Warbonnet

Hi Phil, Yes, it's going to take about a week to sort everything. Thanks for your patience! Cheers! Fran

Obligatory boxes pics!

You may have noted in recent days that we have sent you an email from accurascale with an account being set up for you. This isn't spam or a scam. We are just making some changes to IRM and how we work as we grow. We've been running two warehouses and two different websites, and it takes a lot of work and manpower to cover it all. So, what we are doing is merging it all into one, with warehousing and websites now being hosted in one central location. This means that you will be ordering your IRM goodies via the accurascale website, and your goodies will be sent from the UK. "But what about customs???" You may ask. Well, there is no need to worry. All of that is now taken care by us when you order, so you will not be charged anything on your doorstep if you live in Ireland. We will also maintain our current shipping rates. Loyalty bonus points from the IRM accounts will also be transferred to your new account on the accurascale website so you don't lose out either. However, to facilitate this, we need you to open the emails we've sent you and "activate" your account following the instructions in the email. Overall, this transition will have no impact on you. All you will do is now buy from Accurascale, but still in euro prices. You will also be able to use your IRM points on Accurascale products, should something British outline take your fancy. Pricing will remain exactly the same, in Euro with Irish / EU VAT as applicable, so there are no changes there! If you have an accurascale account already then you don't need to do anything, you are already set up! Over the next week all your IRM orders that are open will be in the same log in. Thereafter, you can still type in irishrailwaymodels.com and find the accurascale website, but you will need to activate your new account to login and keep your points. We look forward to seeing you at accurascale.com! View the full article

"We need more EMUs!" "More modern stock please! Nobody is making four car units!" Well, we've listened, and here is what so many of you have been calling for. We're teaming up with Rails Of Sheffield to produce the ultimate Electrostar. And we mean ultimate. We're looking for expressions of interest in producing the ultimate model of the Electrostar family of modern 4 car EMU units in 00/4mm scale. The project follows hot on the heels of our successful Class 89 partnership, which is now nearing completion of manufacture. For our next joint project, both companies decided on yet another stand-out candidate, and something that will both impress on a technical level but also be something much desired within the hobby. One area that has been underrepresented when it comes to new models is the 4 car multiple unit area, particularly EMUs. The Electrostar family has been identified as once such area that requires a Ready-to-Run model, so we set to work on this ambitious project a number of years ago (pre-COVID!) Our Development Team identified the opportunity to include all variants of the Class 375, Class 377, Class 379 and Class 387 Electrostars, which will make up the tooling suite of our first EMU. The sheer variation and myriad of detail differences across this large family of units makes it our biggest project to date in terms of tooling and cost, as well as development lead time. Excited by the prospect of being associated with such a groundbreaking and technologically innovative model, Rails of Sheffield was keen to partner up with us to bring the Electrostar to market and became involved in the embryonic stages of the project. The launch of the project is being considered over two separate production runs. The most technologically complex dual-power versions, namely the 375/6s, the 377/2s and 377/5s, the 379s and the 387/1s and 387/2s will form the basis of the project. Should these be successful, other members of the Electrostar family will then be modelled at a later date. History In Autumn 1999, just as our Electrostar Project Manager Paul Isles was about to leave his job in London and finish with the daily commute from the Kent coast, rumours began to circulate that the slam door stock that we loathed as commuters (and loved as enthusiasts) would soon be replaced by a new class of more modern (and hopefully, more reliable) Electric Multiple Unit. The occasional 4-car Class 465 Networker EMU ventured down to Dover, but on the whole, Kent Coast commuters were still living the life of travelling in noisy, draughty, weatherbeaten and past-their-best 4-CIGs and 4-VEPs. But when the Class 375 Electrostars finally arrived on the routes in 2000, everything changed for the better. The Electrostar story spans a manufacturing period of 18 years, seven different classes, a multitude of sub-classes, three different manufacturers’ names above the door, over 650 sets in service and a geographical spread across southern Britain, and still the story continues. The privatisation of the United Kingdom’s rail market in the mid-1990s was more akin to the 1889 Oklahoma land rush, with a horde of new franchises poised to take over the rail network, and manufacturers saw the opportunity to create more modern passenger train designs to fulfil their needs, with Siemens, Alstom and ADtranz being the prominent players in the market. ADtranz, in particular, saw the potential in creating a modular design based on a common body to suit both suburban and outer-suburban markets, with differing seating layouts, traction sources and train lengths, and to meet this concept, the Turbostar (diesel powered) and Electrostar (AC/DC powered) families were created. Bodies were built as aluminium monocoques, with steel ends for energy absorption (the cabs being GRP and steel), with one piece aluminium roofs and the underframe equipment being suspended from a ‘raft’, allowing for flexibility in equipment layout. Two pairs of bi-parting doors on each side of the vehicles allows for rapid entry/exit of passengers and an integrated seating rail in the body design allows for different seating configurations of 2+1, 2+2 and 2+3 laterally, or even longitudinal seating. Traction for the Electrostars can be via 750V DC bogie mounted Third Rail provision, or 25kV AC overhead power collection via the pantograph and where AC power is not required, the pantograph equipment is simply omitted, leaving a blank well on those TSOL vehicles. The bogies themselves were ADTranz’s own design, being the P3-25 powered bogie, or the T3-25 trailer bogie. The first of the Electrostar family built were the Class 357 4-car sets, constructed by ADTranz and entering service in 2000, and these were followed by the Class 375 family of 3-car 375/3 units, and 375/6, 375/7, 375/8 and 375/9 4-car units, being built by ADTranz (subsequently Bombardier) for the Kent Coast services under Connex, then SouthEastern. At the same time, the South Central franchise (later Southern) also required replacements for its slamdoor stock and although these Tightlock equipped sets were initially delivered as Class 375, a change to Dellner couplings resulted in a change of classification, becoming the Class 377 family of 4-car 377/1, 377/2, 377/4 and 377/5 units, and the 3-car 377/3 units. Subsequently, Southern also added 5-car units to the fleet in 2013 to cover delayed Thameslink stock, resulting in the addition of 377/6 and 377/7 variants. Electrostars were also built to serve the high volume services in South-East London, North Kent and London Overground, resulting in the 5-car Class 376 sets and Class 378 ‘Capitalstar’ sets of the mid-2000s. At the end of the 21st century’s first decade, National Express East Anglia ordered Electrostar sets for the Stansted Express and Cambridge services and with their extended luggage accommodation and low density seating, these 4-car sets became Class 379, setting the standard for the last of the Electrostar family to enter service. The final member of the family was the 4-car Class 387; a development of the Class 377 and Class 379 fleets that was capable of running at 110mph and suitable for long distance workings. Originally ordered for Thameslink as Class 387/1, the Class has extended to another two variants; 377/2 and 377/3 as the type have gone on to serve Great Western Railway, Gatwick Express, Heathrow Express, Great Northern, c2c and recently, Southern. The Model Such is the level of research required to execute these units correctly, we employed a new approach to scanning. In addition to the common exterior scans to create an overall cloudpoint model, our Development Team also employed the services of a rail head scanning specialist for the bogies and underframe, to ensure that those areas which are normally in a digital ‘shadow’ were covered to give the ultimate in underframe detailing. This ensures that the underframe detailing and cabinets are very visible from side views and to get placement perfectly aligned, We needed to scan the underframe ‘raft’, with and without equipment attached. How in-depth are we going? Let Paul show you in our launch video! Extensive drawing sets being provided and the number of surveys undertaken. The Alstom team at Ramsgate depot were on hand to provide 100s of drawings, and photographic/measuring surveys were undertaken at Ramsgate, Ashford, Brighton and Reading depots, as well as at Alstom’s Derby works. This has resulted in a whole new approach to UK outline multiple units, with an extensive tooling suite to cover the exhaustive list of detail variations over the life of these units. Our vision for our first UK outline multiple unit is equally ambitious, with a desire to bring the highest specification possible to the Electrostar model. The model will feature DCC operating pantographs, operating CDL lights, motors driving the leading and trailing axles of the DMCOs, which also have working magnetic front mounted Tightlock, or Dellner couplings (depending on variant). Each sound fitted unit will have a speaker mounted in every car to give a full surround sound experience of the real trains. Full interior lighting with each car having a power bank of capacitors for flicker free lighting. Each unit will have correct seating arrangements depending on class and operator, and all the DCC functions will be controlled by one central DCC decoder only. Our tried and trusted method of helical gearing, unique in UK outline, will be employed in these units too, giving a constant mesh and offer smooth, near silent, running. Fully directional lighting, with full range of light options for day/night running and shunting/yard configurations, and of course, separate cab lighting at each end along with front and side lit destination boards. A total of ten running numbers across three different operators and from Classes 375 and 377 form the first run, with Classes 379 and 387 arriving in the second run. Express Your Interest And Pre-Order A project of this scale of tooling variation, complexity and intricacy incurs a significant cost and therefore, considerable risk is taken. To ensure that this risk is mitigated as much as possible, both Rails and ourselves are calling for concrete “expressions of interest” to be placed for this model, with a £50 reservation fee required when placing an order per unit before Friday, March 28th 2025 at 5pm. Should we decide not to proceed with the project after this deadline, then all reservations will be refunded. Should the project go ahead, the reservation fee will be deducted from the final price and will not be refundable. If this project gets the green light from modellers, the CAD, which is ready to go to tooling, will be submitted to the factory and tooling will commence straight away after the March 28th deadline. As part of our regular production updates, an expected delivery date will be available after the first, working sample is delivered and tested extensively, but we ask modellers to bear in mind that delivery is likely to be 2-2.5 years away at least due to the complex development of the extensive specification required. As per the Class 89, the models will be available exclusively via the Accurascale and Rails of Sheffield websites, and the Rails of Sheffield shop. Total price is £499.95 for DC/DCC Silent Fitted 4 car unit, and £599.95 DCC Sound Fitted, with £50 reservation fees deducted from this total amount should the project go ahead. The balance will be taken once the models arrive in stock. DC modellers will be able to use either configuration on their layouts, with limited sound functionality with the DCC sound variants. You can place your expression of interest and browse the first proposed first production run on both the Accurascale and Rails of Sheffield websites. Pre-Order Direct From Accurascale Here MODEL SPECIFICATION: Die-cast metal chassis, with ABS plastic body Low mounted, high quality 5-pole skew-wound motor, with single flywheel, driving the lead bogie of the DMCO only. This means that each 4-car unit is powered from the front and rear cars Helical gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running Gearing arranged so unit can achieve a scale maximum top speed of 100 mph (128.75 km/h) as a 2 x 4-car unit Supplied as DCC Silent Fitted, or DCC Sound fitted (Both Will Run On DC) Scale lengths: DMCO: Scale length of 262.24mm over body ends, and 36.745mm wide MSOL and PTSOL: Scale length of 258.4mm over body ends, and 36.745mm width Bogie centres at 186mm, allowing operation over a minimum radius of 438mm (2nd radius set-track) Single style of 11mm solid wheel, to the new profile blackened 00 Gauge RP25-110 standard, set in blackened brass bearings or contact strips and conforming to Accurascale standards of 14.4mm back-to-back, on 2mm axles over 26mm pinpoints. Brake discs to be inset separate items Fully detailed die-cast underframes with all cylinders, battery boxes, cabinets and piping applied separately Seating layouts modelled to specific classes/sub-classes Leading Cars (DMCO) have working magnetic front mounted Tightlock, or Dellner couplings (depending on variant) Inter-car connection by 10-pin custom designed male/female connectors, allowing the operation of all functions, across all cars, from A SINGLE DECODER MSOL and PTSOL/TSOL are un-motored (or dummy) cars, but retain full lighting features, being DCC ready with PowerPack capacitor for uninterrupted power PTSOL to feature DCC operated Pantograph, a slimline roof mounted development of the successful Accurascale unit used in the Class 92 and 89 projects Eroded metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including (but not limited to) roof details, handrails, door handles, kick plates, lamp brackets, brake gear, brake discs, draw gear, vents and louvres Prism free flush glazing Easy access to PCB for decoder fitting Designed to work with the ESU LOKSOUND V5 21-PIN Decoder with easy access. Blanking plate to carry switches for limited DC lighting options Fully directional lighting, with full range of light options for day/night running and shunting/yard configurations Separate cab lighting Full passenger interior lighting in all vehicles, set at correct colour temperature, with hidden stay-alive capacitors Operable Central Door Locking (CDL) lights on bodysides Supplied DCC Sound Ready, with fitted ESU 22mm x 42mm x 8.0mm rectangular 4Ω speakers and Passive Radiators, in all vehicles View the full article

As we grow as a company we have been slowly ticking off our "firsts" as we go on year by year. First wagon, first loco, first coach, and so on. One "first" we have yet to achieve is a train pack. However, we're delighted to announce that we are about to change that with the announcement of our first ever train pack, based on the Longmoor Military Railway (LMR) sphere of operations. It will feature on of our rather lovely Hunslet Austerity locomotives and a pair of our delicious Mark 1 Suburban coaches. History of the LMR Starting life as the Woolmer Instructional Railway in 1909, for sixty years the British Army operated a railway dedicated to training soldiers how to operate a complete strategic rail supply system. A self-contained system, the Longmoor Military Railway became ever more popular with rail enthusiasts, culminating in the hugely popular open days and special trains to the site during the 1960s that influenced the appearance and allocation of internal rolling stock. Post-war, as training commitments reduced, worn out rolling stock was replaced, rather than repaired, with British Railways’ rolling stock being purchased by 1 Rly Gp Royal Engineers and in the mid-1960s, mindful that higher capacity passenger trains were required for Open Days and Special Events, this included surplus Mk.1 Non-Gangway compartment stock; these ex-BR vehicles even being painted into the LMR Oxford Blue livery to maintain appearances. The Locomotive Hunslet Engine 3796 was completed in 1953 to the wartime Austerity design. Deemed surplus almost immediately, the locomotive was placed in store at Longmoor and then at Bicester. The locomotive entered traffic in 1955 and spent time working at Honeybourne, Bicester and Longmoor variously until it was called upon for its first filming role. In 1965, the Longmoor military railway was chosen as the set for the filming of the “Great St Trinians train robbery”, and 3796 was painted black and numbered as 68011 to represent a BR J94. After filming, the number 196 was reinstated as was the typical Longmoor Military railway lined blue livery (although 68011 was still visible, painted on the smokebox door!) The second starring role for 196 happened in 167 when once again the Longmoor railway was used as a set. This time for the movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, 196 appeared in blue this time but had GWR lettering on the tank to cover the LMR, it also had its dome cover painted brass and a farcically tall chimney extension. Of interest here is that the real car that the story was based upon, was owned and raced by Count Louis Zborowski, a railway enthusiast who had a passion for 15 inch gauge railways and partnered with Captain J E P Howey to build the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (sadly Zborowski never saw the railway completed). In January of 1968, 196 was chosen to carry the name of Major General Errol Lonsdale who was the then chief of Army transport. 196 became the last locomotive to be named at Longmoor and was given the full white wheel treatment ahead of gaining its nameplates. When Longmoor closed in 1970 the 196 was purchased by the Kent and East Sussex railway before moving to the Mid Hants railway in 1976 and was rededicated with its Errol Lonsdale nameplates in 1978. Latterly it spent time running in BR black at the South Devon railway, numbered as its film star role, 68011. By 2009 the locomotive was again out of traffic and was sold to the Stoomcentrum in Maldegem, Belgium where it has been restored to full working condition and painted in its original WD Green livery The Coaches Records from the LMR show that 13 ex-BR Midland Region Mk.1s were transferred to Longmoor in either 1965, or 1968, comprising 11 x Brake Seconds and 2 x Seconds, although cross-referencing this list against Hugh Longworth’s book tells another story. According to the LMR, the Brake Seconds were M43231, M43233, M43234, M43235, M43239, M43245, M43258, M43269, M43275, M43286 and M43296, while the Seconds were M46069 and M46070. However, according to Longworth, 18 ex-BR Midland Region Mk.1s were transferred, these being Brake Seconds M43231, M43233, M43234, M43235, M43239, M43245, M43249, M43254, M43258, M43259, M43289, M43291, M43296 and M43309, along with Seconds M46069, M46070, M46075 and M46079. Of these, M43233, M43234 and 43235 were never renumbered into the LMR’s numbering scheme, while the remaining coaches received either the AD prefix (1965 transfers), or the later ARMY prefix (1968 transfers). The AD prefixed coaches later assumed the ARMY prefix from 1968. On arrival at the LMR, the coaches were all in BR lined Maroon, most still carrying their ‘condemned’ cross within a circle. M43233, M43234 and 43235 were never repainted, and although M43245 received AD and ARMY prefixes, there is no record of any livery changes. The 1965 arrivals remained in their BR Maroon until being repainted into LMR Oxford Blue in 1967/68. Of the 1968 arrivals, only M46070 wore LMR Blue, the others going straight into Olive Drab after arrival. Upon closure in 1969, the surviving Mk.1 stock was either transferred to other MoD outposts, such as Radway Green or Marshwood, or listed for auction. Those not sold were scrapped on site at Longmoor, while others sold into preservation have since mostly been scrapped, although there have been some notable exceptions, such as M43289 (ARMY 5310) which is preserved on the Great Central Railway. Our two LMR Mk.1 models represent Brake Second ARMY 5301 (ex-M43231) and Second ARMY 3302 (Ex-M46070) in 1968, when both were wearing the LMR Oxford Blue livery. ARMY 5301 was built at Doncaster under Lot 30093 in 1954, originally being numbered as M53231 until a conflict with DMU numbering led to British Railways renumbering the 53xxx vehicles into the 43xxx range to avoid confusion. Taken out of service in October 1964, the vehicle was transferred to the LMR on 22 February 1965, being numbered as AD 03031 in 1966, before renumbering as AD 3031 in 1967 and ARMY 5301 in 1968. Initially painted Olive Drab in 1966, it was repainted into LMR Oxford Blue in 1967. At closure of the LMR, the coach was preserved first at the East Somerset Railway, and then at the Keighley & Worth Valley, before finally being scrapped in June 1982. Second ARMY 3302 (ex-M46070) was built at Derby under Lot 30051 in 1954 and was also taken out of service in October 1964, the vehicle transferring to the LMR in early 1968 and being numbered ARMY 3302 from the start. Repainted into LMR Oxford Blue at the same time, the vehicle was sold to the East Somerset Railway upon closure of the LMR, but was scrapped in February 1971 at Liss. The Set Based upon two of our latest model ranges, the LMR train pack consists of two of our fabulous Mark 1 suburban coaches, widely lauded as some of the finest coaches ever produced in 00/4mm scale and one of our very cute forthcoming Hunslet Austerity tank locomotives. An Accurascale Exclusives release, and therefore only available direct via our website, this special limited edition set will of course come in our much loved and coveted special presentation packaging and features etched nameplates and additional features such as distressed coach roof printing and running numbers that will never be available outside of this set. Both DC/DCC ready and DCC Sound Fitted sets will be offered, priced at £299.95 and £399.95 respectively. Delivery is Q2 2026. Pre-order yours only direct via our website below! Pre-order Your LMR Train Pack Here! View the full article

Building on the success of our 78xx Manors, which of course was our first steam locomotive, we announced our large family of 57xx/67xx and 8750 range of the GWR/BR Pannier tanks to great fanfare at the final Warley show in late 2023. Since then we have moved swiftly from tooling samples to painted samples as we showed off in the Autumn, including our lovely pair of officially licenced Accurascale Exclusive pair of London Transport panniers. It was not until we put some colour on our panniers that it was noted that a couple of details were not quite right. These were identified and discussed at length on our thread on RMWeb, where several experts provided assistance to help us with a couple of detail corrections. Our original samples were black, which is the one colour we dislike having samples in, as it can "hide" some errors, making them more difficult to spot. The splash of colour of LT maroon and GWR green helped bring these to the fore. It was noted that the straps on the smokebox door were too close together and that the dome was slightly angled and not vertical at the sides. We discussed the latter with the factory, and it was confirmed that this was to assist with mould release, a part of the manufacturing process to help the part release from the injection moulding machine correctly. Many, many steam models have a very, very gentle slope, almost unrecognisable to the eye to assist in this process. However, if it was noticeable in our photos published of these samples then we felt it stuck out too much. So, we went back to the factory and after some head scratching and brain storming, they came up with a fantastic solution to active a perfectly vertical angle so the dome could be replicated correctly on our model. We have since received a sample showcasing these improvements and we are blown away with the subtle but definitive difference it has made as can be seen above (all the other images in this blog feature samples with the incorrect details). It can always be easy for manufacturers to "blame" the factory for anything that goes wrong. Of course, they can make mistakes like us all, and they're only human too, but their expertise, knowledge, talent and engineering skills are unbelievable and when they can come up with solutions like above they should be duly commended for their efforts. Naturally, the tooling changes left us with a dilemma that we often face. Do we ignore, plough on, and deliver on time? Or, do we take the time to correct it and add in a slight delay to delivery? These delays can be frustrating for customers, and have massive financial implications for manufacturers as it means waiting even longer to recoup your return on investment. And this investment is huge, indeed without much change from half a million quid. You can see why some models proceed without errors being corrected as a result. However, detail issues and mistakes can be even more frustrating for modellers, and we know our customers would rather the best pannier they can have, rather than the quickest. After all, it will be in your collection and in service on your layout for many years to come, you want it to be right. Right? We would find them frustrating too. So, we bit the bullet and made the corrections. So, what does this mean for the timeline, as they're supposed to be arriving in Q1 2025 which is between now and the end of March. Well, they will now arrive in late Q2, which is looking at late June of 2025. We apologise for this delay, but we hope the above offers some clarity. Our exquisite panniers will be a wonderful model when they land on your layout, and at just £139.95 DC/DCC ready and £239.99 DCC sound fitted they also offer exceptional value for money in todays market. Pre-order via your local stockist, or direct below! Pre-Order Your Panniers Here! View the full article

The new arrivals keep rolling off the production line and into our hands here at Accurascale Towers as we continue to catch up on our backlog and finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. Back-log is rather apt, as today we reveal our production sample Class 50s! Demand for our hoovers has been huge. So much so, we had to extend the size of the first production run of these iconic beats twice over. This resulted in the delivery delay (as well as some tooling refinements throughout the process) but we are delighted to announce that production is now complete on our EE Type 4s! We received the production samples just before Chinese New Year began last month, and have been assessing them ever since. Overall, the decoration, fit and finish, as well as build quality and performance are excellent and we are delighted with how they have turned out. We have observed some minor fettling points such as fit of the removable roof hatch and some smaller details, and have asked for these to be improved before delivery. This will be fed back to the factory once they open next week, but we do not foresee it causing any major delivery delays. Once we hear back from the factory as they assess our feedback and make a plan of implementation, we will have a confirmed delivery date which we will then share with you. But, they're very close to setting off from the factory to our warehouse! In the meantime, let's check oogle our vacs! With the recent arrival of our Mark 2c coaches, these 50s make a very timely appearance in our quest to build out full train formations in a joined up range of models. We are currently sold out pre-order, but will likely have some stock back on sale after they arrive with us, and your local stockist may still have availability too, so be sure to check them out! Watch out for a more accurate delivery date within the next two weeks, but look forward to a spring delivery for your hoover! View the full article

Hold on, I’ll get my crystal ball out and check….

Warehouse Relocation Sale - 40% off EVERYTHING IN STOCK NOW Due to a warehouse move in February, we are running an absolutely amazing, one-off sale on all items between now and the moving date of February 7th! How about 40% off everything in stock right now? This includes coaches, wagons, accessories, vehicles like our exclusive buses, the lot! The less we have to carry with us to our new location, the better, so fill your boots via the link below. https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/in-stock

Hi folks, The ship is taking longer than envisaged to arrive at port. We are looking at a Mid February delivery now I'm afraid! Re missing stuff on the website; we'll look into it! Cheers! Fran

Great news! Our first ever O gauge locomotive, the Ruston 88DS Diesel Mechanical shunter, has arrived and is now in stock on our website and with your local accurascale stockist! Our first run is a colourful bunch of models, signifying the long and varied careers of these industrial little powerhouses. From BR to a wealth of industries, they offer a wild variety of possibilities of new and fun small O Gauge layouts, as well as fitting in on your established railway, shunting some industrial or engineering workings. n Colourful and perhaps (?) even cute, check out what you get when you purchase an Accurascale O gauge locomotive! With a powerful motor and diecast chassis, these little beauties can also haul well beyond the capacity the real locomotives were expected to move, ensuring excellent performance on your layout. With our powerbank capacitors on board too, you can be guaranteed that the mighty little Ruston will perform without interruption across pointwork, despite its short wheelbase (works on DCC only). With all liveries offered in straight DC/DCC Ready as well as DCC sound fitted guises, and liveries which cover a wide range of industries, there really is something for every O gauge enthusiast, or someone looking for something new or different to do with their modelling ideas! Order yours now via your local stockist, or direct via the link below. We are the only place to get your Tarmac locomotive in special presentation packaging too, so don't miss out on that! Order today direct via the link below! Order Your Ruston 88DS In O Gauge Here! View the full article

The side grilles are oversized too, and for me spoils the look even more so than the bogies in the wrong place. Well made and neatly finished by the factory, but some clangers when it comes to prototypical accuracy sadly! Now, the SLW Class 25. There's a different story!

Our first announcement of 2025 is a 21st century rendition of a truly iconic wagon that is much needed in 00/4mm; the BR 1/051 China Clay "Clayhood" Wagons! History BR built a total of 875 of these wagons across several batches from 1954 up until 1960. These wagons were built to complement and eventually replace the GWR O.13 clay wagons that were nearing 40 years old at the time. To be compatible with existing China clay infrastructure, the wagons are dimensionally similar to their predecessors and featured a 9ft wheelbase. Cornwall and South Devon had a rich history in the production of China clay and many small branches were opened to allow the railways to carry this important product. Small engines would be working these often lightly laid branches carrying wagons loaded with China clay down to yards on the main line. These would eventually link up with the docks for transhipment to boats or for full trainloads of China clay to be sent to the potteries or further afield. Although associated with China clay, this wasn’t all that was carried in this fleet of wagons, ball clay was also transported. Ball clay was used for the “body” of much clay product and was transported wet, China clay powder was used in the glazing process and had to be transported dry. Tarpaulin sheets were added to the wagons to keep the precious cargo dry resulting in the familiar name “clay hoods”. The first 3 batches of wagons, totalling 300, were built without vacuum fittings and were independently braked. They would have been outshopped in the traditional BR unfitted grey like other wagons of the era. The nature of China clay meant it had to be transported dry and the “hoods” became a feature of these wagons. A tarpaulin sheet would be fitted once loading was completed and when the wagon ran back empty, the sheet would simply be folded up and travel back either in the bottom of the empty wagon or in a dedicated box van marshalled in the train just for carrying wagon sheets. During 1958 the initial 300 unfitted wagons were listed for works visits to have vacuum brake equipment fitted and the brakes changed to the BR Morton type. With this conversion came a repaint into the BR Bauxite worn by BR vacuum fitted vehicles. The next change came to the wagons with the advent of TOPS (total operations processing system), this meant the 13t China clay wagons gained a new name, they became classified as UCV. Many small changes to the wagon fleet happened over time, as with other fleets of wagons. Axle box styles differed, as did buffers – some were even fitted with roller bearing axle boxes for travelling at higher speeds. The flat hood had worked fine in principle but problems with the British weather meant that sometimes the rainwater would “pool” in depressed areas around the load and could be problematic when removing the sheet resulting in the china clay becoming damp. From 1975 wagons were modified with the familiar “pent” hood they have become associated with. This work involved fitting a tarpaulin bar to the wagon and a custom made wagon sheet that would fit snugly over the bar allowing rainwater to simply run off. From this modification it was also now stipulated that the sheet should not be removed when the wagon was empty, it must be always fitted. This change did not happen to all wagons overnight, or even at all, and the two types could be seen running together for quite some time. As mentioned earlier, China clay was not the only product to be carried in these wagons, ball clay was also transported. The nature of ball clay, being a wet, lumpy product meant that ideally the wagons would not be mixed up and as such, legends “for China clay only” or “for ball clay only” were applied to the wagon’s sides specifying their intended traffic. Sometimes, this text was not visible under the bottom edges of the hood, so on the new “pent” hood types, a yellow stripe was applied to the bottom edge of the blue hood to those wagons intended to carry ball clay. The final change for the wagons came in 1983 when the there was a mass TOPS recoding of wagons. The UCVs were listed to be changed to OOV and as such the new code was applied to the wagons at the next works visit. Sadly, the fleets days were numbered, and this staple of Cornish railway scene was to be withdrawn and replaced by the air braked CDA wagons in 1988. The Iconic nature of the “Clayhoods” ensured several have survived into preservation. Some have been plinthed as a memorial to the China clay industry and others have been restored as part of a working China clay train on the Bodmin and Wenford Railway with several others scattered around various railway museums. The Model The Accurascale clay hood is able to reproduce these wagons from when they were first built, across various modifications right up to the point of withdrawal. We have the ability to model different axle boxes, buffers and hood configurations including the tie down hooks that were added for the later pent hoods in a different position to the earlier “discs” that had been used for the tarpaulin sheets. The sheets/hoods on our wagons are removable showing a fully detailed interior and tarpaulin bar (if fitted) with correctly oriented longitudinal floor planks. The wagons feature a diecast underframe and axles running in brass bearings for super smooth running. As you can see from the photos and via our exclusive reveal via Hornby magazine, we are well advanced with these wagons being at the decorated stage. Production is now under way with an envisaged guide delivery date of Q4 of 2025. Priced at just £89.95 per triple pack, these wagons are of course available with our bundle discount rakes of 10% off when you order 2-4 packs, and 15% off when you order 5 packs or more. With these beauties running up to 50 wagons in length that makes for a very healthy and handy saving. Pre-order yours via your local stockist, or via the link below to order direct for no money down! Pre-order Your Clayhood Wagons Here! Specification Highly detailed model constructed from plastic and die-cast metal 42g Weight per Wagon RP25.110 chemically blackened OO gauge wheel sets Blackened brass bearings conforming to Accurascale standard of 14.4mm back-to-back on 2mm axles over 26mm pinpoints. Etched metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including, but not limited to, handrails, grab handles, door handles, lamp brackets, brake hoses, though pipes, and brake gear. Turned sprung metal buffers Two buffer types – standard heavy duty and OLEO NEM standard coupler pockets Narrow tension lock couplers included Individual lettering and codes from real wagons for authenticity Accessory Bag included which contains instanter couplings View the full article

Who said austerity has to be drab? With the wide variety of colour schemes our lovely little Austerity tanks received over the years, the last thing they can be accused of now is being drab! Arriving over Christmas, our decorated samples of our lovely Hunslets in OO/4mm gauge are looking very sharp indeed, and follow our newer practice of announcing later in the project timeline, meaning shorter waits for delivery to customers. There are some corrections to be made, with sandbox lids white instead of the correct black they should be, and the motion is currently unpainted, which will be updated on the finished models. We also have some corrections to make to Glendower, but these will all be sorted for production. Updated artwork below (sample displays original incorrect artwork) We have also taken the opportunity with the Austerities to make the humble and rather ugly tension lock couplings, so sworn by by many, and sworn at by others a bit more unobtrusive by moulding the loop in clear plastic. We're not going to call it exactly an innovation, but welcome to the Accurascale Invisilocks! Anyway, enough of all that. Let's take a closer look! Looking pretty good so far! We're delighted to report that we are on schedule with these handsome little tanks for delivery in Q2 of 2026. Also, look out for an "Accurascale Exclusives" model announced very soon! Pre-order yours via your local stockist, or direct for no money down with free UK postage and packaging and cashback points via the link below! Pre-Order Your Austerity Tanks Here! View the full article

Thank you for your patience and understanding around the utterly frustrating issues with the clamshell packaging and motor clips which have affected some of our AB models. It has been unfortunate to say the least that your shiny new model arrived damaged or not operating and we fully understand the frustration around that. We have been utterly frustrated too and was something that took us by surprise. These things can happen when taking over a project already underway, but still, it was equally frustrating for us that our latest locomotive release was upsetting customers. We took this feedback on board and went back to the factory who were keen to work with us to put things right. So, over the Christmas period, all remaining AB tanks in stock have had remanufactured motor clips added as well as a revised clamshell plastic packaging to prevent in transit damage. All AB tanks currently on sale have these improvements so you can now buy them with confidence. But, what about those of you who bought locos already? Well, never fear. Firstly, your lifetime warranty has you covered should you have any issues, and if they arise, we will either send you the replacement clip and packaging, or when you send the loco back for repair should it need it, then it will come back with these new parts and packaging included. Once again, sincere apologies for this issue and we hope the above goes some way to restore confidence in our cute little tank locos. We also have DCC decoders and crews now in stock, so grab them while you can too. Order below! Order Your Andrew Barclay Saddle Tank Here You can order yours now that they are back on sale here: View the full article

Following on from the arrival of the BR Blue Mark 1 subs in the Autumn of 2024 and now the Carmine variants arriving just after Christmas (and are currently being dispatched to customers!) we have just received the decorated samples of the much desired maroon livery. Let's take a closer look below! Looking pretty tasty, right? Perfect for our green Brush Type 2s, or a multitude of other pioneer diesel classes and the twilight years of steam, these coaches have been highly acclaimed since they began to arrive on layouts and in collections in their BR Blue and Carmine liveries. Lined and unlined Maroon livery now completes the BR era story for these characterful people carriers. These livery samples have been signed off for production which will now commence post Chinese New Year, with a delivery date of Q3 of 2025. Place your pre-order with your local stockist, or below! Pre-Order Your Maroon Mark 1 Sub Coaches Here! View the full article

We know we say this every year, but 2024 has been our biggest yet. Our 2023 has been a year of growth, rivalry, intrigue, charity, taking on the great work of others and delivery. Indeed, so much has happened it's likely that we have missed something! However, there is plenty to reflect on as we build towards 2025 as we aim to grow even more! So, pour yourself a beverage of your choosing, crack open a selection box or the biscuit tin, and join us as we look back on 2024! Hattons Originals Join The Accurascale Range 2024 began in a rather negative mood for the hobby in general as one of the biggest names in the industry, Hattons, announced that they were to close. The news sent shockwaves throughout the hobby and industry, transcending into the mainstream news media who howled that it was the death of the hobby, along with the cancellation of the annual Warley show. Thankfully, us enthusiasts knew that this simply was not the case, but losing Hattons has been a sad loss with many fine people losing their jobs. Thankfully, many have found roles elsewhere in the industry since the closure, giving other businesses the benefit of their experience and expertise. Primarily known as a retailer, Hattons had also designed and produced a significant amount of models themselves in the years prior to their closure which had been very well received. Possibly the most famous was the Class 66, which had previously joined our range (more on that later!), but what of the other models? Following weeks of negotiations, and having built upon our already strong relationship with Hattons as a supplier and purchaser of their Class 66, a deal was struck between us to take on a significant portion of the "Hattons Originals" tooling. Already delivered are the OO gauge Warwells and Andrew Barclay tank locomotives, with the P Class about to commence delivery to modellers in January and the Beilhack snow ploughs due in 2025, along with the ICI hopper wagons. Further announcements from the old Hattons range will continue throughout 2025, so keep an eye out for those. You never know what might still be in our tooling bucket from Hattons! We Raise £35,000 For Two Wonderful Charities 2024 saw the delivery of our first production run of Class 66 locomotives in OO gauge, and with it our two charity special fundraisers for Prostate Cancer UK and Samaritans UK. We were delighted to work with both charities along with GBRf and Freightliner UK to raise these much needed funs for two brilliant causes. We were honoured that the CEO of Freightliner UK CEO, Tim Shoveller, could join us for the handing over of the cheque for £10,000 to Samaritans UK too, and very thankful to Freightliner UK for having 66415 present for the handover! Our first announced fundraiser was for Prostate Cancer UK with a model of 66769 in its unique livery. Modellers got behind both models, but one customer who wishes to remain anonymous was so inspired by our initiative that they donated £15,000 to Prostate Cancer UK by themselves. A huge thank you to them and all modellers who both both models! 2025 will see the delivery of our next charity locomotive, as we work with DB Cargo UK this time to deliver 66190 "Martin House" with the aim once again to raise £10,000. We will have an announcement of a further charity fundraiser or two in 2025, so make sure you keep an eye out for those! We Help Raise Funds For Railway Preservation Samaritans and Prostate Cancer UK weren't the only charities we worked with in 2024. Naturally, we work close with and support a number of railway preservation groups to ensure the wheels of our railway heritage keep rolling, and 2024 was no different. This year saw the delivery of our limited edition model of 37714 for the Heavy Tractor Group, as well as Deltics for our friends at the Deltic Preservation Society and Locomotion. These models help raise vital funds to keep these English Electric greats rolling, and benefit greatly from your purchases. You win by doing your bit to keep these amazing machines rolling, and you get a beautiful model for your collection. Everyone wins! In 2025 we will have further preservation fundraisers, including our special edition model of 37403 for our friends at the Scottish Railway Preservation Society to celebrate 60th birthday of the locomotive in 2025! We Introduce "AccuraCare" And Open Our Warranty Repair Facility We started 2024 with something that may well revolutionise the model railway industry, the introduction of our lifetime limited warranty! Not only did we announce it for new models, but also backdated it to cover previously released models too, including all locomotives, coaches, wagons and accessories. It certainly struck a chord with the public, as it picked up the "Innovation of The Year" award from Hornby Magazine, as voted for by the public! The introduction of our lifetime warranty coincided with the opening of our dedicated repair facility based in Darlington, which handles repairs for our growing range with our UK based customers. So, if you ever have a problem with your Accurascale model, hit that chat icon on the bottom right of the screen and you will go through to our warranty repair and customer service team! Speaking of awards.... Accurascale Wins Again, Thanks To YOUR Votes! We dont know quite how we manage it, but once again we retained the "Manufacturer of The Year" and "00 Wagon of The Year" across all the major industry awards this year. Simply amazing! We were especially delighted to see our Class 66 take the 00 Locomotive of The Year" crown in the recent Hornby Magazine Awards. It was a brilliant recognition of the improvements we made to the model to make it the model it always could be, and bring it into line with the rest of our range. Once again, a big thank you to everybody who voted for us. We're working harder than ever to try secure your vote for 2025 with the models that are on the way! We Take A Class 37 To A Show As mentioned earlier, the discontinuation of the annual Warley show at the NEC had even the mainstream media bemoaning the demise of the hobby along with the closure of Hattons. "Hogwash!" was our response. Not satisfied with taking on the Hattons toolings, we decided to throw our weight behind the TWO new NEC shows that took place this year. For Model World Live, we went big for the first edition of this new event, and teamed up with our mates at the Heavy Tractor Group and bring 37108 to NEC as the centrepiece. It certainly made an impact, and even ended up on the news! We also attended and sponsored the replacement event at the NEC for the Warley show in November. We brought along a smaller train for that show, but it was able to move under its own power and operate throughout the weekend! 2024 was our biggest year for shows, doing 5 of the biggest shows around the country, beginning with Glasgow in February and ending with the NEC in November, with specialist and regional shows such as the Darlington show, DEMU Showcase and Irish shows such as Dublin and Wexford thrown in for good measure. We'll see you at a show in 2025! We Hit The Road And Visit Our Retailers Supporting our retail network and meeting our customers who purchase our models via their local model shop. This year we paid a visit to our friends at Rails of Sheffield, Malcs Models, among others! Thank you to all the model shops who hosted us this year, and to everyone who came out to see us when we were in your local area. We plan to visit more retailers in 2025, so if you want us at your local model shop, let them and us know! New Models Announced Class 60 Back in June we caused quite a stir when we announced our latest diesel locomotive project; the Class 60. Why the Class 60? It fits our range beautifully and we explain more in our launch video! These will roll onto your layouts in 2025, with sound recordings including doing what the Class 60s do best; hauling heavy loads (in this case 2500 tons) at 60mph on the mainline... A big thank you to the folks at DCR and DB Cargo for their assistance with our Class 60s! Pre-Order Your Class 60 Here! Hunslet Austerity Saddle Tanks Our final locomotive announcement of 2024 was another essential part of our "Powering Britain" range along with the Class 60, the Hunslet Austerity tank engines in OO. We have just received the decorated samples of these over the Christmas holidays, so keep an eye out for some rather lovely images of those in January when we return to work! Also, it was not the only Hunslet locomotive we announced in 2024... Pre-Order Your Hunslet Austerity Here NIR Hunslets October saw the latest diesel locomotive announced, and one that is both a bit niche and a bit quirky; The NIR Hunslet locomotives. Announced under our IRM brand which covers models of the Emerald Isle, they will mark a closer synergy between IRM and Accurascale which will become clearer to modellers in 2025. Exciting times! Pre-order Your NIR Hunslet Here Class 37/9 Although the Class 37 has been a part of our range for a couple of years now, the Class 37/9s are such different beasts to the mainstream tractors we felt they deserved a mention all of their own. We are covering the Mirrlees variants in our first production run of these interesting machines, with their much modified roof sections and detail differences between each other, not to mention the other Class 37s. A variant of the iconic EE Type 3 story that has been on our radar since day one, we are delighted to bring these to you (along with the original 37/4s of course!) in 2025! Pre-Order Your Class 37 Here BR 21 Ton Hoppers HTO HTV As you probably know, we love our wagons here at Accurascale, and 2024 saw us announce some much needed "missing links" in OO wagons. First up was the humble BR 21 hopper and their rebodied stablemates, TOPS codes HTO and HTV, along with engineering ZDVs! We still don't quite know how these stalwarts of BR coal operations have never been produced in model form before, and were a must on our large list of projects from day one. Fitting perfectly into our "Powering Britain" range and complimenting our 16 tonners, 21 ton MDO and MDVs and of course our HUOs, these will be a large slice of our 2025 wagon range and currently are in production. Pre-order Your 21 Ton Hoppers Here! FCA Family of Container Wagons Another large "missing link" in the 00 gauge wagon world are the FCA container flats and their variants. Again, we're a bit astonished that there has not been a "Binliner" or MOD traffic train offered in ready-to-run model form to date, so we set out to rectify that with our first run consisting of MOD containers and 20ft waste containers. Perfect for our Class 60 and 66 too, these are due in 2025 with decorated samples to be revealed in the new year. Pre-order Your FCAs Here! IRM H Vans, Grain Wagons and Bulleid Tankers All new wagon announcements weren't just confined to Accurascale, as IRM announced and delivered some rather tasty models on the common Bulleid triangulated chassis. These included the announcement and delivery of some rather smart fuel oil tankers, which sold out in a blink of an eye. We have also announced grain wagons converted from H Vans and the fitted H Vans which will arrive with us in early 2025! Keep an eye out for them. Speaking of IRM and tank wagons... IRM Teams Up With Heljan To Cover The Esso Tank Wagons We're delighted to have been approached by our friends at Heljan to collaborate on a wagon project covering the BR A and B tanks as they were sold and repurposed for use in Ireland in the late 1960s. With the distinctive additional bracing tooled and added, these quad packs allow modellers to build an authentic "Sligo Oil" train. These are on the high seas and due in stock in early 2025! Pre-order Your Esso Tankers Here So, that's what we announced. But what matters most is what we delivered. Let's have a look at what we landed in 2024! Delivered Models Class 66 It has been very much a "Type 5" sort of year for us as our first run of Class 66s arrived in the summer just ahead of our Class 60 launch. Our sheds have gone down very well indeed and are already winning awards, picking up the "OO Gauge Locomotive of The Year" gong in the Hornby Magazine awards. Indeed, our first run proved so popular that they virtually sold out just after arrival direct and with retailers so we announced batch 2 which is now in production. Batch two includes "Euro" Class 66 for the first time, featuring machines built for use on the Continent which have since been brought to the UK and modified for UK operations. Look out for their delivery next year! Pre-Order Your Class 66 Here! Class 37 Run 2 Autumn saw the arrival of our second production run of our beloved Class 37s! We offered a variety of eras from BR Green through to current day operations and once again they sold out rather quickly indeed direct, and are becoming scarce on retailers shelves too. Following on from delivery of this batch we announced run 3, which consists of the classic Class 37/4s and the Class 37/9s as mentioned earlier. Look forward to these in 2025! Pre-order Your Class 37 Here! Class 31 Autumn was really busy for us as it saw the long awaited arrival of the first batch of our Class 31s! Our BR Blue locos arrived to much fanfare and positive feedback, with favourable feedback on the performance, shape, sound and decoration. Once again they have become scarce, but never fear! The second batch from the first run in BR Green and our 80S/90s era liveries such as Dutch and Railfreight land in about 2 weeks' time! We will also see the announcement of an all-new production run after the final deliveries of our Exclusives and Retailer/Magazine limited editions in 2025. Andrew Barclay Tank Locomotives With the Andrew Barclay tanks already in production when we took on the project, we were able to deliver this production run in 2025. It has come to our attention that the pre-existing inner packaging design was not adequate enough to protect some of these models, particularly the open-backed cab variants. We have also noted that there was a design flaw with the clip that holds the motor in place which can become dislodged if jolted in shipping. We can now confirm that all the packaging clamshell casings and motor clips have been re-engineered and replaced on the remaining stock to rectify these issues and we will have replacements for both available to existing customers should they want them in the new year. Watch out for further updates. Order Your Andrew Barclay Here! Class 55 Deltics Our final loco delivery of 2025 (not accounting for our P Class tank engines, which have arrived too!) was the second production run of our mighty Class 55 Deltics. They arrived just in time for Christmas and have been finding favour with modellers around the world. Usually the first production run of any new model is the biggest, with subsequent deliveries always a bit smaller, but due to the popularity of Vulcan Foundry's favourite beasts, our second production was actually larger than the first. We are sold out direct, but you may still find the locos you desire with your local retailer. We must do another run of these soon.... SR Banana Vans Our major wagon arrival for 2024 was the SR D1478 and D1479 Diagram Banana Vans in OO/4mm. These distinctive vans were very much another "missing link" in the OO gauge ready-to-run wagon market so we are delighted to plug yet another gap! We still have some available direct and via retailers, with all eras covered including departmental "Tadpole" variants. Another award winner for "Best OO wagon" in the wagon of the year voting with Hornby magazine! Thank you to everyone who voted for them. Order Your Banana Vans Here! Mark 2b Coaches It was very much the year of the coach for us as we delivered our long awaited and highly anticipated Mark 2b coaches. From our exclusive RTC pack above to the bog standard Blue Grey and NSE variants, along with West Coast and Provincial, they have gone down a treat with modellers and plugged a much needed gap in the Mark 2 story. Sold out on arrival, we will be looking to do another production run soon, so keep an eye out for that. Mark 1 Suburban Coaches It's been a bit of an Eastern Region flavour to our arrivals in 2024, with Deltics and of course our Class 31s in Blue and the matching Mark 1 suburban coaches arriving in stock together. Although a humdrum prototype, we have gone to town on the detail, with the interiors being a particular highlight, along with a fully diecast chassis to provide the smoothest running and of course, full interior lighting! Some of our blue coaches have no sold out, and the others are shifting fast. The carmine variants have just arrived with us too, and will begin shipping out to customers in the new year. Order Your Mark 1 Subs Here! OO Warwells Our first arrival of 2024 was a surprise to many as we delivered the production run of Hattons warwell wagons in OO. These were finished production when we agreed to take on the production costs and tooling for these superb wagons and we then delivered them to Hattons pre-order customers. They sold out rather quickly, so perhaps we need to consider another production run of them in the near future? Let us know! IRM Bulleid Open Wagons IRM saw delivery of a plethora of new wagon models built on the famously versatile Bulleid triangulated underframe. The first arrival was the iconic corrugated open wagons, which are a must for anyone modelling from the 1950s to the 1980s, particularly on beet traffic. Order Your Bulleid Opens Here! IRM Bulleid Flat Wagons Hot on the heels of the Bulleid opens was their flat wagon counterparts. Perfect for mixed goods trains carrying anything from rails to cars, these wagons again were part of the Irish scene for decades. Probably the quickest selling Irish wagons since we did our Bell Liner container wagon sets, these CIE tanks went in record time. Looking at them though, it's easy to see why as they turned out rather cute! NIR "Enterprise" Mark 2 Coaches Rolled in as part of our Mark 2 project, our Enterprise Mark 2 coaches did feature unique tooling to cover the generator, grille and driving cars which were ordered by NIR to form the premier train to Dublin. We did put the "cart before the horse" with these a little bit, releasing them before the NIR Hunslet locomotives in two liveries, but they proved so successful it made our Hunslet project a "no brainer". We now must get on with that iconic maroon and blue livery to match the early Hunslet liveries... IR and IE Mark 2C Coaches Our final arrival for 2024 for IRM was the first lot of our Mark 2c tooling in the iconic orange and black livery with IR and IE markings. Capturing the refurbished coaches bought from Vic Berry's scrap yard in exchange for withdrawn C Class locos. Once again, the exquisite detail and package of full interior detail, decoration and lighting, coupled to a museum quality finish, set the tone for 2025 arrivals such as the Park Royals and ICRs! New Team Member We made a further addition to our growing team in 2024 with Andrew Faulkner joining us as Operations and Logistics Manager. Andrew brings a wealth of experience with him and is familiar with him, having been our account manager in his previous job, and was tasked with bringing our models from the far east to the UK and Ireland. We have now brought that role in house, while Andrew also works to streamline and improve our warehousing and dispatching operations to customers. And A Fond Farewell... The end of 2024 sees the retirement of Graham Hubbard, who has been a Development Consultant to us for a number of years now. Graham's wealth of experience from building the Bachmann brand in the UK for over 25 years, and of course revitalising Graham Farish. Graham is now taking a well earned rest as he retires from the industry, but will still be present in the railway preservation scene as a member of the Heavy Tractor Group. We wish Graham all the very best for the future and thank him for all his help in our growth and development into the business we are today. It's been invaluable! We're sure he will still keep in touch with ideas and assistance when we need it too! And Finally... If you've made it this far, then well done! We had a lot to pack in this year, and there is plenty we left out too! It's been our busiest yet, but 2025 is already shaping up to be even bigger for us. In the coming weeks alone we will see the arrival of our first O gauge loco, the Ruston 88DS (and our first loco delivered on time. See? We're learning!) the Mark 2c coaches, the Mark 1 subs in carmine livery, the second batch of the Class 31s, the 16 ton mineral wagons, the Wainwright P Class locos and the CDA wagons. Just behind that little lot we have the Class 50s, the Class 89, The 3rd part of the Class 31 deliveries, The Class 60, The Buckjumpers, The Panniers and Class 66 run 2, NER hoppers and not to mention the blue HYAs and the grain wagons and H vans for IRM. In fact, we are about to deliver so much stuff in the next few weeks and couple of months, that we wont have many outstanding announcements left to fulfil and our backlog will be cleared. With that in mind, expect to see some rather juicy announcements in 2025 as our record investment in new toolings made in 2023 and again this year begin to come on stream. We will be kicking off with a brand new wagon announcement in early January. Exciting times! We will sign off by thanking you all so very much for your continued support and custom, as well as votes in awards and well wishes via social media, RMWeb or in person at shows. We could never do all this without your support, so thank you! We would like to wish you all a very happy and peaceful new year and here's to a mega 2025 for us all. View the full article

We know we say this every year, but 2024 has been our biggest yet. Our 2023 has been a year of growth, rivalry, intrigue, charity, taking on the great work of others and delivery. Indeed, so much has happened it's likely that we have missed something! However, there is plenty to reflect on as we build towards 2025 as we aim to grow even more! So, pour yourself a beverage of your choosing, crack open a selection box or the biscuit tin, and join us as we look back on 2024! Hattons Originals Join The Accurascale Range 2024 began in a rather negative mood for the hobby in general as one of the biggest names in the industry, Hattons, announced that they were to close. The news sent shockwaves throughout the hobby and industry, transcending into the mainstream news media who howled that it was the death of the hobby, along with the cancellation of the annual Warley show. Thankfully, us enthusiasts knew that this simply was not the case, but losing Hattons has been a sad loss with many fine people losing their jobs. Thankfully, many have found roles elsewhere in the industry since the closure, giving other businesses the benefit of their experience and expertise. Primarily known as a retailer, Hattons had also designed and produced a significant amount of models themselves in the years prior to their closure which had been very well received. Possibly the most famous was the Class 66, which had previously joined our range (more on that later!), but what of the other models? Following weeks of negotiations, and having built upon our already strong relationship with Hattons as a supplier and purchaser of their Class 66, a deal was struck between us to take on a significant portion of the "Hattons Originals" tooling. Already delivered are the OO gauge Warwells and Andrew Barclay tank locomotives, with the P Class about to commence delivery to modellers in January and the Beilhack snow ploughs due in 2025, along with the ICI hopper wagons. Further announcements from the old Hattons range will continue throughout 2025, so keep an eye out for those. You never know what might still be in our tooling bucket from Hattons! We Raise £35,000 For Two Wonderful Charities 2024 saw the delivery of our first production run of Class 66 locomotives in OO gauge, and with it our two charity special fundraisers for Prostate Cancer UK and Samaritans UK. We were delighted to work with both charities along with GBRf and Freightliner UK to raise these much needed funs for two brilliant causes. We were honoured that the CEO of Freightliner UK CEO, Tim Shoveller, could join us for the handing over of the cheque for £10,000 to Samaritans UK too, and very thankful to Freightliner UK for having 66415 present for the handover! Our first announced fundraiser was for Prostate Cancer UK with a model of 66769 in its unique livery. Modellers got behind both models, but one customer who wishes to remain anonymous was so inspired by our initiative that they donated £15,000 to Prostate Cancer UK by themselves. A huge thank you to them and all modellers who both both models! 2025 will see the delivery of our next charity locomotive, as we work with DB Cargo UK this time to deliver 66190 "Martin House" with the aim once again to raise £10,000. We will have an announcement of a further charity fundraiser or two in 2025, so make sure you keep an eye out for those! We Help Raise Funds For Railway Preservation Samaritans and Prostate Cancer UK weren't the only charities we worked with in 2024. Naturally, we work close with and support a number of railway preservation groups to ensure the wheels of our railway heritage keep rolling, and 2024 was no different. This year saw the delivery of our limited edition model of 37714 for the Heavy Tractor Group, as well as Deltics for our friends at the Deltic Preservation Society and Locomotion. These models help raise vital funds to keep these English Electric greats rolling, and benefit greatly from your purchases. You win by doing your bit to keep these amazing machines rolling, and you get a beautiful model for your collection. Everyone wins! In 2025 we will have further preservation fundraisers, including our special edition model of 37403 for our friends at the Scottish Railway Preservation Society to celebrate 60th birthday of the locomotive in 2025! We Introduce "AccuraCare" And Open Our Warranty Repair Facility We started 2024 with something that may well revolutionise the model railway industry, the introduction of our lifetime limited warranty! Not only did we announce it for new models, but also backdated it to cover previously released models too, including all locomotives, coaches, wagons and accessories. It certainly struck a chord with the public, as it picked up the "Innovation of The Year" award from Hornby Magazine, as voted for by the public! The introduction of our lifetime warranty coincided with the opening of our dedicated repair facility based in Darlington, which handles repairs for our growing range with our UK based customers. So, if you ever have a problem with your Accurascale model, hit that chat icon on the bottom right of the screen and you will go through to our warranty repair and customer service team! Speaking of awards.... Accurascale Wins Again, Thanks To YOUR Votes! We dont know quite how we manage it, but once again we retained the "Manufacturer of The Year" and "00 Wagon of The Year" across all the major industry awards this year. Simply amazing! We were especially delighted to see our Class 66 take the 00 Locomotive of The Year" crown in the recent Hornby Magazine Awards. It was a brilliant recognition of the improvements we made to the model to make it the model it always could be, and bring it into line with the rest of our range. Once again, a big thank you to everybody who voted for us. We're working harder than ever to try secure your vote for 2025 with the models that are on the way! We Take A Class 37 To A Show As mentioned earlier, the discontinuation of the annual Warley show at the NEC had even the mainstream media bemoaning the demise of the hobby along with the closure of Hattons. "Hogwash!" was our response. Not satisfied with taking on the Hattons toolings, we decided to throw our weight behind the TWO new NEC shows that took place this year. For Model World Live, we went big for the first edition of this new event, and teamed up with our mates at the Heavy Tractor Group and bring 37108 to NEC as the centrepiece. It certainly made an impact, and even ended up on the news! We also attended and sponsored the replacement event at the NEC for the Warley show in November. We brought along a smaller train for that show, but it was able to move under its own power and operate throughout the weekend! 2024 was our biggest year for shows, doing 5 of the biggest shows around the country, beginning with Glasgow in February and ending with the NEC in November, with specialist and regional shows such as the Darlington show, DEMU Showcase and Irish shows such as Dublin and Wexford thrown in for good measure. We'll see you at a show in 2025! We Hit The Road And Visit Our Retailers Supporting our retail network and meeting our customers who purchase our models via their local model shop. This year we paid a visit to our friends at Rails of Sheffield, Malcs Models, among others! Thank you to all the model shops who hosted us this year, and to everyone who came out to see us when we were in your local area. We plan to visit more retailers in 2025, so if you want us at your local model shop, let them and us know! New Models Announced Class 60 Back in June we caused quite a stir when we announced our latest diesel locomotive project; the Class 60. Why the Class 60? It fits our range beautifully and we explain more in our launch video! These will roll onto your layouts in 2025, with sound recordings including doing what the Class 60s do best; hauling heavy loads (in this case 2500 tons) at 60mph on the mainline... A big thank you to the folks at DCR and DB Cargo for their assistance with our Class 60s! Pre-Order Your Class 60 Here! Hunslet Austerity Saddle Tanks Our final locomotive announcement of 2024 was another essential part of our "Powering Britain" range along with the Class 60, the Hunslet Austerity tank engines in OO. We have just received the decorated samples of these over the Christmas holidays, so keep an eye out for some rather lovely images of those in January when we return to work! Also, it was not the only Hunslet locomotive we announced in 2024... Pre-Order Your Hunslet Austerity Here NIR Hunslets October saw the latest diesel locomotive announced, and one that is both a bit niche and a bit quirky; The NIR Hunslet locomotives. Announced under our IRM brand which covers models of the Emerald Isle, they will mark a closer synergy between IRM and Accurascale which will become clearer to modellers in 2025. Exciting times! Pre-order Your NIR Hunslet Here Class 37/9 Although the Class 37 has been a part of our range for a couple of years now, the Class 37/9s are such different beasts to the mainstream tractors we felt they deserved a mention all of their own. We are covering the Mirrlees variants in our first production run of these interesting machines, with their much modified roof sections and detail differences between each other, not to mention the other Class 37s. A variant of the iconic EE Type 3 story that has been on our radar since day one, we are delighted to bring these to you (along with the original 37/4s of course!) in 2025! Pre-Order Your Class 37 Here BR 21 Ton Hoppers HTO HTV As you probably know, we love our wagons here at Accurascale, and 2024 saw us announce some much needed "missing links" in OO wagons. First up was the humble BR 21 hopper and their rebodied stablemates, TOPS codes HTO and HTV, along with engineering ZDVs! We still don't quite know how these stalwarts of BR coal operations have never been produced in model form before, and were a must on our large list of projects from day one. Fitting perfectly into our "Powering Britain" range and complimenting our 16 tonners, 21 ton MDO and MDVs and of course our HUOs, these will be a large slice of our 2025 wagon range and currently are in production. Pre-order Your 21 Ton Hoppers Here! FCA Family of Container Wagons Another large "missing link" in the 00 gauge wagon world are the FCA container flats and their variants. Again, we're a bit astonished that there has not been a "Binliner" or MOD traffic train offered in ready-to-run model form to date, so we set out to rectify that with our first run consisting of MOD containers and 20ft waste containers. Perfect for our Class 60 and 66 too, these are due in 2025 with decorated samples to be revealed in the new year. Pre-order Your FCAs Here! IRM H Vans, Grain Wagons and Bulleid Tankers All new wagon announcements weren't just confined to Accurascale, as IRM announced and delivered some rather tasty models on the common Bulleid triangulated chassis. These included the announcement and delivery of some rather smart fuel oil tankers, which sold out in a blink of an eye. We have also announced grain wagons converted from H Vans and the fitted H Vans which will arrive with us in early 2025! Keep an eye out for them. Speaking of IRM and tank wagons... IRM Teams Up With Heljan To Cover The Esso Tank Wagons We're delighted to have been approached by our friends at Heljan to collaborate on a wagon project covering the BR A and B tanks as they were sold and repurposed for use in Ireland in the late 1960s. With the distinctive additional bracing tooled and added, these quad packs allow modellers to build an authentic "Sligo Oil" train. These are on the high seas and due in stock in early 2025! Pre-order Your Esso Tankers Here So, that's what we announced. But what matters most is what we delivered. Let's have a look at what we landed in 2024! Delivered Models Class 66 It has been very much a "Type 5" sort of year for us as our first run of Class 66s arrived in the summer just ahead of our Class 60 launch. Our sheds have gone down very well indeed and are already winning awards, picking up the "OO Gauge Locomotive of The Year" gong in the Hornby Magazine awards. Indeed, our first run proved so popular that they virtually sold out just after arrival direct and with retailers so we announced batch 2 which is now in production. Batch two includes "Euro" Class 66 for the first time, featuring machines built for use on the Continent which have since been brought to the UK and modified for UK operations. Look out for their delivery next year! Pre-Order Your Class 66 Here! Class 37 Run 2 Autumn saw the arrival of our second production run of our beloved Class 37s! We offered a variety of eras from BR Green through to current day operations and once again they sold out rather quickly indeed direct, and are becoming scarce on retailers shelves too. Following on from delivery of this batch we announced run 3, which consists of the classic Class 37/4s and the Class 37/9s as mentioned earlier. Look forward to these in 2025! Pre-order Your Class 37 Here! Class 31 Autumn was really busy for us as it saw the long awaited arrival of the first batch of our Class 31s! Our BR Blue locos arrived to much fanfare and positive feedback, with favourable feedback on the performance, shape, sound and decoration. Once again they have become scarce, but never fear! The second batch from the first run in BR Green and our 80S/90s era liveries such as Dutch and Railfreight land in about 2 weeks' time! We will also see the announcement of an all-new production run after the final deliveries of our Exclusives and Retailer/Magazine limited editions in 2025. Andrew Barclay Tank Locomotives With the Andrew Barclay tanks already in production when we took on the project, we were able to deliver this production run in 2025. It has come to our attention that the pre-existing inner packaging design was not adequate enough to protect some of these models, particularly the open-backed cab variants. We have also noted that there was a design flaw with the clip that holds the motor in place which can become dislodged if jolted in shipping. We can now confirm that all the packaging clamshell casings and motor clips have been re-engineered and replaced on the remaining stock to rectify these issues and we will have replacements for both available to existing customers should they want them in the new year. Watch out for further updates. Order Your Andrew Barclay Here! Class 55 Deltics Our final loco delivery of 2025 (not accounting for our P Class tank engines, which have arrived too!) was the second production run of our mighty Class 55 Deltics. They arrived just in time for Christmas and have been finding favour with modellers around the world. Usually the first production run of any new model is the biggest, with subsequent deliveries always a bit smaller, but due to the popularity of Vulcan Foundry's favourite beasts, our second production was actually larger than the first. We are sold out direct, but you may still find the locos you desire with your local retailer. We must do another run of these soon.... SR Banana Vans Our major wagon arrival for 2024 was the SR D1478 and D1479 Diagram Banana Vans in OO/4mm. These distinctive vans were very much another "missing link" in the OO gauge ready-to-run wagon market so we are delighted to plug yet another gap! We still have some available direct and via retailers, with all eras covered including departmental "Tadpole" variants. Another award winner for "Best OO wagon" in the wagon of the year voting with Hornby magazine! Thank you to everyone who voted for them. Order Your Banana Vans Here! Mark 2b Coaches It was very much the year of the coach for us as we delivered our long awaited and highly anticipated Mark 2b coaches. From our exclusive RTC pack above to the bog standard Blue Grey and NSE variants, along with West Coast and Provincial, they have gone down a treat with modellers and plugged a much needed gap in the Mark 2 story. Sold out on arrival, we will be looking to do another production run soon, so keep an eye out for that. Mark 1 Suburban Coaches It's been a bit of an Eastern Region flavour to our arrivals in 2024, with Deltics and of course our Class 31s in Blue and the matching Mark 1 suburban coaches arriving in stock together. Although a humdrum prototype, we have gone to town on the detail, with the interiors being a particular highlight, along with a fully diecast chassis to provide the smoothest running and of course, full interior lighting! Some of our blue coaches have no sold out, and the others are shifting fast. The carmine variants have just arrived with us too, and will begin shipping out to customers in the new year. Order Your Mark 1 Subs Here! OO Warwells Our first arrival of 2024 was a surprise to many as we delivered the production run of Hattons warwell wagons in OO. These were finished production when we agreed to take on the production costs and tooling for these superb wagons and we then delivered them to Hattons pre-order customers. They sold out rather quickly, so perhaps we need to consider another production run of them in the near future? Let us know! IRM Bulleid Open Wagons IRM saw delivery of a plethora of new wagon models built on the famously versatile Bulleid triangulated underframe. The first arrival was the iconic corrugated open wagons, which are a must for anyone modelling from the 1950s to the 1980s, particularly on beet traffic. Order Your Bulleid Opens Here! IRM Bulleid Flat Wagons Hot on the heels of the Bulleid opens was their flat wagon counterparts. Perfect for mixed goods trains carrying anything from rails to cars, these wagons again were part of the Irish scene for decades. Probably the quickest selling Irish wagons since we did our Bell Liner container wagon sets, these CIE tanks went in record time. Looking at them though, it's easy to see why as they turned out rather cute! NIR "Enterprise" Mark 2 Coaches Rolled in as part of our Mark 2 project, our Enterprise Mark 2 coaches did feature unique tooling to cover the generator, grille and driving cars which were ordered by NIR to form the premier train to Dublin. We did put the "cart before the horse" with these a little bit, releasing them before the NIR Hunslet locomotives in two liveries, but they proved so successful it made our Hunslet project a "no brainer". We now must get on with that iconic maroon and blue livery to match the early Hunslet liveries... IR and IE Mark 2C Coaches Our final arrival for 2024 for IRM was the first lot of our Mark 2c tooling in the iconic orange and black livery with IR and IE markings. Capturing the refurbished coaches bought from Vic Berry's scrap yard in exchange for withdrawn C Class locos. Once again, the exquisite detail and package of full interior detail, decoration and lighting, coupled to a museum quality finish, set the tone for 2025 arrivals such as the Park Royals and ICRs! New Team Member We made a further addition to our growing team in 2024 with Andrew Faulkner joining us as Operations and Logistics Manager. Andrew brings a wealth of experience with him and is familiar with him, having been our account manager in his previous job, and was tasked with bringing our models from the far east to the UK and Ireland. We have now brought that role in house, while Andrew also works to streamline and improve our warehousing and dispatching operations to customers. And A Fond Farewell... The end of 2024 sees the retirement of Graham Hubbard, who has been a Development Consultant to us for a number of years now. Graham's wealth of experience from building the Bachmann brand in the UK for over 25 years, and of course revitalising Graham Farish. Graham is now taking a well earned rest as he retires from the industry, but will still be present in the railway preservation scene as a member of the Heavy Tractor Group. We wish Graham all the very best for the future and thank him for all his help in our growth and development into the business we are today. It's been invaluable! We're sure he will still keep in touch with ideas and assistance when we need it too! And Finally... If you've made it this far, then well done! We had a lot to pack in this year, and there is plenty we left out too! It's been our busiest yet, but 2025 is already shaping up to be even bigger for us. In the coming weeks alone we will see the arrival of our first O gauge loco, the Ruston 88DS (and our first loco delivered on time. See? We're learning!) the Mark 2c coaches, the Mark 1 subs in carmine livery, the second batch of the Class 31s, the 16 ton mineral wagons, the Wainwright P Class locos and the CDA wagons. Just behind that little lot we have the Class 50s, the Class 89, The 3rd part of the Class 31 deliveries, The Class 60, The Buckjumpers, The Panniers and Class 66 run 2, NER hoppers and not to mention the blue HYAs and the grain wagons and H vans for IRM. In fact, we are about to deliver so much stuff in the next few weeks and couple of months, that we wont have many outstanding announcements left to fulfil and our backlog will be cleared. With that in mind, expect to see some rather juicy announcements in 2025 as our record investment in new toolings made in 2023 and again this year begin to come on stream. We will be kicking off with a brand new wagon announcement in early January. Exciting times! We will sign off by thanking you all so very much for your continued support and custom, as well as votes in awards and well wishes via social media, RMWeb or in person at shows. We could never do all this without your support, so thank you! We would like to wish you all a very happy and peaceful new year and here's to a mega 2025 for us all. View the full article

No sooner had we announced that our next locomotives for IRM would be the utterly distinctive and characterful NIR 101 Class "Hunslets", that we already had progressed to decorated samples and they have now landed with us for assessment! We have some minor amendments to make which we will go through below. But first, let's feast our eyes on some proper Hunnys! Quite tasty, right? We're so thankful to the Ulster Folk And Transport Museum for allowing us access to the Hunslet so we could scan and measure it up to bring you this model. If you haven't been to Cultra, make sure you put it in your diary. It's a great day out as explained by Clare Ablett, the Transport Curator at the museum. Of course, this is just the next step in the development process as we work toward creating the finished models you will receive. We have improvements to make at this point too, which include the following: Improve paint application on GSM aerials. Improve operation and alignment of sprung buffers. Factory fit drawhook, and separate couplings into accessory bag. Allocate accessory items to each SKU. Improve manufacturing process to eliminate ejection pin marks. Improve casting process on chassis block to eliminate odd areas of rough casting. Improve paint coverage on MU fittings. Want to know more about the project? Check out our video with Hunslet Project Manager, Paul Isles, below! Overall, we are very pleased with progress so far, and the above has been fed back to the factory already with these amendments now well under way. Production is due to begin just after the Chinese New Year break in spring 2025 with us still on course for a delivery date Q4 2025. Order Your NIR Hunslet Here! View the full article

No sooner had we announced that our next locomotives for IRM would be the utterly distinctive and characterful NIR 101 Class "Hunslets", that we already had progressed to decorated samples and they have now landed with us for assessment! We have some minor amendments to make which we will go through below. But first, let's feast our eyes on some proper Hunnys! Quite tasty, right? We're so thankful to the Ulster Folk And Transport Museum for allowing us access to the Hunslet so we could scan and measure it up to bring you this model. If you haven't been to Cultra, make sure you put it in your diary. It's a great day out as explained by Clare Ablett, the Transport Curator at the museum. Of course, this is just the next step in the development process as we work toward creating the finished models you will receive. We have improvements to make at this point too, which include the following: Improve paint application on GSM aerials. Improve operation and alignment of sprung buffers. Factory fit drawhook, and separate couplings into accessory bag. Allocate accessory items to each SKU. Improve manufacturing process to eliminate ejection pin marks. Improve casting process on chassis block to eliminate odd areas of rough casting. Improve paint coverage on MU fittings. Want to know more about the project? Check out our video with Hunslet Project Manager, Paul Isles, below! Overall, we are very pleased with progress so far, and the above has been fed back to the factory already with these amendments now well under way. Production is due to begin just after the Chinese New Year break in spring 2025 with us still on course for a delivery date Q4 2025. Order Your NIR Hunslet Here! View the full article

We have a colossal amount of new models arriving in our warehouse, floating on the high seas and nearing completion in our factories. It is by far the largest amount of models we have been in the process of delivering ever as we grow bigger and stronger. In fact, there is so much happening right now that we have decided to put it in one larger mini update instead of several smaller batches. If we haven't got it on here, then the previous update is still valid. So, here we go! (Please note that these ETAs are given in good faith based on the latest information from our factories and logistics partners. There are therefore subject to change which we will communicate to you should a change arise.) Class 55 Deltics Our second run of Deltics are now in our warehouse and are currently being readied for dispatch. We envisage shipping to begin tomorrow and (busy Christmas period permitting) will begin landing with modellers and retailers from early next week. Please note that the second run of Deltics have been hugely popular, so it's going to take us at least a week to work through all orders. Andrew Barclay Tanks Our Andrew Barclay tanks are currently in stock but we are using a secondary warehouse to fulfil the volume of orders, coupled with Black Friday/Cyber Monday orders along with the usual Christmas rush is causing delays in the delivery system to modellers. We are currently seeing delivery times of 10-14 days. We apologise for this delay currently and are working to improve it significantly in the coming days and weeks. P Class Like the Andrew Barclay tanks, our P Class locomotives were already underway with Hattons before their closure. This means that clamshell internal packaging was already designed from the previous run and we saw no need to update it. However, there has been some damage caused by the packaging of the ABs and as a result we tested the Ps packaging. We were unhappy with the results of the packaging being adequate enough, so we have had it all recycled and remade. This has unfortunately delayed delivery, but they are due to be repackaged next week. We are confident that the new packaging will remove the disappointment of a broken model reaching you, but we can now not guarantee them arriving before Christmas to you, more likely between Christmas and new year and into early January. Crimson Mark 1 Suburban Coaches Following on from the success and love for our BR Blue Mark 1 suburban coaches, the next batch in the rather attractive BR crimson livery arrive at our Warehouse on December 19th and dispatch will begin after the Deltics. Once again, dispatch will take several days so may spill into that period between Christmas and new year, along with early January. 16 Ton Minerals Also due with the Crimson Mark 1s are our first production run of 16 ton mineral wagons! These will ship out after the Mark 1s in early January to direct customers and retailers. Mark 2c Coaches Our hotly anticipated Mark 2c coaches near the end of their journey and will land in stock with us in the first week of January and dispatch will begin after our usual QC checks and stock counting. Expect them to arrive with you from the second week in January and allow about 7-10 days for dispatch to all direct and trade customers. The love for these has been strong! Ruston 88DS In O Gauge Also due in the first week in January at our warehouse is our first O gauge locomotive, and indeed our first locomotive delivered on time! Our wonderful Ruston 88ds locos arrive in the second week of January and dispatch begins after the Mark 2c dispatch is complete. Class 30/31/Brush Type 2 Batch 2 and Batch 3 Following on from our hugely successful first batch (all in BR Blue!), our second batch of Class 31s consists of all main range locomotives in BR Green, Dutch, Railfreight grey, Regional Railways and Intercity Mainline liveries. These will land with us in mid January 2025. Our batch 3 which consists of our Accurascale Exclusives in Network Rail livery, Mainline Freight and EWS, along with special edition models for Rails of Sheffield, Key Model World, Model Rail Magazine and the National Railway Museum arrive in March! Class 89 As per our very recent update, the Class 89s will land with us in late February 2025! Expect to see production samples around new year. Class 50 Production of the Class 50s is now in its last leg and final assembly is well underway. We expect our production samples for sign off before the end of this year to sign off ahead of delivery. Delivery will be early March 2025. J67/J68/J69 Buckjumper Our gorgeous little Buckjumpers are progressing through production as we speak, but they will not be finished ahead of the Chinese New Year factory close down. They will now arrive in Q2 2025. CDA Wagons Accompanying the Class 31s are the CDA wagons, which will also arrive in stock with us in mid January 2025 and be dispatched to direct and retail customers following the second batch of Class 31s. Remember, you can pre-order any of these models (subject to availability, the Class 89 only direct or via Rails of Sheffield) from our retail partners, or direct via the link below! NER 20T Hopper Wagons Another project that is now in production are or rather lovely NER 20T hopper wagons. The completion date for these rather interesting entry into our "Powering Britain" range of coal wagons is March, which means they will arrive in stock with us in May of 2025. Pre-Order Your Accurascale Goodies Here! View the full article

Hi everyone, The team here at IRM/Accurascale was very sorry to hear of the untimely passing of Chris Dyer over the weekend. As anyone familiar with the Irish modelling scene would know, Chris ran toy fairs, commissioned reworked models and sold model trains, both new and secondhand at various shows across the island of Ireland for many years. He also ran a brilliant toy fair in Stillorgan with his good buddy, Dave Bracken for many years before COVID lockdowns and Brexit put a spanner in the works. He was also an early supporter of IRM and what we set out to do, with him being only one of our very select few trade partners. He also gave us space at the Stillorgan fair to promote and sell our models and meet the public. He will be greatly missed by those in the hobby, but not as much as he will be by his wonderful family and friends. Thanks very much for all your help and support, Chris, and the odd bargain too. Ar Dheis De go Raibh aHainm Dhilis. Thanks, Fran

Our Class 60 launch certainly took many modellers by surprise when we unveiled our latest diesel project back in the summer. It signified our switch to announcing later in the development process too, so waiting times for modellers could be reduced from announcement to delivery (see also our NIR Hunslet and Hunslet Austerity locos decorated samples due very soon, and 37/9s!) However, we still allow a little room for improvements based on customer feedback, and indeed our own input. While the decorated samples looked splendid, and many modellers were most impressed with how they look, there were some tweaks we wanted to implement. We were starting from a very strong position thankfully, as can be seen with the beautifully weathered and renumbered example by James Makin running on "Loftus Road". He really took one of our decorated samples to the next level. Look out for a full "step-by-step" guide on our website when the models arrive in stock. We have received much constructive feedback on our Tugs at shows, on RMWeb and of course Social Media, as well as our own review processes as we progress throughout the development process. Once such area that drew feedback and debate was the addition of the bolt heads visible on the window frames on the front windscreens of the real locomotives. We had initially elected to leave this feature off on the model (as had been done on previous renditions of the OO gauge model) for one simple reason; the recess of the bolt heads is max 2mm, but mostly flush M6 inner frame, M8 outer frame flat head bolts (we measured!). This scales down to a max 0.026mm in 4mm scale for 00 gauge locomotives. This is impossible to tool to scale, and we did not want the front of the loco looking like overscale swiss cheese! However, we thought we would have a go at trying to replicate it again and came up with the below... Beautifully subtle, just like the real locomotives and pleasing to the eye, we printed the bolt heads to the correct scale size to give that subtle representation which can be caught by the light and it really sets the "face" of the loco off rather nicely! Another area we were not overly happy with when the decoration samples were delivered was some of the piping on the bogies, with the hydraulic pipes being a little ill defined and lacking relief. It ended up looking like one big pipe, instead of two smaller ones run side-by-side. Thankfully, this was a rather easy fix! Before: After (EXTREME CLOSE-UP!): Much better! One outstanding element in the creation of our Class 60 was recording of the sound file. We felt it was of vital importance to record a Tug at what it does best; hauling heavy trains on the mainline. It has taken months of planning and signing off, but thanks to those brilliant people at DCR we were able to record 6Z60 1034 Willesden DC Rail Sidings to Merehead Quarry empties and return loaded 6M18 1613 Merehead Quarry (Fhh) to Willesden DC Rail Sidings. They even facilitated us by turning the locomotive to have it at the right end for optimum sound recording when working loaded. We had to work very hard to respect all the rules and safety considerations of recording a locomotive working hard at its day job, and all recording was done with trained railwaymen who are trained to operate in such areas with full safety training. Having such folk as part of our team allows us to go that extra mile to secure the very best sound recordings for our locomotives. The hard work has paid off though, as nothing can really capture the powerful sound of a locomotive working hard, at speed, on the mainline. (Our sound man Jamie and trusty microphone safely tucked into the loading gauge in the rear cab of 60 029 as she blasts through Twyford on loaded 6M18 1613 Merehead Quarry (Fhh) to Willesden DC Rail Sidings, hauling a 2,500 ton trailing load and working hard!) With a trailing load of 2500 tons at speeds of up to 60mph, the resulting sound file will portray our Class 60 doing what they were designed for; moving mountains. We look forward to previewing the sound file for you on the production samples when they land with us! We would like extend our sincere thanks to Danny Sladdin and the team at DCR for making this possible! With production in full swing we have a very limited amount of Class 60s remaining on pre-order. We advise getting your no money down pre-order in today direct or via your local Accurascale stockist to avoid disappointment. Pre-order for just £169.99 DC/DCC Ready and £269.99 DCC sound fitted with our mainline sound recording and full "Accurathrash" speaker package. Pre-Order Your Class 60 Here! View the full article

Since we unveiled our line up of 37/4s in classic BR era condition and liveries, there has been much call to know what the other part of our Class 37 run 3 line up would look like? Of course, while it's easy to shout "duplication" because we did a Class 37, it did miss the point that we pride ourselves on; we did the variants that had never been done before. Okay, so the original Class 37/4s were done before, but market demands dictated that we go there. The calls for us to do them were huge, so we obliged. However, the other side of this run is us sticking true to our principles of breaking new Class 37 ground, and we go somewhere that no manufacturer has been before; The Mirrlees powered Class 37/9s! History Introduced in 1986-7, the repowered Class 37/9s were an off-shoot of the ill-fated ‘Class 38’ project, a proposed 1,800-2,250hp Class 31/33/37 replacement with the haulage capability of a Class 56 or 58. As many as 500 units were planned, which attracted significant interest from locomotive builders and engine manufacturers from the UK, Europe and the USA. Two British manufacturers quickly established themselves among the front runners with engine designs that boasted incredible fuel efficiency. The Mirrlees Blackstone MB275T from Hawker Siddeley and the Ruston RK270T from GEC Transportation, could both develop over 2,000hp from a straight six cylinder layout, providing a significant reduction in maintenance costs. Having both passed BR’s punishing approval process, a further further two-year trial was undertaken using six Class 37 donors that were undergoing ‘refurbishment’ at BREL Crewe Works. As the Mirrlees unit was slightly heavier than the English Electric 12CSVT they were replacing, they were included in the 120-tonne ballasted group, otherwise known as ‘heavyweights’. Hawker Siddeley offered four engines for Nos. 37901-4 and these were mated to a Brush BA1005A alternator, while the Ruston in Nos. 37905/6 was partnered with GEC G546AZ electrical equipment. Both engines were set to deliver just 1,800hp to avoid overloading the existing EE traction motors. There were external modifications too. The Mirrlees unit with silencer was longer and taller than unit it replaced, resulting in a new ‘peaked’ roof, while the Ruston, which tipped the scales at just 13.75 tons, also featured a revised roof to accommodate a new silencer layout. The first pair, Nos. 37901/2 (ex-37150 and 37148), left Crewe at the end of October 1986, while the two Rustons (ex-37136 and 37206) were completed by mid-December. Nos. 37903 (ex-37249) and 37904 (ex-37125) followed in February and April 1987 respectively. Cardiff Canton was chosen to look after the small fleet and these were allocated to the Metals sub-sector for local steel operations, although they were also fitted with slow-speed control for coal duties. All were delivered in Railfreight grey, with No. 37901 quickly being named Mirrlees Pioneer and No. 37905 Vulcan Enterprise. The Class 37/9s quickly found their feet, despite being intensively diagrammed, and working in pairs had no problem taking over from the double-headed Class 56s on the 3,060-tonne Port Talbot-Llanwern iron ore trains. However, they were found to load much more slowly leading to the ‘slug’ nickname for the class. Their reliability was also impressive, although some issues were experienced with both the turbochargers and the silencer configurations on both designs. The latter resulted in both types receiving modified roof layouts. Unfortunately, the ‘Class 38’ project was cancelled in December 1987. Despite this setback, BR chose to purchase the engines rather than return them to standard condition. Happily, the incredible fuel efficiency and extended maintenance periodicity displayed by the Mirrlees design likely contributed to Brush winning the Class 60 contract in 1988, and this was specified with the eight-cylinder version of the power unit. By August 1988, Nos. 37903/6 had both been outshopped in the new triple-grey Metals scheme, with Nos. 37904/5 being similarly repainted in 1990 and Nos. 37901/2 in March 1991, by which point the fleet was beginning to wander much further afield. However, it wasn’t long before their non-standard nature began to count against them and nearly all spent periods in store during the 1990s. While all six passed to Trainload Freight South West / Transrail in 1994, with Nos. 37901/6 also receiving big ‘T’ logos, No. 37904 was the first to be permanently stopped at Canton in April 1996. The resurgence of freight in the early EWS era saw regular work return for the remaining quintet, but with Class 66s starting to arrive the inevitable was held off only until November and December 1998 when Nos. 37901 and 37903/5 were also sidelined. The final pair, Nos. 37902/6, were switched off in January 1999, although unofficially named No. 37906 Star of the East was reprieved as part of the EWS ‘heritage fleet’ for galas and open days and was even repainted back into Railfreight grey ahead of the Old Oak Common open day in August 2000. No. 37903 was scrapped at Crewe Diesel in October 2005, while No. 37904 suffered the same fate at CF Booth, Rotherham, in November 2004. No. 37902 was acquired by Direct Rail Services in 2002, which then disposed of it to Sims Metals, Beeston, in April 2005 after cancelling its overhaul. Happily, No. 37901 was saved in 2003 and was a regular performer in preservation before being acquired by Colas Rail and then Europhoenix in 2016 and gaining the operator’s house colours. It subsequently returned to main line operations in 2022 for the EP Rail ‘spot hire’ subsidiary and was recently repainted back into Railfreight Metals livery. The two Ruston locos also both worked in preservation at various points over the last 20 years, although they are now owned by UK Rail Leasing and are undergoing a slow return back to operational, albeit non main line, condition. WATCH: Learn The History And Take A Closer Look At The Model With Senior Project Manager Gareth Bayer The Model The first release of the Accurascale Class 37/9 covers three of the Mirrlees examples over the full life of the sub class, from original conversion, through their classic late sectorisation period right through to the present day. Let's look at the three locomotives on offer. 37901 Mirrlees Pioneer When the six-cylinder Mirrlees Blackstone MB275T power unit was first lowered into carbody of the former 37150 it is unlikely that anyone involved in the re-engineering project envisioned it would still be working 38 years later, especially as the Class 38 project for which the engines were intended would be cancelled only a few months later. Built as D6850 in 1963 and already 23 years old when it was plucked from obscurity to become 37901, the doyen of the Class 37/9s, the conversion at BREL Crewe Works was completed in October 1986. Finished in Railfreight grey and quickly named Mirrlees Pioneer, like all six members of the sub class it was allocated to Cardiff Canton, who intensively diagrammed their new charges on Railfreight Metals sector services. This included doubled up on the heavy iron ore trains between Port Talbot and Llanwern, a duty previously in the hands of Class 56s. The last to gain a full repaint into the Railfreight Metal scheme in March 1991, it swapped its sub sector decals for Transrail’s big ‘T’ branding in 1995. The fun couldn’t last and it was stored unserviceable by new owners EWS in November 1998 after being stopped with radiator issues a few weeks earlier. Fortunately, 37901 was acquired for preservation in September 2002 and moved to the Llangollen Railway in October 2003 where it was restored to working order. Always a popular presence at diesel galas, a sale to Colas Rail in 2016 and then Europhoenix in 2018, who quickly repainted it in their house colours prompting hopes for a speedy return to the main line. However, it wasn’t until June 2022 that it would achieve this goal, albeit flying under the flag of the EP Rail ‘spot hire’ subsidiary. Currently hired to Rail Operations Group to cover for overhauls to their existing fleet of Class 37s, 37901 was repainted back into Railfreight Metals livery in July 2024. 37902 British Steel Llanwern Released to traffic in repowered form at the same time as Mirrlees Pioneer in October 1986, 37902 was rebuilt from 37148/D6848 and other than niggling silencer and turbocharger issues quickly showed the impressive reliability and fuel efficiency of the MB275T and Brush BA1005A alternator combination. Like several members of the Class 37/9 sub class it was initially repainted in the unbranded version of the new Roundel-designed triple-grey Railfreight image, and retained this appearance until the first months of 1991 when Metals sub sector branding was applied. The livery was further enhanced the following July by its naming British Steel Llanwern and the addition of British Steel crests and Cardiff Canton depot plaques. The name lasted just 15 months before being removed during a period of store and swapped onto 56054. Returned to traffic in early 1993, the locomotive retained its plaques into 1997, and was a regular performer on steel trains into the Midlands into the early EWS era. One of the last pair to be retired in January 1999 along with No. 37906, there would be no EWS heritage fleet reprieve and preservation for 37902. While there was a brief burst of optimism in 2002 when it was purchased by Direct Rail Services as an engine test bed, plans for a return to service were quashed and it was despatched to Sims Metals at Beeston in March 2005 for disposal. 37903 Flying the flag for their as-converted condition in Railfreight grey is 37903, the former 37249/D6949. Outshopped from BREL Crewe in February 1987, the former Eastern Regional machine quickly readjusted to its return to South Wales, having been delivered to Cardiff Canton in December 1964. Dedicated to Railfreight Metals duties, albeit with the odd coal turn, it was one of the first pair of Class 37/9s to gain the Roundel triple-grey livery in August 1988, although curiously with BR arrow decals rather than the aluminium castings afforded to most other repaints. Happily this was rectified by 1989, although Canton never did go so far as to apply depot plaques at the other end. Despite joining the Trainload Freight West fleet, later Transrail, in 1994, it retained its Metals brandings right to the final curtain in December 1998, EWS deciding not to authorise a required ‘C’ exam required for it to remain in traffic. Another victim of the non-standard nature of the Class 37/9s combined with accelerating Class 66 deliveries. 37903 hung on until April 2005 and was the last to be scrapped, cutting being undertaken by a Harry Needle team at Crewe Diesel Depot. Each of the three versions is unique with different silencer configurations and nose side grilles depending on period, and they also feature the whole host of upgrades afforded to the other models in the third run which includes working roof fan on both DCC ready and DCC sound versions, switchable tail lights (right on, left on, both on), revised bonnet top doors, see-through radiator shutters with radiators behind, and engine room detail visible through the windows. Saving the best to last, a comprehensive new sound project has been recorded with assistance from Europhoenix and UK Rail Leasing. Both BR versions will be available both direct and through Accurascale's network of stockists, while 37901 in Europhoenix livery will be an "Accurascale Exclusive", coming with special presentation packaging, a limited edition certificate and available only direct via the Accurascale website. DC/DCC Ready locomotives are priced at £189.99 and the DCC Sound Fitted locomotives are priced at £289.99, in line with our recent launch of the other batch 3 locomotives and delivery is Q4 2025! Pre-order your Class 37/9s below, or via your local stockist! Pre-order Your Class 37/9 Locos Here! View the full article

Hi Phil, Underside of the model: Well Joe, if these sell well we can look to other runs in the future. The power is in the hands of the Irish model railway buying public! Cheers! Fran