Warbonnet

In a new occasional feature, our Project Mangers explain just why they picked to do the models we make. In the first edition, Class 60 Project Manager Steve Purves explains why he fancied a Tug. Take it away, Steve! I grew up in Melton Mowbray. As a young lad, I’d stand at the end of Melton station, watching the hectic daytime shunting of pet food container traffic from loops to yard. My parents would sometimes take me over to Loughborough as a treat to watch the faster trains. The big excitement in the early ’90s was, of course, the Class 60. We’d wander over to catch sight of them at the back of Brush. If we were lucky, we’d see them out on test runs and occasionally even leaving the works. This left a strong impression on me, as it did on many others. Fast forward a few years to 1994, to be precise. My grandad, a local stonemason, got the job of rebuilding the tunnel face at the 10¼-inch gauge Stapleford Miniature Railway, and luckily for me, this fell during the school holidays. The railway had been closed since the ’80s and was being brought back to life, but I hadn’t even known it existed. I went along to work with him, tasked with tramming the stonework from station to tunnel on a flat wagon. I was in my element. Near the end of the job, an older chap called me over and invited me to help prepare the steam locos for their boiler tests. That was all the encouragement I needed, and with my parents’ blessing, I was supervised by the small group of engineers working there: Neil Simkins, Richard Coleby, Bob Moore, and his son David. My folks would drop me off and pick me up, but I owe all my knowledge to those chaps. They never treated me as a kid – I was a peer. One day, David mentioned “his 60.” My ears pricked up. Hanging in the workshop was the classic Trainload poster of four Class 60s lined up in each sector. David told me he was building one in 10¼-inch gauge – a 14-foot-long body, and soon it would be brought to the railway to show the Heywood Society as a work in progress. David worked at Brush and had been a commissioning engineer on Class 60, so he knew them inside out, and his “model” reflected that knowledge. It was spot on – looked like a 60, felt like a 60. Over the next few years, I watched the 60 evolve and come together, though it was still a long way from finished.Fast-forward to 2000, and I was leaving school. I knew I wanted to work on the railway, but getting a foot in the door was difficult. David asked around and managed to secure me an interview with EWS at Toton as an apprentice fitter. I could hardly believe it when I got the job. I spent most of my time studying locos but also had a good bit of time on the lathe. The Class 56, 58, and 60 were my regulars, with the occasional Class 37 as well. The 60 was by far my favourite to work on – clean lines, everything thoughtfully laid out. I had a few runs out on the mainline, and I always favoured a 60. I spent a few years away from railways, but the Class 60 had made a lasting impression. I wanted one! I couldn’t have a real one, and I certainly couldn’t fit a 10¼-inch gauge one, but a trip to Warley sparked an idea when I saw some 5-inch gauge Class 50s.I’d used CAD in a previous job and thought, “How hard can it be?” I started drawing a Class 60 with the aim of making a kit in 5-inch gauge. Working from the original drawings, I completed the bodyshell and most of the chassis work. Coming out at 6 feet long, it was a beast! I thought if I could sell a couple of kits, it would cover the cost of my own loco. Sadly, my day job’s increasing workload slowed progress. When I moved to Accurascale, I had a Zoom interview, and in the meeting, they asked, “What three things would you want to make?” Class 60 was at the top of my list. I’m grateful to Accurascale for finally allowing me to “get on with it.” It was green-lit on my first day on the job over two years ago. I’ve finally managed to put my mark on a Class 60. It’s been a privilege to share my passion for the class and, hopefully, spark interest in its nuances and variations. I’m indebted to David for his advice throughout the design process – who better? I’ve still got a long list of things I’d like to make, but the 60 holds a special place for me. It’s punctuated my life, been part of my core memories, and I think it always will be. Enough rambling! Well done for sticking with me. Oh, and David’s 60? After 28 years, it’s still not quite finished – next year’s the year! Pre-Order Your Accurascale Class 60 Here! View the full article

Hi everyone, Thanks to you all who dropped by our stand over the weekend. We had plenty of sales, great feedback and it was great to see people and say hello once again. Then again, bringing a celeb like New Junction with us helped too! The support we received regarding the ICR was brilliant too, and would like to thank you all who chatted with us about it. I think many of you were subsequently blown away by our EP samples in the cabinet, alongside our new Hunslet. Finally, and for me personally, most importantly, I would like to extend a sincere and big thank you to the MRSI team for a truly fantastic show. We had many members of the public comment favourably about the new venue, but from a trader point of view they were absolutely first class. It cannot be understated just how much work goes into setting up and creating a show like this, and completely on a voluntary basis to boot. Many people complained about the previous venue 2 years ago. We (IRM) felt a bit guilty about this as a big part of the jam on the Saturday was our sale of the “Dicky Tara’s” and the demand on space that whipped up. I think the MRSI should be commended on listening to feedback, going out and finding a more suitable venue and running an absolutely first class show. Well done to Tony, Dave, Ed and all the club members who gave us a brilliant show. You got bodies in the door and looked after us all superbly. This is why clubs need to be supported, as without them we won’t have shows to go to in the future. It’s great to see new clubs pop up in the Midlands and in Limerick. If you have one in your local area, go down and visit and consider joining. Theyre the ultimate men’s shed that operate in your area of interest. Cheers! Fran

It's that time of year again; where the Dublin show rolls around for the October Bank Holiday weekend and we announce our next big project for the Irish railway scene. Many will have guessed it considering our recent delivery of NIR Enterprise Mark 2 stock, but perhaps few would really believe it. Finally, after many, many years of neglect, the iconic NIR Hunslet locomotives get the full-fat Accurascale/IRM treatment! History Having undertaken a programme of station refurbishment, improved its ticketing arrangements and introduced new on-track plant and shunting locomotives, in 1969 the still embryonic Northern Ireland Railways set out to improve the Dublin-Belfast ‘Enterprise’ service, by replacing the existing diesel railcar sets with a locomotive hauled service. Intended to reduce the time for the 180 km journey to just two hours, the NIR Class 101 (DL) locomotives were designed to run in a push/pull configuration, with a 270 ton 8-car set of BR Mk.2b stock, at a maximum speed of 80mph. When Mrs Joan Humphreys, wife of Northern Ireland Railways’ chairman Myles Humphreys, unveiled the nameplate of 101 Eagle on May 8, 1970, it was an astounding triumph for the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds; having beaten off stern competition from the likes of General Motors in the United States for the contract, with the event marking the remarkable culmination of a ten-month delivery programme. The pace of the delivery programme was dictated by NIR’s lack of diesel-electric stock to haul the Enterprise to the new timings; the British United Traction 700/900 Class and UTA Class 70 railcars not being up to the task in hand and while Hunslet had secured the order, the company’s workshops were already full, being committed to other orders. For Hunslet, the answer was to sub-contract out the manufacturing work, so having designed the superstructure and bogies, fabrication of the superstructure, along with the final assembly, testing and painting were contracted out to British Rail Engineering Limited at their Doncaster site. Traction was trusted to English Electric/AEI Traction, who designed the English Electric 8CSVT Mk II design prime mover for the project, which essentially was an updated version of the Class 20's prime mover, fitted with an additional intercooler. Linked to a Bo-Bo bogie arrangement, this unit provided 1,350 hp (1,010 kW), of which 350hp was required for the Mk2’s heating system! Completed on schedule, 101 Eagle was handed over to NIR on May 8, 1970, with 102 Falcon following on May 22 and 103 Merlin on June 8 and all three locomotives (on temporary bogies) were subsequently shipped to Belfast on the Ferry from Preston (probably on the MV Ionic Ferry) and on arrival were moved to Queens Road for the fitting of the 5’ 3" gauge wheelsets. The Press Launch/Test Train took place on July 3, 1970, with 102 Falcon leading out to Dublin from Belfast’s Great Victoria station and 101 Eagle trailing, and aside from a few comments regarding ‘hunting’ due to the push locomotive, all went well. The three locomotives alternated on the Enterprise and continued to do so until they were succeeded by the General Motors’ NIR Class 111 fleet in 1983. When not required for Enterprise services, the 101s would run as single engines on locomotive hauled services such as the Saturday Excursion traffic to Portrush. This period also coincided with NIR being awarded the contract for the haulage of spoil from Magheramorne, to the Oil Terminal construction site at Cloghan Point (near Kilroot Power Station). Between October 7, 1974, and August 22, 1975 these spoil trains were generally headed by one of the NIR 101 fleet, hauling the Cravens built wagons from the steam hauled spoil contract of the late 1960s. Their ability to haul significant loads led to each locomotive being fitted with Multiple Unit cabling for Push/Pull working and after their replacement on the Enterprise, the three locomotives were moved to secondary services, such as to Derry and between Bangor and Portadown, along with working diagrams that included haulage of the CIÉ weed control train, freight turns with 42’ Fertiliser Flats and 40T Ballast Hoppers, as well as general shunting duties in Adelaide Yard. All three locomotives were gradually withdrawn from service as mechanical woes set in, with 103 Merlin being first in 1989 and 102 Falcon last in 1998, although after having spent four years out of service Falcon was briefly re-instated as a working locomotive in 2002, before being placed back into storage at Whitehead. 103 Merlin was scrapped in 1997, but 101 Eagle and 102 Falcon remained at Whitehead for some time until being offered by Translink for sale. Both locomotives were purchased by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) in 2005, with Falcon being selected for full restoration, utilising parts from Eagle where possible. Unfortunately, despite getting tantalisingly close to restoration back into working order, the task proved too much, and 102 Falcon was sold to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra in 2011, where it now resides. 101 Eagle had become no more than a bare shell, as parts had been stripped from it and when no buyer for it could be found the remains succumbed to the cutter’s torch the previous year, in January 2010. So, what of changes to the initial design, was there much variation in the designs of the three Class 101s? The answer, given their short working lives, is unsurprisingly not, but there are some subtle variations for modellers to be aware of. As built, 101 Eagle, 102 Falcon and 103 Merlin were all identical, but somewhere between late 1974 and early 1975, small sections were removed from the headstocks, with each locomotive’s being slightly differently shaped, indicating an ad-hoc modification (a useful identification guide in the absence of visible numbering). Around this time, the roof aerial clusters also changed from the original housing to the more familiar GSM ‘shark-fin’ type at each end. The next visible change came with the addition of Time Division Multiplex (TDM) cabling, allowing the transfer of multiple working data between locomotives and Driving Trailers. At some point in 1988, 101 Eagle obtained a second GSM aerial at No.1 End, but the greatest change in appearance belonged to 102 Falcon, with the removal of the buffing gear at both ends and the vacuum pipe being elevated and centralised at No.2 end. The Class 101s wore all their liveries well, with four distinct livery periods for the trio. As delivered in 1970, all three locomotives were painted in a deep maroon over the body, a light grey roof, with an arced golden yellow panel at each end and a small NIR logo amidships in golden yellow. From 1974 all three locos had the front panel revised to a ‘V’ shaped arced panel, with the locomotive number appearing on the front end for the first time. In mid-1979, the NIR mid-blue livery appeared, with the ‘V’ arc being represented in luminous red and a slightly larger NIR logo in white featuring amidships. As a body livery, the mid-blue did not wear very well, fading unevenly, and during 1988 the paint scheme was refreshed with new large NIR logos amidships, but this time with a luminous red chevron replacing the more elegant arc pattern which, again, faded badly and quite quickly. Of the three, only 102 Falcon received the revised darker NIR blue, sometime in 1996, with small yellow panel, black roof and ‘Zorro’ mask across the cab windows, again with large NIR logo. In preservation, this locomotive is now presented at the Museum at Cultra in a representation of its original maroon livery. The Model Following on from the success of our Mark 2 Enterprise coaches, we asked the question "Well, what will pull them?". While we knew of models of the 111 and 201s, we thought about these NIR icons. With a bucket of charisma and such unique looks, we felt the Hunslets would make for a cracking model. However, it's not all positive. Despite running to Dublin daily for so long, there were only 3 of these locomotives and they felt a bit niche. Buoyed by the sales of our Mark 2s, we decided to press on and make them in a strictly limited run. That's right folks, though we might be proven wrong bit massive demand, we envisage that this might just be a one-off run. With the real loco scanned and research progressing at a rapid rate, we have been able to get the Hunslets designed and tooled in record time and have been testing these samples for several months now. With just a trio of locomotives and a small pool to choose from for variations, we have decided to cover all major liveries for everyone in this first (and possibly only) production run. So, what is the cost for this charismatic, yet quite niche locomotive? Well, with a truly unrivalled spec and museum quality model including a comprehensive lighting package including cab lighting, day and night configurations, a wealth of detail, prism free glazing, operating roof fan, ESU loksound five and large speaker set up on sound fitted models, hefty diecast chassis, era detail differences, and more, they come in for a very reasonable £219.99 DC/DCC Ready and £319.99 DCC sound fitted, or €259.95 DC/DCC Ready and €379.95 DCC Sound Fitted. Delivery is slated for Q4 2025, with decorated samples due with Accurascale/IRM engineering team before Christmas. Tempted? You will be! You do not want to miss out on these beauties. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the IRM or Accurascale websites! As ever, the assistance of trusted stakeholders is vital to the development stages of any model, and we are pleased to acknowledge the outstanding co-operation and contribution of Clare Ablett and the team at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra, who allowed us to descend on them with our 3D scanning associates to map 102 Falcon to the finest detail. And just as important in the grand scheme of the project, we are indebted to Andrew Ross of the Hunslet Engine Company for supplying the original works’ drawings, as well as the benefit of his experience, which was instrumental in converting the project from a ‘what if’ to a ‘let’s crack on’! Click Here to Pre-Order Your Hunslet! MODEL SPECIFICATION: • Die-cast metal chassis, with ABS plastic body. Weight (without decoder) 406g. • Centrally mounted, twin flywheel 5-pole motor, driving both sets of axles, with all-wheel pickup. • Helical gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running. • Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale maximum top speed of 80 mph (128.75 km/h), with a load of 1.1kg • Supplied as DCC Sound Ready, or DCC Sound fitted. • Scale length of 180.71mm over buffers. • Bogie wheelbase of 30.71mm (93.781mm between bogie centres), allowing operation over a minimum radius of 438mm (2nd radius set-track). • Single style of 13.33mm solid locomotive wheel, correctly profiled both on the inside and outside to RP25-110 standard, set in blackened brass bearings or contact strips and chemically blackened, and conforming to Accurascale standards of 14.4mm back-to-back on 2mm diameter axles, over 28mm pinpoints (to allow for potential re-gauging to 21mm finescale standards). • Brake blocks fitted and aligned with wheel centres for 00 gauge. • Fully detailed die-cast underframe with all cylinders, battery boxes, cabinets and piping applied separately. • NEM pockets at both ends, fitted via full kinetic couplings. • Eroded metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including (but not limited to) roof details, handrails, door handles, kick plates, lamp brackets, nameplates, brake gear, brake discs, draw gear, bogie chains, vents and louvres. • Prism free flush glazing. • Easily removable roof section, to allow access to PCB for speaker and decoder fitting. • Fitted stay alive arrangement. • Designed to work with the ESU LOKSOUND V5 21-PIN Decoder with easy access via removable roof panel. 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 configurations. • Working DCC operated roof fans (single fixed speed on DC). • Supplied DCC Sound Ready, with fitted ESU 22mm x 42mm x 8.0mm rectangular 4Ω speaker and Passive Radiator. View the full article

It's that time of year again; where the Dublin show rolls around for the October Bank Holiday weekend and we announce our next big project for the Irish railway scene. Many will have guessed it considering our recent delivery of NIR Enterprise Mark 2 stock, but perhaps few would really believe it. Finally, after many, many years of neglect, the iconic NIR Hunslet locomotives get the full-fat Accurascale/IRM treatment! History Having undertaken a programme of station refurbishment, improved its ticketing arrangements and introduced new on-track plant and shunting locomotives, in 1969 the still embryonic Northern Ireland Railways set out to improve the Dublin-Belfast ‘Enterprise’ service, by replacing the existing diesel railcar sets with a locomotive hauled service. Intended to reduce the time for the 180 km journey to just two hours, the NIR Class 101 (DL) locomotives were designed to run in a push/pull configuration, with a 270 ton 8-car set of BR Mk.2b stock, at a maximum speed of 80mph. When Mrs Joan Humphreys, wife of Northern Ireland Railways’ chairman Myles Humphreys, unveiled the nameplate of 101 Eagle on May 8, 1970, it was an astounding triumph for the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds; having beaten off stern competition from the likes of General Motors in the United States for the contract, with the event marking the remarkable culmination of a ten-month delivery programme. The pace of the delivery programme was dictated by NIR’s lack of diesel-electric stock to haul the Enterprise to the new timings; the British United Traction 700/900 Class and UTA Class 70 railcars not being up to the task in hand and while Hunslet had secured the order, the company’s workshops were already full, being committed to other orders. For Hunslet, the answer was to sub-contract out the manufacturing work, so having designed the superstructure and bogies, fabrication of the superstructure, along with the final assembly, testing and painting were contracted out to British Rail Engineering Limited at their Doncaster site. Traction was trusted to English Electric/AEI Traction, who designed the English Electric 8CSVT Mk II design prime mover for the project, which essentially was an updated version of the Class 20's prime mover, fitted with an additional intercooler. Linked to a Bo-Bo bogie arrangement, this unit provided 1,350 hp (1,010 kW), of which 350hp was required for the Mk2’s heating system! Completed on schedule, 101 Eagle was handed over to NIR on May 8, 1970, with 102 Falcon following on May 22 and 103 Merlin on June 8 and all three locomotives (on temporary bogies) were subsequently shipped to Belfast on the Ferry from Preston (probably on the MV Ionic Ferry) and on arrival were moved to Queens Road for the fitting of the 5’ 3" gauge wheelsets. The Press Launch/Test Train took place on July 3, 1970, with 102 Falcon leading out to Dublin from Belfast’s Great Victoria station and 101 Eagle trailing, and aside from a few comments regarding ‘hunting’ due to the push locomotive, all went well. The three locomotives alternated on the Enterprise and continued to do so until they were succeeded by the General Motors’ NIR Class 111 fleet in 1983. When not required for Enterprise services, the 101s would run as single engines on locomotive hauled services such as the Saturday Excursion traffic to Portrush. This period also coincided with NIR being awarded the contract for the haulage of spoil from Magheramorne, to the Oil Terminal construction site at Cloghan Point (near Kilroot Power Station). Between October 7, 1974, and August 22, 1975 these spoil trains were generally headed by one of the NIR 101 fleet, hauling the Cravens built wagons from the steam hauled spoil contract of the late 1960s. Their ability to haul significant loads led to each locomotive being fitted with Multiple Unit cabling for Push/Pull working and after their replacement on the Enterprise, the three locomotives were moved to secondary services, such as to Derry and between Bangor and Portadown, along with working diagrams that included haulage of the CIÉ weed control train, freight turns with 42’ Fertiliser Flats and 40T Ballast Hoppers, as well as general shunting duties in Adelaide Yard. All three locomotives were gradually withdrawn from service as mechanical woes set in, with 103 Merlin being first in 1989 and 102 Falcon last in 1998, although after having spent four years out of service Falcon was briefly re-instated as a working locomotive in 2002, before being placed back into storage at Whitehead. 103 Merlin was scrapped in 1997, but 101 Eagle and 102 Falcon remained at Whitehead for some time until being offered by Translink for sale. Both locomotives were purchased by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) in 2005, with Falcon being selected for full restoration, utilising parts from Eagle where possible. Unfortunately, despite getting tantalisingly close to restoration back into working order, the task proved too much, and 102 Falcon was sold to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra in 2011, where it now resides. 101 Eagle had become no more than a bare shell, as parts had been stripped from it and when no buyer for it could be found the remains succumbed to the cutter’s torch the previous year, in January 2010. So, what of changes to the initial design, was there much variation in the designs of the three Class 101s? The answer, given their short working lives, is unsurprisingly not, but there are some subtle variations for modellers to be aware of. As built, 101 Eagle, 102 Falcon and 103 Merlin were all identical, but somewhere between late 1974 and early 1975, small sections were removed from the headstocks, with each locomotive’s being slightly differently shaped, indicating an ad-hoc modification (a useful identification guide in the absence of visible numbering). Around this time, the roof aerial clusters also changed from the original housing to the more familiar GSM ‘shark-fin’ type at each end. The next visible change came with the addition of Time Division Multiplex (TDM) cabling, allowing the transfer of multiple working data between locomotives and Driving Trailers. At some point in 1988, 101 Eagle obtained a second GSM aerial at No.1 End, but the greatest change in appearance belonged to 102 Falcon, with the removal of the buffing gear at both ends and the vacuum pipe being elevated and centralised at No.2 end. The Class 101s wore all their liveries well, with four distinct livery periods for the trio. As delivered in 1970, all three locomotives were painted in a deep maroon over the body, a light grey roof, with an arced golden yellow panel at each end and a small NIR logo amidships in golden yellow. From 1974 all three locos had the front panel revised to a ‘V’ shaped arced panel, with the locomotive number appearing on the front end for the first time. In mid-1979, the NIR mid-blue livery appeared, with the ‘V’ arc being represented in luminous red and a slightly larger NIR logo in white featuring amidships. As a body livery, the mid-blue did not wear very well, fading unevenly, and during 1988 the paint scheme was refreshed with new large NIR logos amidships, but this time with a luminous red chevron replacing the more elegant arc pattern which, again, faded badly and quite quickly. Of the three, only 102 Falcon received the revised darker NIR blue, sometime in 1996, with small yellow panel, black roof and ‘Zorro’ mask across the cab windows, again with large NIR logo. In preservation, this locomotive is now presented at the Museum at Cultra in a representation of its original maroon livery. The Model Following on from the success of our Mark 2 Enterprise coaches, we asked the question "Well, what will pull them?". While we knew of models of the 111 and 201s, we thought about these NIR icons. With a bucket of charisma and such unique looks, we felt the Hunslets would make for a cracking model. However, it's not all positive. Despite running to Dublin daily for so long, there were only 3 of these locomotives and they felt a bit niche. Buoyed by the sales of our Mark 2s, we decided to press on and make them in a strictly limited run. That's right folks, though we might be proven wrong bit massive demand, we envisage that this might just be a one-off run. With the real loco scanned and research progressing at a rapid rate, we have been able to get the Hunslets designed and tooled in record time and have been testing these samples for several months now. With just a trio of locomotives and a small pool to choose from for variations, we have decided to cover all major liveries for everyone in this first (and possibly only) production run. So, what is the cost for this charismatic, yet quite niche locomotive? Well, with a truly unrivalled spec and museum quality model including a comprehensive lighting package including cab lighting, day and night configurations, a wealth of detail, prism free glazing, operating roof fan, ESU loksound five and large speaker set up on sound fitted models, hefty diecast chassis, era detail differences, and more, they come in for a very reasonable £219.99 DC/DCC Ready and £319.99 DCC sound fitted, or €259.95 DC/DCC Ready and €379.95 DCC Sound Fitted. Delivery is slated for Q4 2025, with decorated samples due with Accurascale/IRM engineering team before Christmas. Tempted? You will be! You do not want to miss out on these beauties. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the IRM or Accurascale websites! As ever, the assistance of trusted stakeholders is vital to the development stages of any model, and we are pleased to acknowledge the outstanding co-operation and contribution of Clare Ablett and the team at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra, who allowed us to descend on them with our 3D scanning associates to map 102 Falcon to the finest detail. And just as important in the grand scheme of the project, we are indebted to Andrew Ross of the Hunslet Engine Company for supplying the original works’ drawings, as well as the benefit of his experience, which was instrumental in converting the project from a ‘what if’ to a ‘let’s crack on’! Click Here to Pre-Order Your Hunslet! MODEL SPECIFICATION: • Die-cast metal chassis, with ABS plastic body. Weight (without decoder) 406g. • Centrally mounted, twin flywheel 5-pole motor, driving both sets of axles, with all-wheel pickup. • Helical gear box for maximum performance and slow speed running. • Gearing arranged so locomotive can achieve a scale maximum top speed of 80 mph (128.75 km/h), with a load of 1.1kg • Supplied as DCC Sound Ready, or DCC Sound fitted. • Scale length of 180.71mm over buffers. • Bogie wheelbase of 30.71mm (93.781mm between bogie centres), allowing operation over a minimum radius of 438mm (2nd radius set-track). • Single style of 13.33mm solid locomotive wheel, correctly profiled both on the inside and outside to RP25-110 standard, set in blackened brass bearings or contact strips and chemically blackened, and conforming to Accurascale standards of 14.4mm back-to-back on 2mm diameter axles, over 28mm pinpoints (to allow for potential re-gauging to 21mm finescale standards). • Brake blocks fitted and aligned with wheel centres for 00 gauge. • Fully detailed die-cast underframe with all cylinders, battery boxes, cabinets and piping applied separately. • NEM pockets at both ends, fitted via full kinetic couplings. • Eroded metal, plastic and wire detail parts, including (but not limited to) roof details, handrails, door handles, kick plates, lamp brackets, nameplates, brake gear, brake discs, draw gear, bogie chains, vents and louvres. • Prism free flush glazing. • Easily removable roof section, to allow access to PCB for speaker and decoder fitting. • Fitted stay alive arrangement. • Designed to work with the ESU LOKSOUND V5 21-PIN Decoder with easy access via removable roof panel. 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 configurations. • Working DCC operated roof fans (single fixed speed on DC). • Supplied DCC Sound Ready, with fitted ESU 22mm x 42mm x 8.0mm rectangular 4Ω speaker and Passive Radiator. View the full article

To be honest James your argument falls flat on its face when we see wagons like the bulleids still in stock, a decent amount of Park Royal’s available to pre-order, and our orange and black mark 2s currently on sale following poorer than projected sales. I was glad to have a call from Paddy Murphy today who has read this thread and said he also has noted a slow down in the market when it comes to his releases in recent years. This is beyond merely the ICRs.

Another long overdue project update is finally here, and thankfully it's much more positive as we get to reveal decorated samples of our hotly anticipated Park Royal coaches! Firstly, we shall let the images do the talking, as a splash of colour adorns these splendid vehicles. Arriving just in time for the MRSI October Bank Holiday Weekend show in Dublin, we have received decorated samples in green with silver underframe, CIE classic "Black and Tan" livery of orange and black, and IR Orange and Black livery of post 1987 with white pin stripes, the final livery they wore in squadron service with Irish rail. We are delighted to see colour on these models, so we can get a real feel for the coaches and the progression of the coaches. We still have work to do though! When the first engineering samples arrived, we noted that the bogies had been incorrectly moulded in the wrong type of plastic, which would cause significant operational issues and a high failure rate as it is difficult to glue. Thankfully, this has now been sorted, and the iconic commonwealth bogies, a signature of so many Irish coaches from this period, look and perform superbly. Paint coverage needs to be and will be improved and some of the colours will be tweaked before production, along with a general improvement in build quality, but that is typical of samples at this stage. Once this issues are resolved we will progress to production. The revised delivery date of these models is now mid-2025. Drop by our stand this weekend and take a closer look at these beauties. If you have experienced our Mark 2 coaches, then you know how special these are going to be! We still have a limited supply of Park Royals available for pre-order. To add some to your collection, place your pre-order below! Pre-Order Your Park Royal Coaches Here! View the full article

Hi James, We certainly did do our market research and we know that our biggest customer base is in the 30-45 age bracket (which is at odds with Accurascale, being 60+). As for blaming customers? I'm sorry, but that is not what we were doing. We appealed to customers. As it stands we believe that the ICR is still viable, and it's why it's proceeding, just not at the price point and number of variations we had hoped for. We are giving customers fair warning that about getting on board with it if they can. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Fancy netting some unbelievable bargains this weekend? Well, how about this for an incredible sale! IRM Mark 2 4 coach packs; Were €269.99 NOW €199.99 GET 40% OFF our magnesite wagons when you buy one wagon pack! Get AN ADDITIONAL 10% Off When You buy 2, 3 or 4 Packs! GET AN ADDITIONAL 15% OFF when you buy 5+ Packs! GET 38% Off Tara Mines Pack When You Buy One Set Get AN ADDITIONAL 10% Off When You buy 2, 3 or 4 Packs! GET AN ADDITIONAL 15% OFF when you buy 5+ Packs! IRM Exclusive Vehicles Sale. Big savings on buses and forklift packs from just €5! Browse full selection here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/in-stock Sale Ends 9am Tuesday, October 29th at 9:30am or while stocks last! Sale online and on our stand at the Model Railway show in Dublin this weekend!

Thanks for the support and feedback everyone. We’ve seen some orders for ICRs come in since the update which is fantastic and we thank those of you who have placed an order sincerely. We’ve felt quite deflated in recent weeks about it, is it is heartening to see this support.

Thanks @Flying Snail, it's not to put the fear of god into anyone, but we're just being honest. If someone cant stretch to an ICR, or it just doesnt tickle them, but wants to support us and the hobby and its future, then perhaps pick up something we have in stock, like Bulleids, Mark 2s etc. It all counts! We will also have a sale on Mags, Taras and some buses this weekend, so if you get on board with that you will get a bargain thrown into the mix too. All will help get the ICRs made and the next model tooled!

Thanks @Galteemore, we feel it's best to be up front and honest about these things. We're feeling rather deflated by it all, and TBH it's not strictly an ICR thing, we are absolutely seeing a general slow down in the Irish market. We hope it remains viable, but at the moment it barely is. We could end up in a situation that we deliver what we have tooled up and just leave it there, concentrating on other markets to pay the massive bills such an industry generates! Let's hope it never comes to that, but it's fair to say that it is a legitimate concern.

Sometimes, things just don’t work out as well as we had hoped! When we first announced the ICR 22000 models back in October 2022, with eight variations covering 3-car, 4-car and 6-car sets from their initial delivery, to their most recent livery updates, we had very high hopes for the project; hopes that were backed up by the high initial sales. Emboldened by this, we moved through the project at good pace, with tooling underway by April 2023 and 25% of the anticipated run sold. By October we were proudly showing off the engineering samples and looking forward to getting the samples comprehensively tested and the complex electronic design finalised as we entered into 2024. And this is where things started to get complicated, on two fronts. At the beginning of February, Project Manager Paul Isles and Sound Engineer Jamie Goodman spent several days working on obtaining the audio recordings for the ICR project, with Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail kindly working closely with us to facilitate sound recording, both at the Portlaoise depot and during two test train diagrams between Heuston and Mallow. With such a range of awesome audio recorded, and standards in lighting design moving forward exponentially, it exceeded the scope of the electrical design created for the project back in 2022/23, and a rethink by the project team was required. We learned that the existing electrical design would require a DCC decoder in each car, and a significant increase of components in the DC/DCC Ready models. This would come at a huge cost to our customers. We have since worked with our friends at ESU to overcome this hurdle, and can now confirm that we will lead the way in functionality but only needing one decoder. This did mean that we would have to retool part of the model for new connectors and circuitry. At the same time, we were seeing some concerning sales trends emerging across the range of SKUs, and while certain variants were selling close to their potential, others were slowing down and, in some cases, were static. As a multi-vehicle railcar model, even without a huge degree of variation between prototypes (compared to other models), the tooling costs are huge and while we had taken every step we could to keep costs under control, to achieve the RRPs we have put in place we need to meet stringent Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) across the range of models offered. And, to be bluntly honest, four of the variations offered are not meeting the necessary sales figures to be commercially viable, by quite some margin. This means that the project has slowed. Behind the scenes, the project team, along with ESU and the factory technicians in China have been working on solving the complex electrical and audio demands. This has been made slightly easier in that the ICR project is being manufactured at the same factory (and by the same project team) that is producing a new high specification UK Multiple Unit project, and so the lessons learned with each project are being applied across both projects in tandem. And, if we’re honest, we’d hoped that with the extra time being spent on the project behind the scenes, the delay would allow ICR sales to meet the MOQ needed to keep the complete range financially viable. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. We’ve noted the growing number of requests for an ICR project update, and with the Dublin show at the weekend, we knew that we would have to take a decision as to how we are are to proceed and so we’ve decided to take some drastic action to keep the ICR project viable and move it towards production. Firstly, we will be cancelling the following running numbers in both DC/DCC ready and DCC sound fitted variants due to lack of interest; DC/DCC Ready IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in post-2013 IR livery, RTE Music Week vinyls IRM1177 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in post-2013 IR livery IRM1181 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in original 'Intercity' livery IRM1179 DCC Sound Fitted IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in post-2013 IR livery, RTE Music Week vinyls - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1185 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in post-2013 IR livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1189-DCC IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in original 'Intercity' livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1187-DCC If you have ordered these models we will automatically transfer your order to the following 3, 4 and 6 car unit: DC/DCC Ready IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in original 'Intercity' branded livery IRM1175 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in 2020 IR livery, with blue doors/cycle graphic IRM1182 IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in post-2013 IR livery IRM1180 DCC Sound Fitted IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 3-car in original 'Intercity' branded livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1183-DCC IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 4-car in 2020 IR livery, with blue doors/cycle graphic - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1190-DCC IE 22000 Class 'ICR' - 6-car in post-2013 IR livery - DCC Sound Fitted IRM1188-DCC If you wish to have an alternative ICR instead, or wish to cancel, please email us with your order number and we will sort you out! Updated Pricing As we have to face increased costings for the new electrical componentry, and as we have to dramatically cut the production run, we are forced to increase the RRP for these models. Now, before you panic; IF YOU HAVE AN EXISTING PREORDER FOR AN ICR WITH US, THEN WE WILL HONOUR THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE! However, the new purchase prices for each model are detailed below; DC/DCC Ready 3 Car - €439.99 4 Car - €549.99 6 Car - €799.99 DCC Sound Fitted 3 Car - €559.99 4 Car - €669.99 6 car - €919.99 These new prices are now in place on the website for pre-ordering. While the increase is regrettable, there is simply nothing we can do due to demand drying up on these units resulting in a cutting of production numbers. However, when compared to most UK or continental models, they still represent excellent value for money considering the technology that has been built into these units and the niche market that is Irish outline model railways. With the sound project, lighting options, operational functionality and finesse, our ICRs will absolutely be next level units. We are currently awaiting the tooling modifications to be completed by the factory for the new electronics system. Then we will receive a full decorated sample to sign off. Should the numbers of sold units improve we will be able to kick off production. So, if you really want to see the ultimate Irish unit on your layout, we encourage you to place an order today to support this model. Until then, we cannot give a firm date for delivery of the models, but we know it will be at least mid-late 2025. We will have a proper and full update on this before Christmas as the decorated development sample arrives. In the meantime we had the first painted bodyshell (above) and the first decorated sample of the sculfort shunter from Portlaoise Depot that is included in every 6 car pack! Finally, we would like to thank each and every one of you who has ordered one of our ICRs and supported this project to date. We fully understand the disappointment around the delays to date. We will endeavour to make it up to you with a first class model for the original price point to reward your support with us, and continue to bring more great Irish outline models to the market in the coming years. Pre-Order Your ICR Here! View the full article

Great news! The production of the Andrew Barclay tanks, originally announced by Hattons Model Railways, and taken over by Accurascale earlier this year, is now complete! These popular and colourful locos offer a wealth of small and large layout possibilities in industrial settings and can inspire a whole need creative direction for your modelling. Check out the latest production samples below! These locomotives are already on their way to us and will land with customers in early/mid November! Fancy one, or another one? Order yours for just £99.95 direct only via the link below, while stocks last! Pre-Order Your Andrew Barclay Here View the full article

The orders for Genesis range were absolutely massive and is being handled by 1 retailer. It will take a couple of weeks at least to get through them all, along with all the other volume of everyday orders that Rails sell. Having been in their distribution centre I can confirm that it is a seriously efficient and impressive set-up, but even so it needs a lot of man power to pack a lot of boxes. They will get them out as soon as they can.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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