Rail Express - May 2020

THE RETRO YEARS The changing face of Britain’s railways

Di 47712 Lady back on

RETURNS the main line

Essential reading for today’s rail enthusiast

VIRUS CRISIS!

■ DAPOL ‘SAD EYE’

Iconic Class 29 reviewed

■ KIT BUILDING

Tackling a ‘Catfish’ hopper

■ MORE ‘SYPHONS’

‘37/4s’ from Accurascale

Printed in the UK

MODELLING SECTION

HYBRID

‘GRONK’

Meteor converts ‘08’ to battery power

No. 288

RAIL EXPRESS No. 288 MAY 2020 £4.50

■ Government takes control of franchises ■ Railways carry key workers and freight ■ ‘Pacers’ and Mk.3s stand down ■ Heritage lines face ruin

CONTENTS

Issue No. 288 May 2020

STACKED SLEEPERS: When the wires came down south of Euxton Junction (Lancashire) overnight on March 16/17, both southbound Caledonian Sleeper trains were terminated at Preston and the empty stock stacked up at Leyland until the line was clear – resulting in this view of No. 92020 with the ‘Highlander’ rake waiting one signal behind the ‘Lowlander’ (which was headed by No. 92043). Paul J Berry

FEATURES

NEWS

70

6

THE RETRO YEARS: MAY

Classic archive shots from years gone by.

77

0-60: CLASS 700

78

MOMENT IN TIME

81

We have tried them on AC, now how about DC?

The end of Lymington ‘Slammers’.

DERBY TRAINMAN: HSTS

79

Franchises suspended and replaced by direct awards; Lockdown hits heritage railways hard; Delays threaten South Wales Metro; East Midlands stops most of Class 153 fleet; New owner for Weardale; More Mk.3 stock heads to scrapyard; Freight companies respond to coronavirus crisis; Meteor creates hybrid ‘Gronk’; ‘710s’ start on Lea Valley Lines.

14

POWERSCENE

24

POWER BY THE HOUR

SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS

26

UNITS

TIME TRAVELLER

29

The main job was turning sets at Burton.

REGULARS 12

HEADLINE NEWS

The best ways to get Rail Express every month.

Headlines from the past 50 years.

MODELLING The current lockdown could be a great time to work on your layout, so we have a couple of features on painting and kit building, plus have in-depth reviews including Bachmann’s Class 121 ‘Bubble Car’, Dapol’s Class 29, and Hornby’s Class 87 in Caledonian sleeper livery. There’s also news of even more Class 37s from Accurascale.

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Notable workings, Name Game, and Spectrum.

GA stands down Class 90 fleet.

Further ‘710s’ start work with TfL.

SHUNTERS & INDUSTRIALS

Overhauled ‘Gronk’ starts fleet shuffle.

30

COACHES

31

WAGONS

32

FROM ONLY

Milestone for ScotRail HST fleet.

JNA fleet expands with Touax and Cappagh.

RAILTOURS

Tour companies stymied by pandemic.

34

PRESERVATION

38

IRISH ANGLE

40

LU WORLD

Lady Di returns to main line on hire to LSL; Class 144 for Appleby Frodingham; Class 15 group launches bogie appeal; Mass event cancellations caused by virus outbreak.

Services scaled back for virus crisis.

Slow progress on 1992 Stock overhaul.

DRS Type 3 No. 37218 thunders through Barrow upon Trent with the 4M51/09.30 South Bank Tees Dock to Daventry Tesco containers working on March 15 – just one example of how our railways are keeping the country supplied during the coronavirus outbreak.

Steve Donald

Editor’s Comment PRINT & DISTRIBUTION

Newstrade & distribution Marketforce UK Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU. 0203 787 9001 Printed by William Gibbons and Sons, Wolverhampton Published Third Friday of every month This issue April 17, 2020 Next issue May 15, 2020 Advertising deadline April 28, 2020 ISSN No 1362 234X

Paul Bickerdyke Rail Express Editor

© Mortons Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Help needed...

S

O much has happened in such a short space of time. When we last went to press in March, Covid-19 was still something mostly happening elsewhere. But by this press day, we are in lockdown and the virus has spread fear throughout the country – not just for now, but for the future and how we will get back to something like normal again.

It has been pleasing to see how our railways have played their part keeping key workers and essential freight moving. Many passenger trains are now running mostly empty, quite rightly, but their need remains and for that reason the Government has sensibly suspended franchise contracts and taken over the burden of keeping services moving on nearly all lines.

But it is arguably our heritage lines that are suffering the most, especially the larger operations that employ permanent staff. Easter normally marks the start of the main operating season, but with the prospect of staying shut for the foreseeable future, much precious revenue will be lost and many have launched appeals to help them get through this. The prospect of widespread bankruptcies in the heritage world is a heartbreaking one.

This magazine is not immune from the crisis either. We have changed the way we work, shuffled the normal order of pages for technical

Rail Express is pleased to consider contributions for publication

reasons (but let me know what you think, as we could make it permanent!), and the entire team has put this issue together remotely from their own homes – a remarkable effort for which I would like to pay thanks.

Regular readers will also notice there are fewer pages than usual, a temporary measure entirely due to the consequential drop in advertising as events are cancelled and businesses shut. Many of the newsagents and other outlets on which we rely have also been closed or put out of bounds. So I would urge you to consider buying a copy of your favourite magazine direct from our offices – or better yet join our existing loyal supporters and take out a subscription to have it delivered direct to your door every month (see page 12 for details).

Above all, however, stay safe through this crisis until we can all get back to enjoying our hobby and the freedoms we take for granted.

Paul Bickerdyke

Want to know when your next edition of Rail Express is on the shelves?

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ADVERTISING

Group advertising manager Sue Keily skeily@mortons.co.uk Advertising Fiona Leak Tel: 01507 529573 Email: fleak@mortons.co.uk Publishing director Dan Savage Publisher Tim Hartley Production editor Sarah Wilkinson Designers Tracey Markham, Tim Pipes Subscription manager Paul Deacon Circulation manager Steve O’Hara

EDITORIAL

Editor Paul Bickerdyke Tel: 01507 529540 Email: RailExpressEditor@mortons.co.uk Editorial address Rail Express Magazine, Mortons Media Group Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6LZ

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Nigel Burkin Editor Rail Express Modeller

Alistair Grieve Shunters

David Russell

Preservation Units Coaches

Gareth Bayer Power by the hour Wagons

David Rapson Powerscene

William Watson Irish Angle (with Alan McFerran)

Christopher Westcott LU World (with Piers Connor)

‘Industry Witness’ News Writer

POWERSCENE xx

The end of Class 90s on the Great Eastern Main Line should see them transfer to Freightliner to replace the venerable Class 86s.

But it was business as usual on March 11 when Nos. 86638+86605 headed north through Colchester working the 4L89/22.09 Coatbridge- Felixstowe North. Keith Partlow

18 RAIL EXPRESS May 2020

POWERSCENE

May 2020 RAIL EXPRESS 19

BEAUTIFUL ‘BUBBLE’ FROM BACHMANN

No. 193 DIESEL AND ELECTRIC ERA MODELLING

Dapol’s delightful Class 29 A Scottish traction icon revived in ‘OO’

3

Newsdesk: Wagon loads launched

4

Newsdesk: Class 37s galore

Steel coils, timber and cradles are the latest additions to the range of ‘OO’ gauge wagon loads by Goodwood Scenics.

Hardly a month goes by without another Class 37 announcement by Accurascale. This time it is four late condition Class 37/4s in 'OO' gauge, which are set for release in early 2021.

4

Diary:

Cancelled exhibitions are compensated for with virtual model railway exhibitions on Twitter and Facebook.

8

Modelling: The ‘N’ gauge paint shop

12

Modelling: Kit corner

How to paint Regional Railways and Centro liveries, including masking and transfer application techniques.

Reviving interest in kit building with the Cambrian Models ZEV ‘Catfish’ ballast hopper wagon.

18

Review: Bachmann ‘Bubble Cars’

23

Review: Dapol Class 29 is reviewed

26

Review: Realtrack PCA wagons

27

Review: Sleeper Class 87

Looking like miniatures of the Accurascale PCA wagon, the ‘N’ gauge version is as impressively finished and assembled as its ‘OO’ counterpart.

Hornby adds to its Class 87 range with No. 87002 Royal Sovereign finished in Caledonian Sleeper livery.

Bachmann’s new Class 121 single car DMU is given a thorough inspection.

More support for Scottish Region modellers with brand-new models of the iconic Class 29.

RAIL EXPRESS MODELLER EDITOR Nigel Burkin

REMeditor@mortons.co.uk

NEWSDESK

Bulkscene steel and timber products from Goodwood Scenics Steel and timber train detailing together with the modelling of terminal operations may now be enhanced with the range of high quality ‘OO’ gauge scenic items from Goodwood Scenics. It introduced its comprehensive catalogue of steel products at the start of 2020 which includes steel coil models of various types to steel plate, coil cradles, handling hooks and wooden load spacer posts.

Steel coils

Steel coils can be tricky to make convincingly, particularly sheeted coils, making the new steel range from Goodwood Scenics very welcome. They will enhance any 4mm scale steel carrying wagon including those due to be released

by Cavalex Models (BBA) and Accurascale (JSA) together with those currently available, including the Bachmann BAA and Dapol ‘telescopic’ hood wagon.

The range of ready-to-load steel coils is carefully researched and manufactured, and they include plain metal coils, plastic wrapped coils and those with a card covering. The models are all finished with banding to hold the

In addition to a range of wrapped and unprotected steel coils is steel plate in freshly rusted and plain finishes.

coils together and correctly coloured protective wrapping, with several different sizes of coil on offer.

The pack sizes range from threepacks of the largest sized coils to fivepacks of the smallest ones, sufficient to load one wagon. Prices range from £9.95 to £25.95 depending on the wrapping, coil diameter and type.

Plate steel

Various sizes of steel slab and plate is also offered in the range, including fresh grey steel and rusted steel. To assist with handling in terminal scenes, plate handling cradles plus crane hooks are included in the range for detailing overhead crane models in warehouses and terminals.

Even the smallest details have been given careful consideration and include the spacing posts for stacking steel plate on wagons, road vehicles and in the warehouse. Cradles for stowing the spacing posts are also offered, a feature of loading and receiving terminals.

Scrap metal

Modellers wanting to load their SSA and POA scrap metal box wagons, not to mention MCV 16t mineral wagons with realistic-looking scrap metal, will find the various scrap metal materials of interest which

Coil cradles of various types is offered in rusted condition including the type suitable for BAA and BBA wagons; the BBA wagon type being expected from Cavalex Models later this year.

High quality steel loads and coil cradles in ‘OO’ gauge are part of a new range of steel products and handling equipment introduced by Goodwood Scenics in early 2020. A Bachmann BAA is loaded with wrapped coils sitting in the coil cradles supplied with the wagon.

Goodwood Scenics sells its steel, timber and product handling products under its ‘Bulkscene’ name.

includes scrap fill, ferrous metal swarf, scrap aluminium and other materials.

Useful representatives of baled scrap metal are also available for wagon loading and to detail industrial lineside scenes. A 35g pack of loose scrap fill is priced at £5.95 and is sufficient to load five Bachmann SSA wagons. Bales are priced at £9.95 for a pack of 16.

Timber traffic

Packs of individual logs suitable for loading both the Hornby and Bachmann OTA timber wagons are available in different diameters and quantities.

When loaded on a wagon, they stack randomly in the same manner as real logs making each loaded wagon appear different, unlike the moulded and painted resin loads supplied with some OTA models.

Small diameter logs of 40mm, 64mm and 128mm lengths are offered in different pack sizes, allowing anything from one to nine wagons to be loaded. Prices range from £11.95 for one load to £79.95 for nine wagon loads of finished logs.

Bark timber logs have a different texture compared to the small diameter logs and come in the same lengths allowing OTA wagons to be loaded with three banks of 40mm logs, two banks of 64mm or fully loaded along the length of the wagon with 128mm logs.

A pack of 90 logs, sufficient to load one OTA is priced at £12.95; 270 logs to load three wagons for £29.95 and 450 logs, enough for five wagons, for

Rusty steel plate in a fresh rust colour is loaded on a Bachmann BDA wagon using the spacing posts to separate each plate in the same way as the prototype. The blue-coloured load strapping needs to be modelled with such loads and would be a useful product that Goodwood Scenics could consider developing.

£44.95. Each pack contains some spare logs for scenic detailing on the layout.

The diameter of the bark logs in any given pack will range from 3mm to 10mm and have rough sawn ends for a realistic finish. They have uses beyond wagon loading, including the detailing of timber loading points.

Material handling equipment

In addition to the loads themselves, Goodwood Scenics offer models of material handling equipment including bins, concrete panel walling and scanner posts for scrap metal handling; a timber loading vehicle and ground stanchions for log handling and a variety of hooks and other equipment for steel handling. Coil cradles in rusted and weathered condition for loading the wide variety of steel coils currently offered are also available to suit a variety of wagons. This is an exciting range which is set to expand with more steel products during 2020. For more information and online ordering, visit www.goodwoodscenics. co.uk

 Small diameter logs of 40mm length loaded in three banks on a Bachmann OTA wagon. They are supplied in different pack sizes to suit one, three or nine OTA wagons.

Steel coil cradles for use on various bogie wagons.

Supplement No. 193

 The advantage of loading OTAs with individual logs is the more random pattern in the loads compared to painted resin loads such as that supplied with the Bachmann OTA (rear). Wagon strapping would need to be modelled for OTAs too. Bark logs are also available from Goodwood Scenics.

May 2020 RAIL EXPRESS Modeller M3

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