewe in 2009, this is where 60055 would spend the next decade of its life before being purchased by DCR and moved by road back to Toton for a full overhaul. In November 2019 60055 worked its first revenue train in multiple with class leader 60001 as a test run from Toton to Boston on the steel train. Still in tatty triple grey livery, it had yet to visit the paint shop to gain its new coat of single grey to indicate its new ownership. DCR are notable for having impeccably clean locomotives and 60055 is no different. One of four operational class 60’s in the fleet, it can be seen working in rotation around many of their aggregate contracts and is always kept looking its best by the staff. The latest chapter in 60055’s story came during late 2023 when it was fitted with the latest BMAC LED style headlights as seen on our model. The Decoration sample shown will have numerous tweaks before arriving, including the addition of all-black buffer faces, not to mention a highly collectable custom box! Production is well underway so pre-ordering 60055 is advised, Don't miss out on this wonderful exclusive; pre-order below in DC/DCC Ready specification for just £169.99 or DCC Sound Fitted for £269.99 with free UK postage and packaging below! Pre-Order Your DCRail 60055 Class 60s By Clicking Here! View the full article

Following the recent announcement of our all-new London Transport exclusive pair. We can now show you the rest of our Pannier collection as the project reaches the decoration phase. The sheer number of variances in tooling options took a while to get right before moving on to decoration, but now they've arrived, all we can say is; WOW! The addition of paint really highlights the depth of tooling as no two models are the same. Lets have a look! You might notice when looking at 5741, the green looks a little peculiar... Well, no need to adjust your sets as this highlights one of the reasons we take so much time inspecting decoration samples. Project Manager Steve Purves has taken some stick in the office, after accidentally forwarding a typo to our factory, creating a very unique light green 5741. This of course, will be changed along with other tweaks for final production, although we all agree, Steves obviously a big Montague fan.. So, when are they be getting here? Well, the exciting news is that production is about to get underway, once changes have been implemented from feedback given. Delivery is still slated for Q1, 2025. Our Pannier Tanks are priced at £139.95 for DC/DCC Ready models and £239.95 for DCC Sound Fitted models. Locomotives can be pre-ordered via our website for no money down or via monthly instalments at no extra cost. Detailed Specification Highly detailed 0-6-0PT 00 gauge model, 1:76.2 scale on 16.5mm track Minimum Radius 438mm (2nd radius set track) RP25-110 profile 00 gauge wheels Coreless motor with flywheel geared for maximum performance and slow speed running Die-cast metal chassis and pickups to all wheels. Next18 DCC ready or ESU LokSound V5 sound fitted, slot mounted in smokebox PowerPack capacitor for uninterrupted power Two quality sugar cube speakers contained in sound capsule located for best possible sound. Small, flexible neck NEM coupler mounts set at correct height, with mini-tension-lock couplers. Brake rigging factory fitted Brake blocks aligned with wheels Scale width wire handrails and sand pipes Fully detailed cab interior with twin LED pulsing/steady Firebox glow Etched metal/plastic detail parts, including grab handles, steps, buffer pipework, lamp irons etc. Turned brass whistles etched whistle shields (where fitted) Sliding roof ventilator Etched metal pre-painted number plates and works plates. Fully sprung metal buffers, factory-installed pipework and screw/3 link couplings Magnetically removable smoke box door PRE-ORDER YOUR PANNIER RIGHT HERE AND BROWSE THE RANGE! View the full article

We announced our all-new Pannier locomotive project back in November 2023. Today we can confirm the project has reached the decoration stage, with all models arriving for full evaluation by Project Manager Steve Purves. Let's kick off the update on the project with an exciting announcement, two all-new London Transport variants, L91 and L94! London Transport’s railway network is well known for being electrified and “underground” but there had always been a small fleet of steam locomotives retained for working infrastructure trains on the surface lines. By the 1950s, these older locomotives were well past their prime and London Transport began to look for replacements. Diesel locomotives were considered, as was a small fleet of ex GNR J52 steam locomotives but their trial was unsuccessful. In 1956, the solution came in recently withdrawn ex GWR 57xx pannier tanks. Image: London Transport L89 and L90 at Lillie Bridge depot in July 1966 copyright PWS collection 2023 Modifications were required to the cab roofs to allow for tighter clearances which involved removing the protruding roof section and placing a new rainstrip higher on the roof. Modifications were also required to fit the locomotives with “trip cocks” to be compatible with LT’s signalling system. These cocks would contact a ramp which was raised at red signals which would activate the vacuum brake and stop the train. Extra brackets were fitted on the running plate, and the cocks were fitted to these. Steam heat was not a requirement for the engineering trains so this was removed. In total 13 locomotives were bought by LT although only 11 ever ran at once. L91, as modelled was the second locomotive to carry the number L91. Originally this running number was allocated to ex-GWR number 5752, a 1929 vintage product of Swindon Works. This was one of the first to enter traffic in 1958 but within two years it was in need of major repairs which were deemed to be prohibitively expensive, and so it was scrapped and replaced with the second L91, which we have modelled here. The second L91 was actually from the same batch, ex GWR 5757, this locomotive differed to the first in that it didn’t have the top feed fitted and retained its back feed boiler right up to its final withdrawal in 1968. Unfortunately, L91 was not a survivor and was cut up by Chesterfield Steelbreaking and dismantling limited during 1970. Steam on the LT system lasted until 1971, 3 years after the big “final day” on BR. During this period, the “Red Panniers” gained quite a following as they were still mainline type locomotives doing real work, unlike the industrial systems which struggled to find favour with many enthusiasts. This 3-year window also allowed many of the LT panniers to find homes in preservation following their withdrawal. Fledgling preservation schemes were faced with having to purchase either industrial or scrapyard-condition locomotives so the opportunity to purchase a working mainline locomotive was not passed up. L95 was even steamed the day it arrived on the Severn Valley Railway! L94 was one of these locomotives. After hauling the last steam service on the underground, it was sold from service to “7029 Clun Castle ltd” and moved to Tyseley in Birmingham. It has appeared in several guises, including LT livery as L94 or painted in GWR and BR conditions with its original number, 7752. A product of Glasgow, dating from 1930, L94/7752 must be considered one of the hardest working panniers in preservation and during 2011 it was even fitted with equipment to allow mainline running. Still retaining the LT “cut cab” but having lost the trip cock brackets, it now gained new modifications. A GWR style speedometer drive was fitted to the rear wheel under the driver’s side and two electrical equipment boxes were fitted under the running plate to house electronics for modern mainline signalling. Also evident are slightly more polished areas than it would have had during squadron service as well as the mandatory OHLE warning flashes on the step areas. L94 was seen working frequently with classmate 9600, either top and tail, double heading or even used as a pair for banking duties on some of Vintage Trains’ railtours as well as spending periods on hire to preserved railways around the country. L94 has most recently been repainted into Great Western Green livery and is carrying the original number of 7752. Deco samples have been received and are currently under inspection, with further images to be shared in due course! It is anticipated that the locomotives will arrive in stock in Q1, 2025. Our Pannier Tanks are priced at £139.95 for DC/DCC Ready models and £239.95 for DCC Sound Fitted models. Locomotives can be pre-ordered via our website for no money down or via monthly instalments at no extra cost. PRE-ORDER YOUR PANNIER RIGHT HERE AND BROWSE THE RANGE! Detailed Specification Highly detailed 0-6-0PT 00 gauge model, 1:76.2 scale on 16.5mm track Minimum Radius 438mm (2nd radius set track) RP25-110 profile 00 gauge wheels Coreless motor with flywheel geared for maximum performance and slow speed running Die-cast metal chassis and pickups to all wheels. Next18 DCC ready or ESU LokSound V5 sound fitted, slot mounted in smokebox PowerPack capacitor for uninterrupted power Two quality sugar cube speakers contained in sound capsule located for best possible sound. Small, flexible neck NEM coupler mounts set at correct height, with mini-tension-lock couplers. Brake rigging factory fitted Brake blocks aligned with wheels Scale width wire handrails and sand pipes Fully detailed cab interior with twin LED pulsing/steady Firebox glow Etched metal/plastic detail parts, including grab handles, steps, buffer pipework, lamp irons etc. Turned brass whistles etched whistle shields (where fitted) Sliding roof ventilator Etched metal pre-painted number plates and works plates. Fully sprung metal buffers, factory-installed pipework and screw/3 link couplings Magnetically removable smoke box door View the full article

Hi folks, We have a lot of new stock coming your way in the coming months, so we need to clear a bit of space in the warehouse. So, here is a deal for you! GET 40% OFF our magnesite wagons when you buy one wagon pack! Get AN ADDITIONAL 10% Off When You buy 2, 3 or 4 Packs! GET AN ADDTIONAL 15% OFF when you buy 5+ Packs! On top of that we will throw in our free postage and packaging around Ireland too! Sale ends 23:59 Sunday September 7th, or when we run out of stock. Bag yourself a bargain here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/magnesite-wagons Cheers! Fran

Hi folks, Decorated samples are being prepped. We currently await them and will provide a full update when they land with us. each coach is coming with a big wooden spoon. Thankfully Derek already has one, so he wont miss out now he has cancelled his order, he'll just miss out one the nicest Irish coach model to date (well, neck and neck with our Mark 2s!) Cheers! Fran

The second coming of our Class 66 locomotives has certainly piqued the interest among modellers as sales of these ubiquitous beasts have defied even our lofty expectations. With a colourful fleet already making up the main range, a hearty mix of squadron liveries and some more exotic special or one-off liveries forming the makeup of the run, we knew we would have to offer something special, something bold, for our exclusive model. Thankfully, the sheds do make that easy, and we now have a unique opportunity to also unveil our euro tooling enhancements and options as we look to model one of these repurposed machines for the first time in ready-to-run OO format. So, welcome to the GBRf triple grey celebrity that is 66793! History 66793 comes under the broad umbrella of what is known to British railway enthusiasts as a “euro class 66”. These locomotives all exhibit differences to the home fleet class 66 that we are familiar with. This locomotive was built in August 2003 for HSBC Rail and leased to ERS Railways (formerly European Rail Shuttle) in the Netherlands and was given their fleet number 6608. In 2009 the locomotive was acquired by Beacon Rail Leasing and transferred to Heavy Haul Power International (HHPI) where it was repainted, renumbered to 29004 and named “Dave Meehan”. HHPI operated 29004 in Germany until 2020 when they upgraded their fleet to Stadler Euro Dual type locomotives and the class 66 fleet were displaced. During late 2020, 29004 arrived in the UK at Immingham before transfer to Doncaster Roberts Road depot for conversion to UK spec for the new operators, GBRf. This conversion included changing the profile of the front deflector plates, fitting of UK electrical equipment (and removal of European equipment) plus GBRf standard upgrades to lights and windows. The locomotive retained some of its Euro features such as the twin pipe air system, larger horn box and euro horn notes. Once conversion was completed the newly registered 66793 was transferred to the paint shop at Eastleigh before being unveiled during March 2021 in its British Rail inspired, triple grey livery complete with construction sector markings. This was done to mark the partnership between GBRf and various customers in the construction sector. The Model With more and more euro spec Class 66 locomotives being repurposed for operation in the UK, we felt it was a must to broaden the tooling suite to include these distinctive modifications. As can be seen, areas such as horn covers, buffers, front valance, pipework and other areas have been brought into the fold to make a most convincing "euroshed"; something never done before in 00/4mm scale. 66793 is the first model to showcase the European features and demonstrate the flexibility of our Class 66 tooling suite. Coming complete with the full "Accurascale Exclusives" treatment of special presentation packaging and limited edition certificate, 66793 will arrive alongside the rest of our 2nd Class 66 production run in Q2 of 2025. Only available via the Accurascale website, you can pre-order 66793 by clicking the link below! Pre-Order Your Class 66793 By Clicking Here! View the full article

071s are also not push/pull fitted of course, so there would have to be additional shunting done at each end.

After the massive popularity of our first run of Class 66, which has already sold out rather quickly, we are quickly following up with the second run of these ubiquitous Type 5 machines. But which ones feature in run 2? We already know about 66 190 "Martin House Children's Hospice" in DB red, which aims to raise £10,000 (and is well on its way to achieve that figure for this brilliant cause) but what others are joining her? Let's have a look below! 66302 - Fastline Freight 66302 arrived in the UK as part of a “mixed delivery” of class 66 low emission models, alongside locos for Freightliner and DRS aboard the MV Stellanova on the 8th November 2006. Following unloading and acceptance it worked its first train of HYA’s on the 13th November. When Jarvis went in to administration, Fastline’s small fleet of class 66 locomotives were acquired by DRS before being repainted into their house colours (Please note that we are aware that the grey shade on this model is incorrect; it will be corrected on the production batch you will receive) 66849 - Colas Rail Freight Colas Rail Freight leased 5 class 66 locomotives following the collapse of Advenza freight (numbered 66841 to 66845), in 2011 these locomotives were then leased on to GBRF. Leaving a hole in the fleet, Colas purchased 5 class 66 locomotives from Freightliner (formerly numbered 66573 to 66577). These 5 were given a fresh coat of Colas’ house colours and renumbered to 66846 to 66850. 66849 was given the name of “Wylam Dilly” straight after its repainting and has carried it to this day. Wylam Dilly is the second oldest surviving steam locomotive in the world and was built for hauling coal at Wylam Colliery near Newcastle in 1815. 66789 - GBRf In BR Large Logo Livery Arriving in the UK aboard MV Fairload on the 23rd June 2000, this locomotive was originally numbered 66250 and was the last EWS class 66 as part of their “Red Revolution” which had started with 66001 just a few years earlier. As part of a restructuring, EWS offered several locomotives for sale and 66250 was acquired by GBRF in 2017 and was allocated the new number 66789. Unveiled on the 27th Feb 2018, 66789 sports a homage to the British Rail large logo blue livery to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the formation of British Railways back in 1948. 66724 - GBRf Another locomotive that was transported on the MV Fairload was GBRF’s 66724. Arriving on the 20th December 2006, this locomotive originally sported the “First group” rendition of GBRF livery ahead of the press launch on the 8th January 2007 at Old Oak Common. 66724 gained its nameplates “Drax Power Station” later the same year. Surviving in much the same condition for a decade, 66724 was given a fresh coat of GBRF’s now standard dark blue in 2017. 66421 - DRS One engine that hasn’t changed operators was DRS owned 66421. This particular locomotive was delivered on the 9th September 2007. Originally carrying the DRS compass livery, the locomotive was soon put to work on a variety of the companies trains.66421 was refreshed with the new simplified DRS livery during 2015 and ran unnamed until 2018 when it featured at the DRS Crewe Gresty Bridge TMD open day where it was named after the depot. 66414 - Freightliner "Powerhaul" 66414 was originally leased to DRS and this is how it arrived fresh from the factory aboard MV fairlift on the 16th October 2006. When that lease expired, DRS did not renew leaving the locomotive available for transfer to Freightliner. Perhaps better known for its spell as “James the Engine” in Stobart livery, it gained the new “powerhaul” version of freightliner livery in 2015 and this is how it remains to this day. 66142 - Maritime Intermodal DB Once an anonymous EWS maroon and gold class 66, 66142 led the life of a typical EWS 66 from its delivery during August 1999 right through the acquisition by DB up until its turn in the paintshop came in 2019 at the ripe age of 20 years old! Rather than the bright red of DB, 66142 gained the vibrant blue colour of Maritime Intermodal and was named “Maritime Intermodal Three”. Following Accurascale handing out free 'a' stickers at Warley in 2022, a number of these have found their way in to a wide variety of places, including on real rolling stock. 66142 is one such locomotive and proudly wears its 'a' sticker under one set of numbers Price And Availability As per our first run of Class 66 and along with our other diesel an electric locomotives, each running number will be available in both DC/DCC ready and fully loaded DCC sound fitted formats, with the latter benefiting from a full suite of Accurathrash goodness as well as all the incredible tech you expect to find in our locomotives! With a powerful all-wheel drive arrangement, a weightily diecast chassis set up and all our all powerful evolutionary motor and drivetrain set up, they're ready to pull a house down and cope with the heaviest loads on your layout. Priced at £179.95 for DC/DCC Ready and £279.95 for DCC Sound Fitted, they once again represent excellent bang for buck which is a hallmark of our philosophy of "realistic models at realistic prices", where you get a market-leading product and a most reasonable price! It also features all the tech you come to expect from us, including multiple lighting modes, stay-alive Powerpack, ESU LokSound V5, 8 0hm Accurathrash bass speaker in a dual-speaker configuration and, of course, our industry leading limited lifetime warranty! Due in stock in Q2 2025, our second Class 66 main range production run will be joined by another Accurascale Exclusive model announced next week, and a special limited edition commissioned model which will be unveiled in September, so keep an eye out for those! Pre-order any of the main range via your local stockist, or direct using the link below, where you can avail of free UK postage and packaging and 3% cashback in points against a future purchase! Get your pre-order in below! Pre-Order Class 66 Run 2 Here! View the full article

Graffiti is seen by many railway enthusiasts as a scourge on the modern scene and in wider society in general. It is certainly a polarising topic for many, but it can also be argued that you cannot model the current scene without including it in some form. Of course, a lot of graffiti is little more than tagging vandalism, but sometimes a work with artistic skill can capture the eye to the point where it brings colour and vibrancy to the railway. This can certainly be said for one particular cutdown HYA wagon, which has become rather infamous across the network among spotters and indeed modellers alike; No. 371020. It features full wagon height artwork which includes an animated cat. History Among the first batch of Romanian-built coal wagons delivered in March 2007 for First GB Railfreight, No. 371020 lasted just over ten years in this configuration before emerging from WH Davis at Langwith Junction in late 2017 with one fewer hopper bays and now dedicated to aggregates traffic. This was part of the third group of 36 HYA/IIA vehicles to be converted following batches for VTG/GBRf and Touax Rail, and like the latter retained their unpainted finish above the bodyside angle, with ‘ghosted’ former branding and the vestiges of graffiti from their previous life. The only addition was a large NACCO logo. These went into service for GBRf on Cemex services from Peak Forest to a range of locations, including Bletchley, Ely, Hope St (Salford), Selby, Washwood Heath and Wellingborough, and have also been used occasionally on the dredged sand flow from Pengam to a similar range of destinations. As other HYAs were converted with Cemex branding, the majority of the NACCO wagons were redeployed, although a few have remained, including No. 371020. This wagon is notable for gaining full length/height graffiti in either late 2019 or early 2020 on both sides that makes it stand out immediately in any formation. This and its partner – pristine No. 371048 – are the perfect complement to our first run HYAs or the Touax and GBRf-branded blue hoppers in our second run. The Model Expertly drawn in graphic form by our Graphic Design guru Tim using a wealth of real photographs to ensure the artwork is faithfully replicated on the model, our graffiti HYA is an accurate rendition of this colourful wagon. Tim's expert graphic art was then finished off by Project Manager Gareth, who mounted the artwork to the wagon and included all the warning symbols and labelling on the real wagon. Two wagons will feature in the pack, with a second wagon in plain cut down condition with NACCO markings. Priced at £84.95 per two wagon pack it will come with the usual "Accurascale Exclusives" trimmings with special presentation packaging and certificate. As per all our exclusives, it is only available via the Accurascale website and can be mixed in with the rest of the new HYA run to get 10% off when you buy two packs or more, and an amazing 15% off when you order five or more packs! Click the link below an place your no money down pre-order today for delivery in Q3 2025. (Please Note That This Pack WILL NOT Feature A Wagon With An Operating Tail Lamp) Pre-order Your Accurascale Exclusives Graffiti HYA Packs Here! View the full article

It's a busy week here at Accurascale. One that is laden with wagons too, as we announced our new HYA launch on Monday, and now we bring you news of the first of two Accurascale Exclusives wagon packs in the form of our HTV wagons in a triple NCB Internal User Pack livery of green and grey! Prototype The widespread withdrawal of 21t hoppers from the mainline network led to many being repurposed by BR or sold on to private companies for internal use. One such operator was the National Coal board who had a coal disposal site and washery at Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, South Wales. The railhead was operated by Powell Duffryn Coal Preparation, and they required a fleet of internal user wagons for the transfer of coal around the site. During the early 1990s this fleet, made up from redundant HTV’s and HEA’s received the striking green and grey livery seen on our models. These wagons would see use right through the decade until the site was mothballed in 1999. The Model Each wagon features a wealth of separately applied detail, from handrails on the diecast chassis and hopper ends to the intricate brake gear and hopper operating mechanism underneath, all museum quality detail and prototypical accuracy modellers now come to expect from our wagons and which is now our standard specification. As well as a diecast chassis with full hopper detail, each wagon rides on 26mm axles, which are 2mm in diameter, with pin points in brass bearing cups for ultimate smooth performance and ease of conversion to finescale tolerances. With the wagons announced later in development to curb waiting times, we're already at decoration stage and we are about to begin production of these wagons in the coming weeks. Delivery of the models to customers is currently estimated at Q3 2025. Both wagon packs will be a one off, limited production run in special presentation packaging like all models in the Accurascale Exclusives range. Each pack is priced at £99.95 and we're operating their usual 10% off when you buy two packs or more, along with a new offer of 15% when you buy 5 or more packs direct from our website. That means each wagon just costs £27.47 when you factor in loyalty points rewards and postage and packaging being free! They can of course be mixed with other HTO/HTV wagon packs in the launch range to get these discounts. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the link below. Pre-Order Your Accurascale Exclusive NCB HTV Triple Pack Here! View the full article

Hot on the heels of the Class 66 and our latest batch of Class 37s, our gorgeous, all new Class 31s are next to arrive in our warehouse and the next "all new, all singing and all dancing" Accurascale locomotive is about to debut on your layout. Absolutely laden with tech, including all the lighting configurations you can shake a stick at, a plethora of prototype specific details per loco, a working cooling fan powered by a separate motor, stay alive in all locomotives, full accurathrash twin speaker setup in all sound fitted models, etched details, cab and engine room lighting, cab desk lighting and of course, a silky smooth, torquey 5 pole skew wound motor with twin flywheels, our humble Brush Type 2s are set to be a show stopping model of these widely spread class. Our first batch of Class 31s, all the BR Blue locos for the main range, have been on the high seas for quite a while now, having to take the long way round the cape to reach the UK. The good news is that they're now 2/3s the way through their journey, and will dock in the UK and arrive at our warehouse W/C 22nd September. Also on board in the container is our first batch of wonderful Mark 1 Suburban coaches in BR Blue livery (and our Accurascale Exclusive Tool Van In Yellow livery), so full prototypical trains are arriving together! Right behind our blue Class 31s are their green counterparts, which we can now show for the first time in production sample format. Feast your eyes! As you can see, they look pretty tasty! We have had to make a couple of small revisions to these samples to ensure that they are spot on, which the factory are carrying out now. Once that is complete they will be loaded onto a ship and are due with us in mid-November This consists of D5615, 5674, D5803 and D5549. Our reworked Carmine Mark 1 subs will arrive just before these, so again, a full prototypical train will be arriving together to make up your suburban services! We will have news very soon on our outstanding 31s from the first run, namely the railfreight, Dutch, Regional Railways and IC mainline machines, along with our limited editions, so keep an eye out for that! We will also be offering sound kits for the Mirrlees Type 2s for an easy upgrade when the green variants are close to arrival, so check out our website for those too. In the meantime, we have a limited amount of Blue Class 31s available for pre-order still. Grab yours below, and dont forget your matching Mark 1 subs too! Pre-Order Your Class 31 Here Pre-Order Your Mark 1 Subs Here View the full article

Hi everyone, Great news! We have received an extremely limited quantity of Airlink and Ghostbus Dublin Bus commissions in stock!Perfect for your OO gauge Irish themed layout, these match our previous commissions and will add to any bus collection. Produced in extremely limited quantities, these buses are now available to purchase direct below. Don't forget our own commissions from Britbus in Coastal Tours and Bus Eireann liveries! SHOP HERE: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/exclusive-irm-buses/availability_in-stock Cheers! Fran

Thanks to your support and generosity we've achieved the target of raising the much-needed sum of £10,000 for Samaritans UK. During Pete Waterman's 2023 Christmas exhibition at Blakemere, we announced the limited edition model of 66415 'You Are Never Alone', with the aim of raising a large sum for Samaritans UK. As it is becoming very clear, you are very supportive of these charity projects, backing the model of 66415, which soon sold through and will support the mental health-focused charity. Wind the clock forward to August 12th 2024 and we paid a visit to the Freightliner Depot in Doncaster. Freightliner had kindly taken 66415 out of traffic for us to come together and celebrate this momentous occasion. We were joined by Tim Shoveller, Freightliner Chief Executive Officer of G&W UK/Europe. Tim Said "We couldn't do this without the support we've had from Accurascale, This has only been possible because of the partnership that's been formed. Accurascale has produced these incredibly detailed models and sold hundreds and hundreds of them to raise £10,000 for Samaritans, which is wonderful! We couldn't do this on our own, as always about the railway, it's about partnership and collaboration." Watch our short video here: Richard Hall, a Listening volunteer from Samaritans joined us and explained what's involved in being able to be on the end of the phone for someone in need. Motivated to help Samaritans after the loss of friends and working for Network rail in the day job, Richard knows only too well the effect of mental illness. Richard said "We're a listening organisation, people call up, talk about what's going on in their lives, what problems they're facing. We can talk them through it, explore the issues, potentially signpost, provide emotional support and give them someone to vent to when that person might not have anyone to talk to. The donation of £10,000 will go along long way to keeping the lights on, keeping the water running, it's really really important!" Fran Burke, Director of Marketing, PR and Sales for Accurascale, added; "We have been absolutely blown away by the support of you, our Accurascale customers and supporters, who came together, dug deep, and helped us reach our goal of raising an amazing £10,000 for this critically important charity. It's been a pleasure to work alongside our friends at Freightliner UK, our factory partners, the Railnuts gang for facilitating our initial launch and of course, The Samaritans to make this happen. We cannot thank these parties enough. We hope that modellers around the country who got their hands on this exclusive model can not only enjoy running the locomotive on their layouts or admiring it in their collection, but also enjoy the fact that money they spent in obtaining the model is supporting a very worthy cause. This money will help Samaritans UK to continue to provide the essential services they offer the British public including railway workers around the nation. From the whole team at Accurascale, we pass on our thanks to Samaritans UK, Freightliner and of course your generosity and support! If you'd like to support other Accurascale charity projects, our latest model 66190 is raising £10,000 for Martin House Children Hospice, and can be seen here: Pre-Order Your Charity Class 66 190 And Raise Vital Fund Here! View the full article

With the recent release of our highly acclaimed Class 66 locomotives, and the forthcoming release of run 2 of these locos (watch this space!), along with our first run of our lovely new Class 60, we thought we better prepare some trains to go behind them. Up first is a wagon oft requested for a re-run at shows; our cutdown HYA wagons! This times they will make an appearance in the rather attractive dark blue livery these wagons have been finding themselves wearing in recent years. Prototype History The HYA/IIA family of bogie coal hoppers was one the most significant casualties of the doubling of the UK’s carbon tax from April 2015. Built by International Railway Services (IRS) in Romania and at WH Davis’ workshops at Langwith Junction, Shirebrook, for Fastline Freight and GB Railfreight between 2007 and 2013, the 368-strong fleet was the youngest in operation with some examples just two years old. While around a third of the newest vehicles were either outshopped or modified with top doors for biomass use, this left around 250 wagons with an uncertain future. As coal volumes fell, examples were either stored or redeployed to carrying aggregates, which was not ideal because the denser nature of stone meant the wagons could only be partially filled. This made a full train inefficient compared to purpose-built hoppers. VTG Rail was the first to look at reducing the length of the wagons to make them more suitable, commissioning WH Davis to remove the centre bay, which equated to some three metres or so. The prototype, No. 371051, was released in February 2016 and by the middle of 2024 just 77 examples remained unconverted. Notably, all rebuilds are TOPS coded HYA, whether they started life as an HYA or an IIA, and from 2020 the programme also included former biomass versions made redundant by the arrival of higher-capacity IIA-D covered hoppers, also built by WH Davis. From mid-2021, WH Davis outshopped the next 48 cutdown wagons, originally built for GE Rail Services/Fastline as IIAs but latterly operated by GBRf, with the bodyside above the lower angle change in ‘steel blue’, complete with Touax and GB Railfreight brandings. The rest of the wagon is black. This replaced the unpainted, patch painted and silver-grey finish seen on previous batches and instantly made them the classiest-looking members of the fleet. This image change was continued onto 371073-371080, released in 2022 in the same scheme, albeit with just the GBRf logos. They are mostly to be found behind the operator’s diverse range of Class 66s and can be found all over the UK working on behalf of Aggregate Industries (from Bardon Hill, Coton Hill and Grain), Cemex (from Peak Forest), and Tarmac (from Arcow and Rylstone). In August 2022, WH Davis completed the first pair of blue-painted HYAs for VTG, they were followed by a batch of nine wagons – all ex-biomass – which were destined for use on Freightliner-powered Mendip Rail Services out of Whatley and Merehead quarries. A further batch of 25 VTG-owned IIAs was sent to Langwith Junction in November 2023 for length reduction, but these are currently in store at Gascoigne Wood. This leaves just two sets of original length IIAs in operation, one biomass for Drax services and one with the top doors removed for aggregates use. The Model A much requested model in this new livery, our second run of the cutdown HYA wagons represent these modified wagons from both HYA and IIA donors, with end detailing to reflect the parentage of their donors, just like the real thing! Each twin pack will come with individual markings, from unique running numbers to different branding depending on lessor of the wagons such as VTG or Touax. We have revisited the wagons too, switching the tail light operation from a battery to track pick up to save any fussy changing of batteries and opening of ends. These will still be controlled by magnetic wand. We have also asked the factory to ensure our high demands of free rolling are met, with additional procedures in the quality control department being put in place for this production run too. Want to build a rake of these? Well, you're in luck! There are 7 twin packs to choose from, and there will be a further bonus twin pack announced later this week, too! The initial 7 twin packs can be pre-ordered today via your local stockist, or direct via Accurascale using the link below. Priced at £84.95 per two wagons and £87.95 for tail light fitted packs, we are offering 10% off when you buy two packs or more, and an amazing 15% off when you order five or more packs! So, what are you waiting for? Say hello to some Monday blues you would like! Click the link below an place your no money down pre-order today for delivery in Q3 2025. Pre-Order Your HYA Wagons Here! View the full article

Welcome to another of our "Let's Get Involved" series of how-to modelling guides featuring techniques to take our models to another level. Today it is our lovely 21T MDO wagons that are the subject, as Alex Roughsedge captures the rather battered state the real wagons ended up in. Take it away, Alex! Built between 1950 and 1952, the British Railways 21t MDO wagons were a mainstay of mineral traffic for the best part of 40 years, lasting in some cases until the early nineties. Accurascale’s models are superb renditions straight out of the box, but they’re just too clean! MDOs got utterly filthy in service, some ending up with remarkably little of their original grey colour left. Hopefully, this tutorial will help make your own models just that little bit more prototypical. Usually, my own weathering methods involve heavy airbrush use, but I know not everybody will have the luxury of an airbrush in their own toolkit. As such, I’ve tried to keep the use of this to a minimum. The airbrush is used solely for varnishing; rattle cans are a perfectly good substitute. We’ll make a start with the first MDO, B202043. Looking at photos on the internet of the real wagon this model is based on, the weathering is somewhat different to the other two MDOs included in Pack H so we’ll focus solely on this one for the time being. The very first step here is to give the model an overall coat of matt varnish. I favour Mr Color’s GX113, a lacquer-based formula with UV blocking technology that should prevent any yellowing or fading of the colours over time. I thin this around 50/50 with their own lacquer thinners and apply a generous coat to the model. This gives a nice key for the subsequent weathering, as well as a smooth, predictable surface. Mr Color offer this exact varnish in rattle can form which would be just as good, but any decent matt varnish can be substituted here. Studying photos of B202043 on Paul Bartlett’s superb Zenfolio page, the wagon appears almost completely dark brown, and has retained very little of its original BR grey after many years of hard work. To my eye, this looks more like heavy dirt than rust as such, and there are what appear to be areas where this dirt has been rubbed away revealing remnants of the grey underneath. More on this a little later. To begin with, a general coat of Vallejo Mecha Color 69.035 ‘Chipping Brown’ was thinned a little with tap water and applied to the areas between the side ribs, taking care to preserve the beautifully applied factory markings. This doesn’t have to be particularly neat, and I only applied a single coat to add to the rough appearance. The side ribs are significantly cleaner on the real wagon than the areas in between, but these are still pretty grubby. The same Vallejo Chipping Brown colour was now added to the remaining grey areas using a small piece of sponge held in some self-closing tweezers. This is applied in a stippling motion and can create some incredibly convincing chipped paint effects. This technique nicely blends in the cleaner ribbing but leaves it noticeably cleaner than the rest of the wagon. It’s time to crack out some oil paints for the remainder of the weathering process. My chosen colours here being: ABT510 ‘Starship Filth’ and ABT240 ‘Cream Brown’ from 502 Abteilung, along with some bog standard ‘Mixing White’ and ‘Lamp Black’ from Winsor & Newton. These were applied to a small piece of cardboard to leech out some of the linseed oil which makes the paints a little easier to use and dry much faster. I began by mixing the Lamp Black and Mixing White to form a grey somewhat similar to the original BR grey. As mentioned above, the photos of the wagon seem to show some areas where the darker filth has been rubbed away, particularly around the doors, and what looks like the original BR grey is showing through. At least that’s my interpretation anyway. The mixed grey oil paint was applied neat to the model, following the photo references as closely as I could. The advantage of oils here is that these patches could then be blended slightly using white spirit to soften the edges. At this point, I gave the model another coat of matt varnish to seal the grey patches in so they wouldn’t be affected by the next stage of oils. An alternative here would be to leave the model to dry for 24-48 hours, but who has time for that?! The next step was to apply some neat Starship Filth in a streaking motion down the side of the wagon. Shortly after, neat white spirit on a large brush can be used to further refine these streaks. The beauty of oil paints is they remain adjustable for many hours, giving you full control over any effects you may want to achieve, to the point of being able to completely remove the paint if you’re not happy. Small amounts of other colours can also be added here, particularly the Cream Brown, to add further streaks and rain marks. At the same time, some oil washes can be added to the underframes and wheel centres. I used mainly Starship Filth here, but feel free to experiment. Wagon underframes ended up all manner of colours so you can really go to town. I applied mine as washes, before using some neat Lamp Black around the axleboxes to represent oil staining. Once this step was complete, I added a further coat of sealing varnish, however this time I used GX112 gloss. The reason for the gloss varnish this time was to allow a careful pin wash of Tamiya Black Panel Line Accent Colour to be applied to the nooks and crannies around the bodywork. This should hopefully bring back a little definition to the wagon and create some false shadows. The wash is allowed to run around details and along the side ribs, then once dry, the excess can be wiped away using a cotton bud dampened with White Spirit. I didn’t go too over the top with the inside of the wagon here, simply opting for an initial all-over wash of Mig Ammo ‘Light Rust Wash’, which was then augmented once dry with ‘Streaking Rust Effects’. The latter can be streaked in a vertical motion up and down the inner sides to give the impression of rust streaks left by rain. The final step for B202043 was to give it a good final coat of matt varnish. As you can see, the model now looks a million miles away from its original pristine finish, and hopefully much closer to how the real B202043 looked in service. Moving onto the other two wagons in the pack, B202125 and B202028. Paul Bartlett’s site again also has excellent images of these two wagons. Immediately it can be seen that these two are much rustier in appearance than B202043. As a result of this, I opted to start with Vallejo Model Color 71.037 ‘Mud Brown’ as a base coat for the rust effects. This was again thinned slightly with tap water and applied to the model in a single coat. Once dry, the Mig Ammo rust effects were cracked open once more. Similar to the wagon insides, an initial coat of the lighter colour was applied to the brown areas as a wash, before the darker colour was applied over the top and streaked in a downward motion using a large brush and White Spirit. Chipping Brown was once again applied using the sponge method to the side ribbing, and the top edge of the wagon in varying amounts according to the reference images. These two wagons feature more refined patches of grey, so here I used Pro Acryl ‘Bright Warm Grey’, a surprisingly good match for the original Accurascale BR Grey. This was applied carefully using a small brush, again following reference images. Another noticeable feature of these two wagons is the presence of much darker grey patches around the lighter rust areas. Here, neat Starship filth was applied roughly in the areas where these patches occur. There are also visible weld lines on the sides as well. I opted to represent these with thin lines of oil paint, but if you were feeling particularly adventurous then you could carefully scribe these lines in with a needle or scribing tool. As before, the oil paint is blended and feathered in using White Spirit. The weld lines were softened slightly using this method, before some very slight vertical streaking. As a bonus, this step also helps to blend in the grey patches applied previously. Perhaps the most curious feature of these particular wagons is a number of odd horizontal lines towards the top of the wagon. I can only begin to speculate on the purpose/reason for these lines – they appear to be above and below the weld lines so are they perhaps some result of the welding process? Maybe they’re simply to denote a fill line? I’m sure someone out there will know. I absolutely love replicating features like these lines on models as they just elevate it to another level. These were carefully painted on using a small brush and the neat Cream Brown oil paint. Once allowed to dry a little, these were again softened and refine using White Spirit. Also at this point I gave the interior the same treatment as with the previous model, and applied the black panel line wash too. The final step was to re-apply some chalk markings present on the real wagon. These are actually represented on the original Accurascale paint job but were obviously obliterated during the initial rust painting. To recreate these, I used a sharp Prismacolor White pencil, however, it must be noted that this has to be done over the final matt coat, and after the matt coat has had a number of hours to dry otherwise the pencil simply gouges away the varnish. These wagons were incredibly fun to weather. I don’t often try to recreate actual wagons using references, I usually use elements from various sources to create a representation of the subject, so it was a real novelty to try to get these as close to their real-world counterparts as I could. ORDER YOUR ACCURASCALE MDO WAGONS BY CLICKING HERE! View the full article

After the remarkable success of our Prostate Cancer UK and Samaritans Class 66 locomotives, which raised some much-needed funds for each charity, we are back at it again, and looking for your help to raise £10,000 for a brilliant cause. This time we turn our attention to Martin House Children's Hospice and our friends at DB Cargo, who have already dedicated a locomotive, no 66190 to this very special charity, as well as raise a staggering £250,000 for them to date through special tours and events over the last five years. Naturally, it seems only right that we add 66190 to our second production run of our 'Sheds' and help raise some more cash! About Martin House Set up in 1987, and only the second Children's Hospice in the UK at that time, Martin House is based in Yorkshire and provides family led care for children with life-shortening conditions. It is a place where children, young people and their families can come to stay from time to time along their journey and find support, rest and practical help. Such is the demand for their vital services that they now need a more suitable building which is estimated to cost £2 million to complete. When we were asked if we could help out by our friends at DB after we saw the success of our previous charity fundraising models, we leapt at the chance to do out bit. So, we set off to Toton as their guests to have a look around the real 66190! About 66 190 Originally part of the ‘Red Revolution’, a term used to describe the dominance of English, Welsh and Scottish (EWS) class 66’s across the UK freight scene, 66190 arrived on British soil early in the year 2000. One of 250 near identical locomotives, 66190 was put to work almost immediately on a wide variety of freight work, as the class 66’s were the “go anywhere” type at EWS’s disposal. The first modification came in the summer of 2001 as 66190 was fitted with the now standard swinghead buckeye coupler (locomotive 66200 and above had these fitted from new along with revised lashing eyes) 66190’s first turn in the limelight came on the 19th July 2003 when it hauled the Mossend to Inverness leg of Pathfinder Tours’ Grampian Gyrator. Incidentally, fellow Accurascale Exclusive 66001, worked Stafford to Crewe then Crewe to Stafford on the same tour. 66190 settled back in to its normal working life again until mid-2007 when it was readied for transfer to Euro Cargo Rail (ECR), at Toton. ECR was a subsidiary of EWS, as EWS sought to widen its market into the European Railfreight business. Despite German operator DB buying the EWS business in 2007 and rebranding to DB Schenker taking place in 2009, ECR continued to be known as such until 2021 when it rebranded as DB Cargo France. During June 2021, 66190 was returned to DB Cargo stock in the UK via the channel tunnel and headed to Toton depot in Nottinghamshire for a full overhaul and conversion back to UK specification. It emerged in standard ‘De-branded’ EWS maroon and gold livery, albeit with new LED lighting clusters and was used on many routes around the midlands before returning to Toton during early 2023 for a full repaint in to DB house colours. A very shiny 66190 made its way to York on the 2nd of June 2023 for a naming ceremony, where its “Martin House” plates would be revealed by Rosie Mellor-Silvester, from the Martin House charity. 66190, as a standard pool locomotive is used all across the country from china clay work in the southwest to Biomass in the north but its always treated as a bit of a “pet” by DB staff, the white wall tyres and silver buffers being maintained as much as possible, makes this locomotive stand out from the rest of the fleet. Working Together Approached by Ross Taylor, Operational Trainer with DB Cargo, last year, we set about to work on doing our charity model of 66190 and it quickly became the first loco added to our second production run of these ubiquitous locomotives. We paid a visit to Toton Traction Depot in February 2024 following Model Rail Scotland to look over the real 66190 and ensure we got the details for our model spot on. A couple of months later we met Martin House who were equally thrilled by the project and met us for a special event with 66190 at Leeds Railway Station. Ross Taylor's vision for an exclusive model to raise funds for this amazing cause quickly came together, and we are delighted to reveal the first decorated sample and announce the model at the opening of the latest "Making Tracks" event with Pete Waterman at Chester Cathedral. Speaking about the announcement, Rosie Mellor-Silvester, Head of Mass Relationships at Martin House, outlined her delight that we have teamed up together to create this model and raise funds for the hospice; "We are delighted that Accurascale have chosen to support Martin House Children’s Hospice through creating a model of the Martin House Class 66 locomotive. The first ever model has pride of place in our reception! The money raised from the sales of this model will help support children, young people and their families when they need it the most, which is something we are incredibly grateful to Accurascale for." Fran Burke, Director of Marketing, PR and Sales for Accurascale, added; "We are honoured to partner with two fantastic organisations and yet again have the opportunity to work with our customers to help raise a significant amount of money for a brilliant cause. Thank you to DB Cargo and Ross Taylor in particular for bringing us all together and I hope that we can sell enough of these cracking models to hit our £10,000 goal, and with a bit of luck, exceed that total." The Model The announcement of 66190 kicks off the second run of our Class 66, building on the huge success of our first run and the demand that has followed it. Featuring the iconic DB red and grey livery along with white-walled tyres and other small embellishments, which set it apart from the rest of the DB Class 66 fleet, our model faithfully captures this special squadron member 66 perfectly. The distinctive and colourful nameplate will be printed on our models with etched replacements in the accessory pack of each model. We have also included our increasingly famous Accurascale "a" headboard, modelled on the Railfreight depot plaques associated with triple grey livery from the 1980s and 1990s in the accessory pack of each model. As with any Accurascale Exclusives model, 66190 will come in special presentation packaging and feature a limited edition certificate, and will only be available via the Accurascale website. Proceeds from the sale of each loco will go to Martin House Children's Hospice, so we're asking you to dig deep and support this wonderful cause if you can! Seen here in decorated sample stage, there are still some revisions to be made to the livery which will be implemented on the production models. Available in both DC/DCC ready and fully loaded DCC sound fitted with our full suite of Accurathrash goodness as well as all the incredible tech you expect to find in our locomotives, they are priced at £179.95 and £279.95 respectively. Due in stock in Q2 2025, it will be joined by the rest of run 2 of the Class 66, which will be announced later this month. Pre-order yours below! Pre-Order Your Charity DB Class 66 190 And Raise Vital Fund Here! View the full article

It's been a little while since we announced an Accurascale Exclusives wagon pack. Actually, no. It's been a whole week! But here we are with another one, and one that uses a wagon type we have not talked about for a while. The interesting and unusual NER 20t hopper wagons found plenty of use in private owners hands, especially in an industrial setting. We thought we would add another triple pack of these to the first production run in the eye-catching and rather attractive "Londonderry Collieries" livery. History Built on the site of old blast furnaces, situated at Nose’s Point south of Seaham Harbour, construction of Dawdon colliery commenced on August 26, 1899 to alleviate the expense of mining the old shafts at Seaham Colliery, and the colliery fully opened in 1907. By 1910, the 3,300 miners at Dawdon Colliery were already producing one million tons of hand-mined coal per year and by 1930 the numbers employed at the colliery had reached their peak, with a workforce totalling 3,798 people. Prior to 1899, Dawdon had been a small village of 83 houses, but under the patronage of the Sixth Marquess of Londonderry, it was extended during the early 20th century, by the building of twenty streets of new housing to accommodate the rapidly growing workforce at the colliery. In the early 1930s, the increasing tonnage mined by Dawdon Colliery led Londonderry Collieries to issue an order for a new fleet of wooden 20T hoppers, with Charles Roberts & Sons winning the contract, constructing the new wagons during 1935. The design was virtually indistinguishable from the North Eastern Railway P7 types, even down to the fitting of extended wooden stanchions and the end open ‘letterbox’ recesses for assisting in rope haulage operations. As elsewhere, the wooden stanchions were quite quickly sawn down to headstock level, in line with general LNER practice, but examples persisted even into the 1950s. Under the nationalised National Coal Board, steel bodied wagons rapidly replaced wooden bodied wagons at the collieries, and the surviving former wooden 20T workhorses were either moved centrally to Seaham, to be used for the tipping of spoil and ‘smalls’ (bought up from the staithes by the fleet of Seaham’s Chaldron waggons), or derated to 15 tons for the removal of very large coal pieces. Unlike the Chaldrons at Seaham, which had a usefulness not served by other wagons, the surviving 20T hoppers were surplus to requirements, and had all but disappeared from the railways of the Londonderry system by the early 1960s. The Model The Londonderry Collieries 20t hoppers complete our NER hopper wagon line up for our first run of these wagons. A vital cog in our "Powering Britain" series of coal wagons through the ages of the railway, these wagons are now in production and arrive in stock with us in late Q4 2024. Pre-Order Your Exclusive Londonderry Hopper Pack Right Here! View the full article