Warbonnet

It's another exciting milestone here at Accurascale as the first decorated sample batch of our forthcoming Class 92s have finally arrived for assessment and oh my, they do look very good indeed! When we received our first tooling sample we knew that it was shaping up to be a nice model, but felt it needed some gentle tweaks to set it apart in areas around the roof and bogies. It took some small retooling and fettling but it has paid off dividends and we are now very happy with what the factory has been able to achieve when it comes to finesse and quality. We received the first batch of decorated samples which included 92001 in EWS as above, 92010 in Caledonian Sleeper Midnight Teal, 92020 in a rather incorrect shade of GBRf (well, the orange as you can see above, this will be corrected on the production models!) and 92042 in DB Schenker red. The other samples have just arrived and will be revealed within then next couple of weeks when fully assessed. Of course, there are always improvements that can be made at each step of the development process, and whilst the decorated samples look very well overall there are tweaks that need to be carried out. This centres around the glazing and the distinctive "polo mints" Channel Tunnel logos which are such a feature of the real locomotives. We are also keen to tweak some of the small warning labels to ensure they pop on the models. There are also some positioning of names and logos which need minor tweaking. Overall though, they are shaping up very well indeed. Just drink in that detail! With these tweaks already underway we can now firm up production details. Unfortunately COVID19 stoppages have already delayed production of these models and many more for all manufacturers due to the resulting labour and raw material shortages. This resulted in a delay in us receiving the decorated samples for assessment before we could sign off for production. The legacy of the pandemic is still being felt, with a backlog of projects which are being made by smaller workforces due to social distancing protocols and recruitment difficulties as freedom of movement was restricted for migrating assembly workers. As a result the 92 will begin production in the coming weeks and is now slated for delivery in Q3 2022. We apologise for this delay, but it is something completely out of anyone's control and reflective of the whole manufacturing industry as we begin to emerge from the pandemic restrictions. With this in mind, we have now set our early bird price deadline. With the sheer amount of technology and separate detail in these locomotives a price increase from £159.99 DCC ready to £189.99 DCC ready and £249.99 DCC Sound Fitted to £279.99 DCC Sound Fitted will take place on January 1st 2022. All orders placed before that date and so far will avail of the lower price, including £30 deposits. So, if you fancy one (or more!) of these overhead and third rail beauties for your layout, make sure you place your order soon to avail of the bargain of the model railway world! (Even at the higher price they represent excellent value for money, but who doesn't like saving a few quid?) Due the scarcity of production slots at the factory we will also be limiting the size of the production run somewhat, so these are likely to be in higher demand than we initially envisaged. Keep an eye out for an update showcasing the rest of the decorated samples in the coming weeks as well as a demonstration video showing some of these beauties in action and all their features that you can play with including the epic Legomanbiffo sound file. In the meantime, place your pre-order here! View the full article

A couple of months ago we brought you a Class 92 update featuring decorated samples of their later privitisation era liveries which seemed to go down well. Now we have received a second batch of decorated samples featuring the various styles of Railfreight two tone grey with Chunnel blue roof these locomotives have worn over the last 25 years since were originally delivered in during the mid 1990s. Doesn't this livery just suit them so well? Our model of 92003 represents our Dysons as per first delivered during the heady, optimistic times of the significant freight growth envisaged by the opening of the Channel Tunnel. With its attractive take on the then standard triple grey livery, but with the added splash of colour with the blue roof, just like the Eurostar at the time, they made for an eye catching sight as they came into service. Of course, the Class 92s were born into a major upheaval to the railways, with privitisation gathering momentum. Soon various brandings were taking place offering some new takes on the classic grey livery. RFD were quick to brand their locomotives in similar fashion to their Class 47s, 86s and 90s with "Railfreight Distribution" script on each side with the addition of small RFD double diamond markings, as depicted in our model of 92022 'Charles Dickens'. After a very brief period in BR service the locomotives found themselves with new owners. EWS took the Dysons under their wing as they purchased RFD along with various other shadow freight franchises in the mid 1990s. With the locomotives being new, and the amazingly hard wearing paint job done on the body shells by Procor Engineering when first built, many wouldn't need a repaint for many years. As the 2000s wore on EWS did take to branding their locos in existing liveries with the large vinyl "Three Beasties" logos, as displayed by our model of 92036, which is still operating trains in this livery today. EWS were not the only company to add their branding to the iconic grey livery. Six locomotives were allocated for "Nightstar" sleeper train duties, sadly a service which would never take off. These locomotives were eventually bought from Eurostar by Europorte, receiving "Europorte 2" Tunnel branding as per our model of 92043 "Debussy". Our testing of the Class 92 is now complete and production has now begun, with our delivery date of Q3 2022 still in place. We have even tested our Dysons in exhibition conditions, with our preproduction model of 92001 playing a starring role on the Making Tracks WCML layout at the recent "Great Electric Train Show" at Milton Keynes, preforming flawlessly on the Sunday of the show. Click on the link below to see her in action! Remember, we have now set our early bird price deadline and it's getting ever closer. With the sheer amount of technology and separate detail in these locomotives a price increase from £159.99 DCC ready to £189.99 DCC ready and £259.99 DCC Sound Fitted to £289.99 DCC Sound Fitted will take place on January 1st 2022. All orders placed before that date and so far will avail of the lower price, including £30 deposits. So, if you fancy one (or more!) of these overhead and third rail beauties for your layout, make sure you place your order soon to avail of the bargain of the model railway world! (Even at the higher price they represent excellent value for money, but who doesn't like saving a few quid?) With two operating DCC pantographs with separate flywheel motors for smooth operation, Legomanbiffo DCC sounds, twin speaker set up including an EM1 style "Accurathrash" speaker, ESU Loksound 5 digital decoder, ESU powerbank capacitors for smooth running and more, all for up to £70.00 less RRP(!) than other high specification electric locomotives on the market, our Class 92 goes beyond the pinnacle of model locomotives and powers on to the summit. So, make sure you grab so much more, for so much less cash. Order your grey beauty today, available direct from Accurascale, or check out our website for the full range. View the full article

2021 has been another interesting year for many reasons. Most of these are not likely to be fondly remembered as COVID19 continued to affect us all. However, at Accurascale 2021 was also our biggest year yet, with a wealth of newly tooled models arriving in stock, expansion of our team and an award or two picked up along the way. So. grab a cuppa and perhaps a mince pie and let's look back on the last 12 months! New Model Arrivals 2021 was a big year for newly tooled models arriving in stock with us, with six brand new wagons coming to market for the first time, along with our very first locomotive with our sister brand, IRM. JSA Steel Wagons Our first arrival was our highly anticipated JSA family of steel wagons. We offered the original British Steel welded hood and subsequent VTG riveted replacements, both faithfully replicated in our models. However, they are the same wagon essentially, and for the purposes of our review we wont count them as two separate wagons. However, the most modern variant, the VTG open JSA coil carriers, is a completely different tooling to the covered wagons and proved a very popular addition to the range indeed. These wagons went out our doors almost as quickly as they arrived, selling out within months of release. Perhaps another run in the near future shall be considered... KUA Nuclear Flask Carrier The KUA has proven to be our most hotly anticipated wagon to date, and it's easy to see why. This twin pack beast arrived with us in June following a delay due to the "Evergiven" Suez blockage (oh what fun that was!) and soon became a big hit with modellers, with them appearing on layouts across the land with a flurry of photos and videos of them in action being sent into us. Another sell out success (though you may still get a pack from some of our retail partners!) this also became award winners, bagging the "OO Gauge Rolling Stock Of The Year" award in the 2021 Hornby Magazine awards. Thank you to everyone who voted for us, and who bought a set too! BR 21 ton Mineral Wagons (MDO and MDV) Another large gap that was filled in British wagons in 00/4mm scale was our family of 21 ton mineral wagons. Our aim was to bring both the unfitted MDO and the later vacuum braked MDV (complete with top flap doors) to market following announcement in late 2020. Both wagons featured completely different bodies and brake gear, making them two separate wagon projects in their own right, but an essential gap to fill in the market and had been for many, many years. Once again these have been very popular indeed since their arrival in October, will all MDOs sold out here at Accurascale, and most MDVs too. A few packs still remain, so if you fancy some be sure to grab them now before they sell out by clicking here! Coil A Wagons Our final arrival for Accurascale for this year was also our first announcement of 2021; the Coil A hooded steel wagons. Built on the platform of the MDVs, both in prototype and in this model form, we brought a steel carrying wagon that was desperately needed for transition era modellers, which also operated up until the early 1990s. After all, we love our modernisation era stock! Again our Coil A wagons have gone down very well since their arrival in October, with two of the three packs now sold out. For diminishing stocks of the final pack, click here. IRM A Class Locomotives Did you know that we landed our very first locomotive this year? Okay, so it wasn't under the Accurascale banner, or British outline (though the prototypes were built in Britain by Metropolitan-Vickers in the mid 1950s!) but it was another milestone for us as a company. In October, the Irish Railway Models (IRM) A Class locomotives arrived in stock. It was our representation of the most numerous Irish diesel locomotive ever and it has gone down rather well with modellers of the Irish scene, and those who fancy something unusual too. As is the Accurascale/IRM way, we represented these locomotives across their operational lives, catering for a boggling array of detail differences between their initial construction and final rebuilt condition. Featuring similar specifications to our forthcoming Accurascale diesel and electric locomotives, this video by Andy York will give you a glimpse at the As performance and what you can expect from your Accurascale locomotives in 2022. If you fancy a bit of strange (and we all like to try something different every now and then, right?) you can browse our range of A Class locomotives here. IRM Tara Mines Wagons Our most recent arrival within the last few weeks has been a new run of our IRM Tara Mines wagons, featuring the as delivered blue livery with original hood as well as some additional wagons in the current red oxide livery. Perfect wagons for your new found A Class fetish as the Metrovicks were almost exclusive motive power for these wagons for almost 20 years since their delivery in 1977. So, that's what we delivered in 2021. But what about our other outstanding projects? Well, let's take a look! Project Progress Reports So, that's what's been happening on the big projects we previously announced that have yet to arrive. Well, while progress has not been as fast as we desired, partly of course due to the current state of the world, there has thankfully been significant progress on these projects over the past 12 months where they are now edging closer to delivery. Let's take a look at each one! Class 55 Deltic The big one! Our beloved Deltic locomotives are now entering final assembly stage at the factory ahead of shipping to us at the end of January of 2022. The factory is currently working around the clock to get them finished before the Chinese New Year deadline. Shipping means they will arrive in stock with us around mid March of 2022 before being packed up and shipped out to you! It's been a long wait, and we will certainly do better in the future, but we had to get them up to the standards we desired, and that proved to be a learning curve for both us and the factory. However, when you see details like this, you know the wait will be worth it. Not long now! Several are sold out, but we still have plenty to go round. Pre-order right here! Class 92 Our first electric locomotive make massive strides in 2021, with decorated samples arriving in late August and production commencing late in November of this year. Getting the pantograph technology, as well as the bewildering light package combinations proved to be a fun challenge on these, but we're now set. With production now underway, albeit at an early stage, we can confirm that these will land in quarter 3 of 2022. Remember, the price increase of £20 per locomotive kicks in on January first, so if you want the bargain of the century, order yours with just a £30 deposit direct via our website before then and we will honour the current price! Click here to browse the Class 92 range and get your order in! Mark 5 Coaches Another project which is now finally making great strides are our Mark 5 coaches in TPE and Caledonian Sleeper formats. We received decorated samples of the sleepers arrived in late summer, with the TPE causing major headaches in the tampo printing department. As reported this week, our corrections are underway and production begins post Chinese New Year, with delivery in summer of 2022. Again, these can only be ordered direct via our website, so click here if you fancy some! Class 37 Our Class 37 locomotives went down a treat when we showed off all the different tooling combinations we are featuring in the first run earlier this year. We also enjoyed a number of days up close and personal with the real things, taking several trips to preserved lines across the country to record the sound for our DCC sound fitted models, capturing the unique little differences between the different subclasses. In January our decorated samples will arrive for assessment, so keep an eye out for them. Production will commence soon after with delivery slated for Q3 2022. Pre-order your 37 via your local stockist, or here, including Accurascale Exclusive 97301 in Network Rail yellow (only available direct via Accurascale) HYA/IIA/Cut Down HYA Wagons Our next arrival is once again a trio of wagons never produced ready-to-run in 00/4mm. This is of course our family of modern HYA coal hopper wagons, the IIA biomass hopper wagons and HYA cut down aggregate hopper wagons. Demand for these wagons has been so strong that we had to twice increase the size of the production run and it is now our biggest wagon production run to date (though the HAA production run will beat that, they're just not quite finished yet!) These wagons have now left China and will arrive with us in late January of 2022! New Announcements in 2021 While new models arrived in stock and progressed through their various stages during 2021, we found time to announce our next batch for delivery in 2022 and early 2023 too. The Coil A and cut down HYAs were announced this year, but we've talked about them already, so let's have a look at the other new tooling items announced over the last 12 months! GWR 78xx Manor We did the unthinkable. We only went and did a steam locomotive! Some people branded us as "mad". Others even went further, mourning the loss of the company from the more modern scene forever, with one particularly amusing comment stating "they'll never make newer stuff again now due to their new staff and their backgrounds. I'm done with them." The reaction was quite amusing to say the least. Hyperbole aside, we have really enjoyed working on a steam locomotive project for the first time, and the vast, vast majority of people welcomed our announcement on Accurascale's third birthday back in February of this year. (That's right, we're operating in the British outline market for less than four years! A lot has happened in that time). We recently showed the first two decorated samples of our Manors, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with some excellent constructive comments and suggestions coming to which have really helped us out, and we thank you for that. More of our decorated samples will arrive in early January 2022, and we are feeding amendments and tweaks back to the factory. We also recorded the sound during the summer, and will preview the set up in the new year, with running demonstrations too, so keep any eye out for that. Pre-order your Manor via your local stockist, or direct right here! (Oh, and we're working on more steam projects. But dont worry; we're working on other forms of propulsion from more modern eras too!) Nuclear PFA Wagons Nuclear traffic really captures the imagination of modellers, and we have received countless requests to produce the more intriguing low level nuclear waste containers that go atop our lovely little PFA wagons. Covering Novapak, Nupaks, Dragons and others took a significant amount of research and patience due to a large amount of understandable red tape, but we god what we needed and tooled them up earlier this year. We have since received decorated samples and made some tooling refinements to make these packs really stand out. Production is now underway and delivery will be Q2 2022. You can pre-order here! The HAA MGR Family, CDA and MHA Our big wagon announcement for 2021 was one that had been on our hitlist since we began Accurascale and something that was in the works since 2019; the MGR coal hopper wagon family of HAA, HBA, HCA, HDA, HFA, HMA and HNA, as well as the CDA China clay hoppers and MHA spoil wagons in OO/4mm. When we debuted in the British market in 2018 we ran a survey asking modellers what models they would like to see tackled, and the runaway leader in the wagon stakes was the HAA and its constituents. It has proven to be a mammoth task, but we have gone what has gone before in variants and fidelity in these particular wagons. We announced these wagons with decorated samples already in hand, which has allowed us to cut the waiting time on these wagons significantly. Indeed, the first batch are almost complete, shipping out in the coming weeks. This will consist of HAA/HOP AB, HCA and CDA. These will then be followed by the remaining MHA, HDA, HMA and HBA which will arrive in Q2 2022. Order via your local stockist, or direct right here for the coal wagons, here for the CDA china clay wagons and here for the MHA spoil wagons. Mark 2B Coaches Our other summer announcement was something that has been badly missing from the British outline 70s-90s scene that we love so much; the Mark 2B coaches. Pictures say 1000 words, so check them out in action with Hornby Magazine below. Naturally we are covering a vast range of variants and offering a large amount of liveries and running numbers, including Blue/Grey, NSE and West Coast Railways. Oh, and since these ran in service on the Belfast-Dublin 'Enterprise' trains during the 1970s-1990s, we are doing them in their NIR condition too for IRM, including their unique driving car, grille car and generator car, complete with prototypical wider bogies to account for Irish gauge! Decorated samples are due in the new year, so look out for them. Oh, and yes, the bogies wont be banana shaped! As for developments on further coaches in our range? We will just have 2 C about that in 2022... Due in Q3 2022 (pandemic permitting, but so far so good!) you can pre-order yours here, or via your local stockist. NIR variants can be pre-ordered via IRM here. The NER 4T Chaldrons In the Autumn we announced the latest (and earliest!) addition to our "Powering Britain" series of coal wagons; the Chaldrons. We are taking you back to the beginning of the railways, with the design dating from the 1830s and lasting in traffic all the way up to the 1970s; seeing their days out in internal colliery railway usage. These cute little wagons are now in manufacture and due in stock in Q2 2022. Don't forget to order yours via your local Accurascale stockist, or direct, including our 'Accurascale Exclusives' pack by clicking here. Siphon G Our final announcement of 2021 was the much needed outside frame diagram 0.33 diagram, (our variants begin at Lot 1578, starting with 2751, introduced from October 1936) the BR(W) 0.62, the O.59 and M.34 conversions, as well as the BR Newspaper Van conversions of the O.62 (NNV) Siphon G in 00/4mm scale. Covering a vast selection of differing vans is always a challenge, and one we have taken on over a couple of years now. We wanted to cater for modellers from their introduction on the GWR in the 1930s all the way up to their withdrawal from service in BR in the mid 1980s. Once again, we dropped along to our friends at Hornby Magazine to go through all the variants and preview some of the 15 differently tooled vans that make up the first run. Delivery is just over a year away in Q1 2023 and you can pre-order your preferred Siphons via your local stockist or via our website right here! New Additions to The Team To meet the demands of delivering our ever growing model range we need a bigger team with expertise and diverse skills. The Accurascale team grew larger this year with a host of new jobs in critical areas of the business. So, say hello to those who joined us this year! Steve Nicholls - Product Manager Steve joined our team in August as Product Manager, with a focus managing the production process of models and our relationship with our factories, as well as creating and maintaining consistent standards across the Accurascale/IRM range going forward, and product testing. Steve is a well known modeller in 2mm circles with interest in British and Japanese subjects, as well as working in 4mm finscale, and some O has crept in there too! Tim Elcock - Graphic Designer Tim also joined us in the summer of 2021 as our Graphic Designer. Tim now works on our decoration artwork alongside our Project Managers for our models, as well as branding and advertising. As well as being a highly skilled and experienced Graphic Designer, Tim also is a keen modeller, with a particular interest in pre-grouping railways. Jamie Goodman - DCC Engineer Many of you will already know Jamie for his excellent DCC sound projects and work on the real railway, as well as being involved with the preservation scene too! Jamie has now joined the team for DCC testing of new models, ensuring common standards, compatibility, innovation and testing as well as recording sounds for forthcoming models. Tony Mirolo - Engineer Tony joined the Accurascale/IRM crew back in the Autumn as a warranty repairs technician for territories outside the UK. A keen British sectorisation era and Irish outline modeller, Tony is the Chairman of the Model Railway Society of Ireland, the oldest and largest model railway club in Ireland. Manufacturer of The Year! So, this happened..... In all seriousness, thank you to everyone who voted for us as the Manufacturer of the Year in the 2021 Hornby Magazine Awards. We couldn't believe it at the time, and still can't believe it now. We were truly humbled and are delighted you like what we do. And Finally.... A big, massive and sincere thank you to every one of you who took an interest in us this year. Those of you who placed pre-orders, bought our models, showed patience in delays, gave us your constructive feedback, and support what we are trying to do. We simply couldn't do this without your help, support and custom. Thank you so much! 2021 was a great year for Accurascale, but 2022 is going to be even better, with delivery of the above, and perhaps a couple of new models announced along the way too as we progress these models to delivery. Keep an eye on our website, our newsletter, our social media and the pages of magazines and RMWeb to keep up to date on all the news as it comes. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and Peaceful New Year, and we will see you again in 2022! View the full article

Hi everyone, Well, the computers have been shut down (and mine will be after this post!) as the Irish Railway Models/Accurascale team go on our Christmas break for 2022. Thank you to everyone for your support, custom, constructive feedback and well wishes over the past 12 months as we continue to grow our business and deliver exciting new models to market. 2021 really has been a fantastic year for us, with our first locomotive arriving in the A Class, which seem to have gone down rather well! 2022 is going to be very exciting for the Irish modeller with what we have got planned and in development, as you will see in the coming 12 months! New wagons and powered models to go along with the forthcoming Mark 2s, as well as buses and other accessories. We will obviously not be very active here between now and Thursday, January 6th, when we return. For any super important, very urgent queries please email us support@irishrailwaymodels.com and we will endeavour to answer them at some point if possible. We hope you all enjoy a very Merry Christmas and peaceful and safe New Year. Cheers! Fran (on behalf of the IRM/Accurascale team!) (Oh and thanks to @enniscorthyman for providing the pic of his A Class in action on Bog Road!)

Thanks Tony! Not even Santy delivers that quickly! Cheers! Fran

We previewed the first decorated samples of our massive Mark 5 project back in late summer, as we unveiled the Caledonian Sleeper variants for the first time. While we revealed the sleeper cars, the factory was scratching their heads and trying a variety of ways to correctly apply the intricate TPE livery to the complex shape of the driving car. Thankfully, the factory came up with a way to deliver an excellent paint finish on our driving cars, and the TPE samples arrived just in time to be previewed at the 2021 GETS show in Milton Keynes, even operating on the Pete Waterman's "Making Tracks" West Coast layout over the weekend. Since then, we have been analysing the samples, and working with the factory to make a series of corrections and amendments to both the Caledonian Sleeper and TPE coaches. While the coaches themselves look rather impressive at face value, there are several areas for improvement. Firstly, there are minor decoration issues on both coaches. The windows should have a thick black boarder around each pane, which is easily sorted. Wheels and dampers etc. should also be painted grey. Some registration and warning label printing (particularly on the sleepers, but across both liveries) also requires improvement and better clarity. The running numbers on the sleeper coaches should be white, and the swooshes on the windows requires further improvement. Happily these are all simple tweaks and corrections that can be carried out and will make the finished models stand out as models we can be proud of. Improvements on the TPE coaches include lighter grey for doors, lower body, ends and window strip. We are also amending the look of the destination board on the front of the driving car and also revising the destination boards on all coaches, both TPE and Caledonian sleeper. These changes did require some retooling work which has been taking place in recent weeks. We have also been testing and evaluating our magnetic couplings between coaches to ensure they perform reliably and look the part. As you know, we do like to innovate and push the hobby forwards, but innovation takes time. However, we feel that the results are worth it. So, where does this leave us? The tooling enhancements are due to be completed in the coming weeks, with production commencing post Chinese New Year. Delivery of the finished models will be in summer of 2022. Pre-ordered your Mark 5s yet? Secure your packs with a £30 deposit today, available only direct via Accurascale, by clicking here! View the full article

We previewed the first decorated samples of our massive Mark 5 project back in late summer, as we unveiled the Caledonian Sleeper variants for the first time. While we revealed the sleeper cars, the factory was scratching their heads and trying a variety of ways to correctly apply the intricate TPE livery to the complex shape of the driving car. Thankfully, the factory came up with a way to deliver an excellent paint finish on our driving cars, and the TPE samples arrived just in time to be previewed at the 2021 GETS show in Milton Keynes, even operating on the Pete Waterman's "Making Tracks" West Coast layout over the weekend. Since then, we have been analysing the samples, and working with the factory to make a series of corrections and amendments to both the Caledonian Sleeper and TPE coaches. While the coaches themselves look rather impressive at face value, there are several areas for improvement. Firstly, there are minor decoration issues on both coaches. The windows should have a thick black boarder around each pane, which is easily sorted. Wheels and dampers etc. should also be painted grey. Some registration and warning label printing (particularly on the sleepers, but across both liveries) also requires improvement and better clarity. The running numbers on the sleeper coaches should be white, and the swooshes on the windows requires further improvement. Happily these are all simple tweaks and corrections that can be carried out and will make the finished models stand out as models we can be proud of. Improvements on the TPE coaches include lighter grey for doors, lower body, ends and window strip. We are also amending the look of the destination board on the front of the driving car and also revising the destination boards on all coaches, both TPE and Caledonian sleeper. These changes did require some retooling work which has been taking place in recent weeks. We have also been testing and evaluating our magnetic couplings between coaches to ensure they perform reliably and look the part. As you know, we do like to innovate and push the hobby forwards, but innovation takes time. However, we feel that the results are worth it. So, where does this leave us? The tooling enhancements are due to be completed in the coming weeks, with production commencing post Chinese New Year. Delivery of the finished models will be in summer of 2022. Pre-ordered your Mark 5s yet? Secure your packs with a £30 deposit today, available only direct via Accurascale, by clicking here! View the full article

018 has just sold out with us. So, expect to see one on EBay next month at 1.2 billion euro. Still 7 different beauties left folks, some of which are almost as limited in production run size as A3r was! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/availability_in-stock?

Yep, as per our model and checks out on the scan. There is light reflecting on the top in the above pic which might throw the eye a little but when compared to the scan is spot on. Cheers! Fran

I guess it just seems odd when it's not backed up. We have shown it to experts on all things GWR, published it online on RMWeb, FB etc and compared it to our 3D scan and all seem to agree the shape is spot on so not sure what we're missing. A rival product has been commented on as having an issue in this area, so possibly therein lies some confusion? Either way, it would be good to have some context so we can check and make sure it's not something we're missing. As @BosKonay says, we like it so we can check and improve if the feedback is correct. Cheers! Fran

It begins... https://www.ebay.ie/itm/165243339390?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=cb7721a0fb5f48ab9eb11e9438098d6e&bu=43059500506&ut=RU&osub=-1~1&crd=20211221012302&segname=11021&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cut%3Dut%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid Why it's worth grabbing those As from our webshop while you can, folks! Some are getting very low in stock. And once they're gone they attract premiums like above...

Really? In what way?

I have seen a pic in an IRRS journal (cant remember which one) of them on 20ft flats behind a pair of Baby GMs. There was also pics of them on Facebook not too long ago at Barrick Street on flats.

God no, we never give anything away!

Where are our Manors? It is a question that has been coming up in recent weeks. We would like to apologise for the delay in bringing this long overdue update to you. It certainly has been too long coming. As you can imagine, things in manufacturing have not been plain sailing the past 12 months, and these supply chain issues have hit our Manor timeline more than we wanted. However, after two months of teaser shots of new engineering prototypes from the factory, our first decorated samples have arrived. They have been worth the wait! We received the first two of our decorated samples last week, which consisted of 7812 'Earlestroke Manor' in BR lined green livery with late BR crest, and 7808 'Cookham Manor', one of the locomotives we surveyed extensively and scanned, in GWR Shirtbutton livery. Decorated samples are a significant milestone ahead of full production, where we assess the liveries as well as iron out the remaining kinks before full production commences. While the first livery samples of these locomotives do look very nice indeed, we have identified areas that require further improvement, such as: Copper chimney is too red and top should be copper as well Firebox coal will be a more realistic colour when flicker is off The coal load will be further refined and receive greater finesse Nameplates will be fully etched and fitted, with etched number plates provided in the detailing pack. Further polishing of the diecast body to remove any seam remnants locomotive numbers are slightly too large and will be corrected Orientation of our lamp brackets Adjustment to front coupler to ensure it can be stowed on the hook These improvements will now be fed back to the factory and implemented ahead of full production. As these are minor tweaks and improvements it means that production will commence very shortly, with a delivery date of Q2 2022 now slated. We apologise for this delay, but with supply chain issues hitting production lines hard in 2021, as well as the pandemic, not to mention our striving to make the very best steam locomotive we can, we feel that this slight delay will be fully justified in the final model. In the new year we will bring you pictures of the other livery samples, including BR black and other GWR flavours, as well as video of these beauties in action, featuring the custom DCC sound project too. Excited? We certainly are! Pre-order your Manor from your local Accurascale stockist, or direct by clicking here! View the full article

Where are our Manors? It is a question that has been coming up in recent weeks. We would like to apologise for the delay in bringing this long overdue update to you. It certainly has been too long coming. As you can imagine, things in manufacturing have not been plain sailing the past 12 months, and these supply chain issues have hit our Manor timeline more than we wanted. However, after two months of teaser shots of new engineering prototypes from the factory, our first decorated samples have arrived. They have been worth the wait! We received the first two of our decorated samples last week, which consisted of 7812 'Earlestroke Manor' in BR lined green livery with late BR crest, and 7808 'Cookham Manor', one of the locomotives we surveyed extensively and scanned, in GWR Shirtbutton livery. Decorated samples are a significant milestone ahead of full production, where we assess the liveries as well as iron out the remaining kinks before full production commences. While the first livery samples of these locomotives do look very nice indeed, we have identified areas that require further improvement, such as: Copper chimney is too red and top should be copper as well Firebox coal will be a more realistic colour when flicker is off The coal load will be further refined and receive greater finesse Nameplates will be fully etched and fitted, with etched number plates provided in the detailing pack. Further polishing of the diecast body to remove any seam remnants locomotive numbers are slightly too large and will be corrected Orientation of our lamp brackets Adjustment to front coupler to ensure it can be stowed on the hook These improvements will now be fed back to the factory and implemented ahead of full production. As these are minor tweaks and improvements it means that production will commence very shortly, with a delivery date of Q2 2022 now slated. We apologise for this delay, but with supply chain issues hitting production lines hard in 2021, as well as the pandemic, not to mention our striving to make the very best steam locomotive we can, we feel that this slight delay will be fully justified in the final model. In the new year we will bring you pictures of the other livery samples, including BR black and other GWR flavours, as well as video of these beauties in action, featuring the custom DCC sound project too. Excited? We certainly are! Pre-order your Manor from your local Accurascale stockist, or direct by clicking here! View the full article

From the transportation of milk, to mail and newspapers for over 50 years, the GWR designed diagram 0.33 Siphon G was a widely travelled stalwart of the network. A high quality model in 00/4mm scale covering the detail differences and long lives of these characterful vans is long overdue. Welcome to the Accurascale Siphon G, featuring the 0.33 diagram, (our variants begin at Lot 1578, starting with 2751, introduced from October 1936) the BR(W) 0.62, the O.59 and M.34 conversions, as well as the BR Newspaper Van conversions of the O.62 (NNV) in 00/4mm scale. History The history of these vans is varied and very interesting, venturing from providing transport for milk for the GWR, to serving as ambulance coaches during World War II, to nationalisation and parcels workings, and into the BR blue era on parcels and newspaper trains as well as departmental duties into the mid 1980s. Our Project Manager Paul Isles has written a comprehensive history on these vans, which you can read in a dedicated blog by clicking here. The Model As is the Accurascale way, we have produced a wide ranging, comprehensive tooling suite to cover 15 different versions of these ubiquitous vans, once again leading the way in detail and prototypical variation in the model railway market. With 15 different versions available, the first run of our Siphon G models covers examples from the entire operational period of the prototypes; from July 1930 through to the early 1980s and feature a selection of liveries carried by these versatile and distinctive vans. Liveries modelled in the first production run include: GWR Brown with ‘shirt button’ monogram US Army Deep Bronze Green with Red Cross Transitional British Railways mix of GWR livery with BR lettering BR Carmine Red BR Maroon BR Rail Blue Even within these livery styles, there were several variations, and we have sought to replicate these differences where we can, to provide a comprehensive study of how the Siphon Gs appeared during their service life. Extensive use has been made of metal parts to add to the detail levels throughout, the footsteps even carrying diamond tread pattern and the quality of the running hasn’t been forgotten either, with the 26mm axles running in brass bearings to enable a smooth ride. Extensive areas of piping and rodding have been added to the underframe to improve the appearance of the models and the various cabinets even feature separately fitted wire handles. As a rough guide, the O.33 can be recognised by bodyside top vents, plain roofs and plain ends, with the wartime Casualty Evacuation Train/US Ambulance Train Ward Car conversions adding roof mounted water tanks, end steps and handrails, plated over vents and the addition of small windows. Upon conversion back into service stock as O.59 and M.34 diagrams, the O.59 is broadly identical to the O.33 pattern, but with roof mounted ventilators, whereas the M.34 retained an appearance broadly similar to the wartime Ward Cars, but with the roof mounted water tanks being removed. The BR built O.62 diagram retained the look of the O.33 diagram but added eight sliding vents to the lower bodysides and the later conversion of these vehicles as NNVs saw various vents being plated over on an ad-hoc basis, and the addition of Electric Train Heating apparatus and external emergency lighting points. Across all diagrams, the positions of underframe cabinets varied in size and position, as well as two types of vacuum brake cylinder positioning and two styles of handbrake lever being fitted, depending on that layout – there was even the fitting of Westinghouse brakes to the US Ward Cars! At the van ends, gangways varied slightly in style, with some vehicles being fitted with passenger communication leads, often in varying positions. With so many diagrams, and variations between prototypes, careful reference to photographs was required to bring out the details, as well as visiting existing examples where possible, or relying on heritage railway volunteers to aid us in our research, and as ever there are several people we must thank for their input, especially John Lewis and Mike Romans. Our thanks also extend to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway at Toddington, as well as the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton; both of whom hosted survey visits and also to Hugh McQuade at the Severn Valley Railway, who provided some valuable measurements at the eleventh hour! As ever, the arrival of the engineering samples highlights areas for improvement, and the Siphon Gs are no different, as there are some minor fit issues that need to be resolved, as well as erroneously fitted (or not fitted) parts for some of the builds (hardly surprising with 15 different versions of the Siphon G). We are also looking at options for the provision of close coupling, as the positioning of the bogies did not allow for the fitting of kinetic couplings, or to bring the NEM pocket deeper and the traditional tension locks are a little ‘leggy’ for our liking (although they will still be provided as standard fitting), so watch out for further updates on this in the New Year, along with the provision of decoration samples. Check them out in action on Hornby Magazine's "Topley Dale", and learn about all the different variations we are doing in our first run as Paul chats to Mike Wild. The Siphons are now available to pre-order via your local stockist or direct via our website with a price of £54.95 each and 10% off when you buy two or more. Delivery will be in Q1 2023. Browse the full range by clicking here. View the full article

Hi everyone, I forgot to mention that we have a small supply of standard lokpilot chips back in stock too! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/products/a-class-dcc-standard-chip Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Down to our last 4 SuperTrain CIE locos. Grab them while you can! https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/a-class-locomotive/availability_in-stock? Cheers! Fran

Constructive comments are welcome, appreciated and taken on board, but there is no need for the hyperbole. At the end of the day, NIR is a niche in a niche that is Irish outline model railways. While on face value these coaches can be perceived as "just a relivery of British Rail Mark 2s" its not as simple as that. The tooling required for the grille, genny and driving car, not to mention the correctly widened bogies adds up and we need to make sure that this large extra investment is covered. Triple packs are the most viable and fiscally common sense way for us to do this. We are very sorry that you are dissatisfied with this approach, but it was either this way, or no Enterprise Mark 2s at all. Thanks, Fran

Until the latter half of the 19th century, the transportation of fresh milk by the railway was still confined to local movements, as the big population centres were still able to meet the needs for dairy provision. It was only with the huge population increases of the mid-1860s that the production of milk was forced away from the periphery of cities and into the countryside, creating the problem of being able to transport it from source to market quickly. The ensuing rapid growth of the milk industry was entirely down to the railways providing a means of providing rapid transportation of goods to market, and the Great Western Railway was quick to realise the importance of providing specific stock to accomplish this. Milk not only deteriorates rapidly, it is also very sensitive to movement and so any purpose built rail vehicle needed to be able to be formed into passenger trains for travelling at high speed. Realising this, from the outset the GWR created vehicles that were very different from their standard close boarded vans, with wide gapped planks being used to ensure adequate ventilation and cooling of the milk churns, along with heavy springing to improve the ride. Experiments with doors also took place, as the GWR sought to identify the best way to load the churns onto the vans. The early four-wheel vans that first appeared from April 1873 soon gave way to improved six-wheel vehicles, as the GWR had settled on this arrangement for its mainline coaching stock during the late 1870s and the first dedicated milk van diagrams, O.1 and O.2, appeared between mid-1889 and mid-1890; the GWR dedicating almost the entire O series of diagrams exclusively to milk traffic. These vehicles continued to be improved, but in August 1906 the first bogie milk van appeared, the diagram O.7 Siphon F (Siphon was the GWR’s telegraphic code for a milk van and the F denoted the version of vehicle). By 1913, the Great Western Railway had reached a stage whereby the original 4w and 6w milk vans were obsolete and required replacement. A prototype 50’ bogie version, the diagram O.10 of October 1908 had proved successful and satisfied the GWR’s requirements for a versatile gangway design of milk van, leading to the creation of the Siphon G; a family of gangway bogie vans that were built between 1913 and 1955 and that would eventually total 365 vehicles. Initially built with outside body framing and closed horizontal planking, a prototype design to diagram O.22 was built in August 1926 that featured an inside framed design, riding on 9’ American bogies (albeit still with horizontal body planking), the design proving its suitability across all areas of the GWR. In 1929, an order for 50 vehicles to diagram O.22 was placed, then cancelled (possibly due to financial constraints), then revived again in 1930 as an order for 20 vehicles to a new diagram, the O.33. The O.33 Siphon Gs were built in four Lots, covering a period between July 1930 and May 1945 and in total 115 vans were built to this diagram. The first, and most obvious difference in the O.33’s appearance (over preceding Siphon G versions), was the introduction of vertical planking, possibly due to the wood being cheaper and easier to procure and these cost constraints were also evident elsewhere, with the first built Lots using secondhand bogies of various 9’ and 8’ 6” types, as well as used sets of Stones electric lighting. The O.33s were also 2” wider than their predecessors and were equipped with large round headed buffers, as well as a new style of gangway connector that hung from brackets, rather than the ‘scissor’ type. As the war clouds gathered over Europe in 1938, the Government of the United Kingdom stepped up its preparations for the impact of hostilities on the civilian population, the assumption being that any bombing of the UK’s cities would produce such large numbers of casualties that the local facilities would be overwhelmed. To counter this, a plan was put into place that would create Casualty Evacuation Trains and at a meeting of the Railway Superintendents held at Liverpool Street Station on April 4, 1939, it was agreed to create 34 semi-permanent Ambulance Trains, each to comprise two Brake Thirds and ten Vans, capable of holding a minimum of 30 stretcher cases per van. Each Railway Company was to provide a proportion of the total trains required, with the GWR being required to supply six trains. For the Ward Cars, the GWR opted to convert 60 Siphon Gs for the six trains (numbered 326-331), as they already satisfied the Ministry of Health’s requirements for the vehicles to be electrically lit and well ventilated, but a certain amount of work was still required to seal the draughts, ensure that the vehicles were light tight and to fit the brackets and shelves necessary for the conveyance of stretchers; 42 to each van, at a total cost of £82 per vehicle. By November 1939, one Siphon G had been removed from each of the GWR’s CETs, being replaced by a ‘Staff Car’ and by December, when the total number of CETs was reduced to 18 on standby, the GWR’s commitment had been reduced to the provision of four CETs, releasing 20 Siphon Gs back into traffic. In July 1943, 42 Siphon Gs were required for the Overseas Ambulance Trains Nos. 32-35 and 45-46 and again a number were modified, this time to suit operation on European railways. These modifications included the fitting of Westinghouse brakes, the removal of the handbrake gear, the addition of a water tank, end steps and handrails. In addition to the OATs, a further 12 Siphon Gs were formed into two US Army Ambulance Trains, Nos. 69 and 70. With the cessation of hostilities, and the repatriation of the Siphon Gs to the GWR following their ambulance service, the resulting conversions back to service stock resulted in the creation of two new diagrams: O.59 and M.34. Diagram O.59 called for the restoration of the Siphon Gs to their original body specification, with the louvres being restored. Indeed, the only discerning difference between the original O.33 and the O.59 conversion was that the roof mounted shell ventilators were retained. In total, 36 vehicles were rebuilt to this diagram, although there is some question as to whether vehicles 2979-2984 were conversions, or were built from new as O.59, given their date of construction and entry into traffic. Diagram M.34 involved far less work to restore the remaining 31 vehicles to traffic, as they were unaltered in their appearance, remaining externally identical to their ambulance service configuration. As with the O.59, the original numbering was restored to the stock, however for the first time their designation was changed to Parcels Vans, rather than Milk Vans. The usefulness and versatility of the Siphon G design had provided the GWR with a bogie van suited to many uses, as had originally been envisaged in 1913 and this was not lost on the British Railways Board as the era of the ’Big Four’ gave way to a nationalised railway in 1948. Traffic levels increased as the railways recovered from the Second World War, a result of a change in societal habits and the fledgling British Railways found itself in dire need of bogie vans capable of express speed running and so it was that three new Lots of Siphon G vans, totalling 80 vehicles, were ordered and built to a new diagram, O.62, between October 1950 and October 1955. Remarkably, the new diagram was still referred to as a ‘Milk Van’, even though the Siphon G now served more in a GUV role and was very little changed from the original O.33 but for one main difference; the addition of eight sliding louvre ventilators to each body side, situated just above the solebar. The Siphon Gs were ideally suited to parcels traffic, but the sustained growth of newspaper traffic into the early part of the nationalised British Railways era probably represented the pinnacle of this type of traffic, with the Western Region relying on its fleet of Siphons to convey newsprint. At its peak during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, British Railways was running more than 50 dedicated newspaper trains every weekday, with around 75 services conveying the bulky Sunday editions at the weekend, over 75% of the country’s entire weekend newspaper production. During a typical night in the 1970-71 winter service, a total of 23 Siphon Gs were booked in dedicated Newspaper working from Paddington each weekday morning, with a further five being booked into late night overnight trains carrying various articles of mail traffic and they ran westwards, variously, to destinations as far afield as Penzance, Barnstaple Jcn, Kingswear, Gloucester, and Carmarthen, the destinations being carried on boards mounted to the bodysides of the vans. Many of the O.33 and O.59 vans were withdrawn from traffic during the mid-to-late 1960s, but as the 1960s gave way to the 1970s and the Rail Blue TOPS era took hold, Siphon Gs were still in major use on the Western Region, with parcels and newspaper traffic being hauled by a variety of traction, including the Class 31s, Class 47s and Class 50s. Variously classed as NNV and NMV by TOPS, and in many cases now equipped with ETH, the latter years of the 1970s saw 34 Siphon Gs rebranded with BR’s ‘Newspapers’ logo, while the remaining survivors were transferred into Departmental traffic, particularly branded as Enparts, the Western Region’s fleet of vans used for transporting spare parts for locomotives and rolling stock from Swindon to the larger Motive Power Depots. A number also found their way into use as Seat Trimming Materials Stores Vans, for use between Litchurch Lane, Derby and Swindon Works and as Newspaper traffic dwindled into obscurity during the early-1980s, leading to the final withdrawal of Siphon Gs in revenue earning service, it was these last few Departmental vehicles that soldiered on into 1985, before they too were eventually withdrawn and scrapped. Around two dozen Siphon Gs were initially saved for preservation but that number has now dwindled, although there are nice examples surviving at the Severn Valley Railway, the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway, Didcot, Quainton and Shildon, several of which formed the basis for Accurascale’s surveys of the vehicles during the research phase of the project. The Accurascale OO/4mm scale model of these iconic vans covers the multitude of variations and changes the Siphons received during their careers. Check out our comprehensive range now available to pre-order right here. KEY EDITORIAL POINTS: • First inside braced Siphon G was No. 1270, built to diagram O.22 in August 1926, for use as a Milk Van, carrying milk in churns. • Vertical planking introduced to Siphon Gs with diagram O.33 • The first O.33 Siphon G was No. 2051, built in July 1930 • 195 vehicles built to two diagrams; O.33 under the GWR and O.62 under British Railways. • In 1938/39, the UK Government ordered the creation of Casualty Evacuation Trains (CETs) and the GWR initially converted 60 Siphon Gs as Ward Cars for this traffic. • Later in WWII, 42 Siphon Gs found use as Ward Cars in the Overseas Ambulance Trains. • On their return from War service, the Siphon Gs were converted back to service use as either diagram O.59 (Milk Vans) or diagram M.34 (Parcels Vans). • 34 Siphon Gs were specifically reclassified and re-equipped as NNV Newspaper Vans under TOPS, with other reclassifications including NMV and QRV. • Final withdrawals from service occurred in the 1982-84 period, although a number survived in Departmental service into the mid-1980s. View the full article

Until the latter half of the 19th century, the transportation of fresh milk by the railway was still confined to local movements, as the big population centres were still able to meet the needs for dairy provision. It was only with the huge population increases of the mid-1860s that the production of milk was forced away from the periphery of cities and into the countryside, creating the problem of being able to transport it from source to market quickly. The ensuing rapid growth of the milk industry was entirely down to the railways providing a means of providing rapid transportation of goods to market, and the Great Western Railway was quick to realise the importance of providing specific stock to accomplish this. Milk not only deteriorates rapidly, it is also very sensitive to movement and so any purpose built rail vehicle needed to be able to be formed into passenger trains for travelling at high speed. Realising this, from the outset the GWR created vehicles that were very different from their standard close boarded vans, with wide gapped planks being used to ensure adequate ventilation and cooling of the milk churns, along with heavy springing to improve the ride. Experiments with doors also took place, as the GWR sought to identify the best way to load the churns onto the vans. The early four-wheel vans that first appeared from April 1873 soon gave way to improved six-wheel vehicles, as the GWR had settled on this arrangement for its mainline coaching stock during the late 1870s and the first dedicated milk van diagrams, O.1 and O.2, appeared between mid-1889 and mid-1890; the GWR dedicating almost the entire O series of diagrams exclusively to milk traffic. These vehicles continued to be improved, but in August 1906 the first bogie milk van appeared, the diagram O.7 Siphon F (Siphon was the GWR’s telegraphic code for a milk van and the F denoted the version of vehicle). By 1913, the Great Western Railway had reached a stage whereby the original 4w and 6w milk vans were obsolete and required replacement. A prototype 50’ bogie version, the diagram O.10 of October 1908 had proved successful and satisfied the GWR’s requirements for a versatile gangway design of milk van, leading to the creation of the Siphon G; a family of gangway bogie vans that were built between 1913 and 1955 and that would eventually total 365 vehicles. Initially built with outside body framing and closed horizontal planking, a prototype design to diagram O.22 was built in August 1926 that featured an inside framed design, riding on 9’ American bogies (albeit still with horizontal body planking), the design proving its suitability across all areas of the GWR. In 1929, an order for 50 vehicles to diagram O.22 was placed, then cancelled (possibly due to financial constraints), then revived again in 1930 as an order for 20 vehicles to a new diagram, the O.33. The O.33 Siphon Gs were built in four Lots, covering a period between July 1930 and May 1945 and in total 115 vans were built to this diagram. The first, and most obvious difference in the O.33’s appearance (over preceding Siphon G versions), was the introduction of vertical planking, possibly due to the wood being cheaper and easier to procure and these cost constraints were also evident elsewhere, with the first built Lots using secondhand bogies of various 9’ and 8’ 6” types, as well as used sets of Stones electric lighting. The O.33s were also 2” wider than their predecessors and were equipped with large round headed buffers, as well as a new style of gangway connector that hung from brackets, rather than the ‘scissor’ type. As the war clouds gathered over Europe in 1938, the Government of the United Kingdom stepped up its preparations for the impact of hostilities on the civilian population, the assumption being that any bombing of the UK’s cities would produce such large numbers of casualties that the local facilities would be overwhelmed. To counter this, a plan was put into place that would create Casualty Evacuation Trains and at a meeting of the Railway Superintendents held at Liverpool Street Station on April 4, 1939, it was agreed to create 34 semi-permanent Ambulance Trains, each to comprise two Brake Thirds and ten Vans, capable of holding a minimum of 30 stretcher cases per van. Each Railway Company was to provide a proportion of the total trains required, with the GWR being required to supply six trains. For the Ward Cars, the GWR opted to convert 60 Siphon Gs for the six trains (numbered 326-331), as they already satisfied the Ministry of Health’s requirements for the vehicles to be electrically lit and well ventilated, but a certain amount of work was still required to seal the draughts, ensure that the vehicles were light tight and to fit the brackets and shelves necessary for the conveyance of stretchers; 42 to each van, at a total cost of £82 per vehicle. By November 1939, one Siphon G had been removed from each of the GWR’s CETs, being replaced by a ‘Staff Car’ and by December, when the total number of CETs was reduced to 18 on standby, the GWR’s commitment had been reduced to the provision of four CETs, releasing 20 Siphon Gs back into traffic. In July 1943, 42 Siphon Gs were required for the Overseas Ambulance Trains Nos. 32-35 and 45-46 and again a number were modified, this time to suit operation on European railways. These modifications included the fitting of Westinghouse brakes, the removal of the handbrake gear, the addition of a water tank, end steps and handrails. In addition to the OATs, a further 12 Siphon Gs were formed into two US Army Ambulance Trains, Nos. 69 and 70. With the cessation of hostilities, and the repatriation of the Siphon Gs to the GWR following their ambulance service, the resulting conversions back to service stock resulted in the creation of two new diagrams: O.59 and M.34. Diagram O.59 called for the restoration of the Siphon Gs to their original body specification, with the louvres being restored. Indeed, the only discerning difference between the original O.33 and the O.59 conversion was that the roof mounted shell ventilators were retained. In total, 36 vehicles were rebuilt to this diagram, although there is some question as to whether vehicles 2979-2984 were conversions, or were built from new as O.59, given their date of construction and entry into traffic. Diagram M.34 involved far less work to restore the remaining 31 vehicles to traffic, as they were unaltered in their appearance, remaining externally identical to their ambulance service configuration. As with the O.59, the original numbering was restored to the stock, however for the first time their designation was changed to Parcels Vans, rather than Milk Vans. The usefulness and versatility of the Siphon G design had provided the GWR with a bogie van suited to many uses, as had originally been envisaged in 1913 and this was not lost on the British Railways Board as the era of the ’Big Four’ gave way to a nationalised railway in 1948. Traffic levels increased as the railways recovered from the Second World War, a result of a change in societal habits and the fledgling British Railways found itself in dire need of bogie vans capable of express speed running and so it was that three new Lots of Siphon G vans, totalling 80 vehicles, were ordered and built to a new diagram, O.62, between October 1950 and October 1955. Remarkably, the new diagram was still referred to as a ‘Milk Van’, even though the Siphon G now served more in a GUV role and was very little changed from the original O.33 but for one main difference; the addition of eight sliding louvre ventilators to each body side, situated just above the solebar. The Siphon Gs were ideally suited to parcels traffic, but the sustained growth of newspaper traffic into the early part of the nationalised British Railways era probably represented the pinnacle of this type of traffic, with the Western Region relying on its fleet of Siphons to convey newsprint. At its peak during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, British Railways was running more than 50 dedicated newspaper trains every weekday, with around 75 services conveying the bulky Sunday editions at the weekend, over 75% of the country’s entire weekend newspaper production. During a typical night in the 1970-71 winter service, a total of 23 Siphon Gs were booked in dedicated Newspaper working from Paddington each weekday morning, with a further five being booked into late night overnight trains carrying various articles of mail traffic and they ran westwards, variously, to destinations as far afield as Penzance, Barnstaple Jcn, Kingswear, Gloucester, and Carmarthen, the destinations being carried on boards mounted to the bodysides of the vans. Many of the O.33 and O.59 vans were withdrawn from traffic during the mid-to-late 1960s, but as the 1960s gave way to the 1970s and the Rail Blue TOPS era took hold, Siphon Gs were still in major use on the Western Region, with parcels and newspaper traffic being hauled by a variety of traction, including the Class 31s, Class 47s and Class 50s. Variously classed as NNV and NMV by TOPS, and in many cases now equipped with ETH, the latter years of the 1970s saw 34 Siphon Gs rebranded with BR’s ‘Newspapers’ logo, while the remaining survivors were transferred into Departmental traffic, particularly branded as Enparts, the Western Region’s fleet of vans used for transporting spare parts for locomotives and rolling stock from Swindon to the larger Motive Power Depots. A number also found their way into use as Seat Trimming Materials Stores Vans, for use between Litchurch Lane, Derby and Swindon Works and as Newspaper traffic dwindled into obscurity during the early-1980s, leading to the final withdrawal of Siphon Gs in revenue earning service, it was these last few Departmental vehicles that soldiered on into 1985, before they too were eventually withdrawn and scrapped. Around two dozen Siphon Gs were initially saved for preservation but that number has now dwindled, although there are nice examples surviving at the Severn Valley Railway, the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway, Didcot, Quainton and Shildon, several of which formed the basis for Accurascale’s surveys of the vehicles during the research phase of the project. The Accurascale OO/4mm scale model of these iconic vans covers the multitude of variations and changes the Siphons received during their careers. Check out our comprehensive range now available to pre-order right here. KEY EDITORIAL POINTS: • First inside braced Siphon G was No. 1270, built to diagram O.22 in August 1926, for use as a Milk Van, carrying milk in churns. • Vertical planking introduced to Siphon Gs with diagram O.33 • The first O.33 Siphon G was No. 2051, built in July 1930 • 195 vehicles built to two diagrams; O.33 under the GWR and O.62 under British Railways. • In 1938/39, the UK Government ordered the creation of Casualty Evacuation Trains (CETs) and the GWR initially converted 60 Siphon Gs as Ward Cars for this traffic. • Later in WWII, 42 Siphon Gs found use as Ward Cars in the Overseas Ambulance Trains. • On their return from War service, the Siphon Gs were converted back to service use as either diagram O.59 (Milk Vans) or diagram M.34 (Parcels Vans). • 34 Siphon Gs were specifically reclassified and re-equipped as NNV Newspaper Vans under TOPS, with other reclassifications including NMV and QRV. • Final withdrawals from service occurred in the 1982-84 period, although a number survived in Departmental service into the mid-1980s. 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From the transportation of milk, to mail and newspapers for over 50 years, the GWR designed diagram 0.33 Siphon G was a widely travelled stalwart of the network. A high quality model in 00/4mm scale covering the detail differences and long lives of these characterful vans is long overdue. Welcome to the Accurascale Siphon G, covering the 0.33 diagram, the BR(W) 0.62, the O.59 and M.34 conversions, as well as the BR Newspaper Van conversions of the O.62 (NNV) in 00/4mm scale. History The history of these vans is varied and very interesting, venturing from providing transport for milk for the GWR, to serving as ambulance coaches during World War II, to nationalisation and parcels workings, and into the BR blue era on parcels and newspaper trains as well as departmental duties into the mid 1980s. Our Project Manager Paul Isles has written a comprehensive history on these vans, which you can read in a dedicated blog by clicking here. The Model As is the Accurascale way, we have produced a wide ranging, comprehensive tooling suite to cover 15 different versions of these ubiquitous vans, once again leading the way in detail and prototypical variation in the model railway market. With 15 different versions available, the first run of our Siphon G models covers examples from the entire operational period of the prototypes; from July 1930 through to the early 1980s and feature a selection of liveries carried by these versatile and distinctive vans. Liveries modelled in the first production run include: GWR Brown with ‘shirt button’ monogram US Army Deep Bronze Green with Red Cross Transitional British Railways mix of GWR livery with BR lettering BR Carmine Red BR Maroon BR Rail Blue Even within these livery styles, there were several variations, and we have sought to replicate these differences where we can, to provide a comprehensive study of how the Siphon Gs appeared during their service life. Extensive use has been made of metal parts to add to the detail levels throughout, the footsteps even carrying diamond tread pattern and the quality of the running hasn’t been forgotten either, with the 26mm axles running in brass bearings to enable a smooth ride. Extensive areas of piping and rodding have been added to the underframe to improve the appearance of the models and the various cabinets even feature separately fitted wire handles. As a rough guide, the O.33 can be recognised by bodyside top vents, plain roofs and plain ends, with the wartime Casualty Evacuation Train/US Ambulance Train Ward Car conversions adding roof mounted water tanks, end steps and handrails, plated over vents and the addition of small windows. Upon conversion back into service stock as O.59 and M.34 diagrams, the O.59 is broadly identical to the O.33 pattern, but with roof mounted ventilators, whereas the M.34 retained an appearance broadly similar to the wartime Ward Cars, but with the roof mounted water tanks being removed. The BR built O.62 diagram retained the look of the O.33 diagram but added eight sliding vents to the lower bodysides and the later conversion of these vehicles as NNVs saw various vents being plated over on an ad-hoc basis, and the addition of Electric Train Heating apparatus and external emergency lighting points. Across all diagrams, the positions of underframe cabinets varied in size and position, as well as two types of vacuum brake cylinder positioning and two styles of handbrake lever being fitted, depending on that layout – there was even the fitting of Westinghouse brakes to the US Ward Cars! At the van ends, gangways varied slightly in style, with some vehicles being fitted with passenger communication leads, often in varying positions. With so many diagrams, and variations between prototypes, careful reference to photographs was required to bring out the details, as well as visiting existing examples where possible, or relying on heritage railway volunteers to aid us in our research, and as ever there are several people we must thank for their input, especially John Lewis and Mike Romans. Our thanks also extend to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway at Toddington, as well as the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton; both of whom hosted survey visits and also to Hugh McQuade at the Severn Valley Railway, who provided some valuable measurements at the eleventh hour! As ever, the arrival of the engineering samples highlights areas for improvement, and the Siphon Gs are no different, as there are some minor fit issues that need to be resolved, as well as erroneously fitted (or not fitted) parts for some of the builds (hardly surprising with 15 different versions of the Siphon G). We are also looking at options for the provision of close coupling, as the positioning of the bogies did not allow for the fitting of kinetic couplings, or to bring the NEM pocket deeper and the traditional tension locks are a little ‘leggy’ for our liking (although they will still be provided as standard fitting), so watch out for further updates on this in the New Year, along with the provision of decoration samples. Check them out in action on Hornby Magazine's "Topley Dale", and learn about all the different variations we are doing in our first run as Paul chats to Mike Wild. The Siphons are now available to pre-order via your local stockist or direct via our website with a price of £54.95 each and 10% off when you buy two or more. Delivery will be in Q1 2023. Browse the full range by clicking here. View the full article

Forcing? Really? Come on, nobody is forcing you to buy anything. I think that's a poor choice of words, to be fair.

Hi everyone, Due to the demand we've received for Oxford diecast range (mainly due to the Brexit related messing we imagine) we have expanded our range of stock significantly to include cars too, both current and classic. All 1:76 so perfect for your layouts. We've also added more commercial vehicles too from a variety of periods. Perfect little stocking fillers. Check them out here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/vehicles/availability_in-stock? Cheers! Fran