Tag Archives: N Gauge Maunsell Coaches

Dapol (re)announce details of new N gauge Maunsell High Window Coaches [updated]

Dapol have today announced, or in reality re-announced, details of new tooling Maunsell High Window coaches in N gauge.  This is an expansion of the previously released low window versions. They will initially be produced in SR lined olive green and further liveries will be phased in to expand the range.

Three new tooled models cover a six compartment Brake Third (BTK), a Corridor Third (TK), a Corridor Composite (CK) and a Corridor First (FK).

Dapol SR BTK high window
Dapol SR CK high window
Dapol SR TK high window

The proposed releases, all SR Lined Olive Green are as follows:

  • 2P-014-001 Four Coach Set 193 comprising of BTKs nos. 3735 [sic should be 3758] / 3739 and CKs nos. 5640 and 5641 – £124.95
  • 2P-014-002 Six Coach Set 456 comprising of BTKs nos. 4083 / 4084, CK no. 5172, FKs nos. 7398 / 7399 and TK no. 837 – £186.95
  • 2P-014-003 Corridor Brake Third No. 3730 [sic not a Brake Third as their number range started 3732] – £31.95 ea
  • 2P-014-004 Corridor Composite No. 5635 – £31.95 ea
  • 2P-014-005 Corridor First No. 7228 – £31.95 ea
  • 2P-014-006 Corridor Third – £31.95 ea

The images shown are the initial Engineering Prototypes and for illustration only,  Dapol advise that they have already received livery samples and amendments returned to the factory (I hope the BTK number 3735 above is a typo as it should be number 3738, and also the proposed number of the loose BTK 3730 is not a BTK ) with production started and delivery expected by quarter 4 this year.

That was the Warley that was…from a Southern perspective

As per my post last week I attended the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition Last weekend assisting Hornby Magazine editor Mike Wild operate his Topley Dale layout at its first and last public outing.  This post is a brief round up of some of the updates and news items from the show with a Southern / BR(s) theme.

Often Warley is a good place to show off the latest products under development and their status with either Engineering Prototype (EP) samples or livery sample models.

Bachmann / Farish

The first EP of the Farish 3rd Series Merchant Navy (picture courtesy of A York)

Bachmann had nothing new from a Southern perspective in 4mm scale but Graham Farish in N Gauge had the first Engineering Prototype of the 3rd Series Merchant Navy in original air smoothed form. They are initially releasing 3 livery of variants of the this 3rd series original style Merchant Navy with 6000 gallon tender, this is the first EP available and has not previously been seen.
Also in the Bachmann / Farish display cabinets were liveried samples of the N Gauge Bulleid Coaches in BR(s) Green and very nice they looked too.

Hornby

Hornby did not have anything new on display for us Southern fans, although their LNER P2 (which Bulleid did have an input with) looks a stunning model! The will be making their announcement for the 2014 range on December 16th at 10am and I will post then to advise of any Southern content…

Dapol

The first off EP of the 0 gauge 25t ‘Pill Box’ brake van (even planked right hand ducket version) was on show along with the first EPs for the Maunsell Coaches and Van C in N gauge, all announced back in July 2012 . I have been asked by Dapol to review and offer advice on their Southern models under development so watch this space for further updates.

Heljan

The week before the show Heljan announced a couple of new items including a Metropolitan Bo-Bo electric locomotive, familiar to many as Sarah Siddons, this does has a slight relevance to this blog as it has run on Southern metals for a couple of railtours, once to Portsmouth and once to the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent ( I was on both tours) along with plans to announce a further new item at the show itself. This further item is a retooled Class 33/0 locomotive and they had EP’s on the stand. The announcement of this model in their own range follows a legal issue with Rail Express magazine that had originally commissioned it via Heljan.

RT Models 

Robert had on his RT Models stand brand new white metal castings for SR Style stepped locomotive buffers. Those on the market currently are a slight compromise as they are generally sold as being LNER/SR stepped buffers, so Robert has produced a very fine casting totally accurate for the Southern version and very fine it is indeed.

Model Rail Magazine

And finally; no this is not another plug for the December issue that features Fisherton Sarum but they have advise that they are in discussion with both Bachmann and Heljan regarding some further model livery commissions in the form of a Bachmann Desiro unit as 450 class in South West Trains Livery and also an exclusive livery version of the new tooled Heljan Class 33/0 model, further details will I am sure be announced in due course.

Continental kippers! – a Brighton Belle in N Gauge from Arnold

It might sound a little left field but continental manufacturer Arnold have yesterday announced a Brighton  Belle set in N Gauge and that will be in the British 1.148 scale rather then the usual continental 1.160 scale.

This is not perhaps as odd as it might seem as Arnold are part of the Hornby International stable and therefore have access to the information that Hornby used for their 4mm version in the UK.
A German flyer about the models to be produced in both Umber & Cream and Blue & Grey liveries is worth a look , and can be seen here, ignoring some of the obvious inaccuracies in the text which can be spotted even in German!

British N Gauge modellers will of course be pleased that it is to be manufactured in the establish British 1.148 scale and perhaps this might lead to other British prototypes appearing the Arnold range.

Hornby have already in the past dabbled slightly in British N Gauge with their now unfortunately ceased range ‘Liddle End’ of  very nice cast resin buildings that we similar to their very good 4mm big brothers in the Scaledale range. With Dapol announcing both SR / BR(s) locos and Maunsell coaches following the Farish announcement of Original Bulleid Merchant Navy Pacifics and Bulleid Coaches last year it appears to be a good time for Southen in N Gauge!

Another announcement of potential interest from the Hornby International stable under the Rivarossi brand is the USA 0-6-0 tank in HO. The body is therefore the wrong scale and lacks the modifications made by the SR for their USA tanks, however the chassis might be useful under perhaps a SE Finecast kit?  There is of course already the announcement earlier in the year of the Model Rail commission via Dapol of a 4mm SR USA tank which will be the best option for 4mm modellers.

 

Dapol announce new models for 2012/13 – Plenty of SR related items…

Dapol have today made their long awaited announcement of their 2012/13 range. Included within their new catalogue are a number of Southern Related items in predominantly N gauge but also a few items in 00 and 0 gauges and I am pleased to be able to detail the Southern Railway / Region related items below.

N Gauge Items

Following from previous announcements last October regarding the planned release of Bulleid Rebuilt Merchant Navy and Light Pacifics (see end of post), Southern Railway / Region modellers continue to be well catered for with a further number of new locomotives:

‘Schools’ V class 4-4-0′
Currently in the final cad/cam stage, this model features everything you would expect from a Dapol steam locomotive, including ‘super creep’ motor, DCC ready, traction tyres and a wealth of detail.
The initial releases planned (in both DCC read and DDC fitted options) are:
30926 ‘REPTON’ BR LINED GREEN LATE TENDER LOGO
905 ‘TONBRIDGE’ MALACHITE LINED GREEN ‘SOUTHERN’
30921 ‘SHREWSBURY’ BR LINED BLACK SMALL EARLY LOGO
929 ‘MALVERN’ MALACHITE GREEN

Class 33/0 and 33/1
Building on the sucess of their class 26 and 27 it was logical that the Southern Region’s Class 33 would follow.
The Initial release will be the class 33/1 ‘bagpipe’ loco with the class 33/0 following on a month after, during the 2012/2013 catalogue life span, although they are both in the tool room currently.

Class 33/0

Featuring Dapol’s established award winning heavy split frame tungsten chassis and super creep motor it will also feature a lit headcode panel in the direction of travel.
The initial releases planned (in both DCC read and DDC fitted options) are:

Class 33/1, will be the first released to be followed by the 33/0

33/0 33030 BR BLUE
33/0 D6571 BR GREEN NO YELLOW WARNING PANEL
33/0 33046 ‘MERLIN’ ENGINEERS GREY/YELLOW ‘DUTCH’
33/0 D6597 BR GREEN SMALL YELLOW WARNING PANEL
33/1 33102 BR BLUE
33/1 33103 ENGINEERS GREY/YELLOW ‘DUTCH’

Class 50
The Class 50 often seen on the Southern Region west of England line is also released in a number of versions although the early versions would not have been seen on SR lines in that condition.
D406 BR BLUE (UNREFURBISHED)
50043 BR BLUE (UNREFURBISHED)
50040 BR LARGE LOGO BLUE ‘LEVIATHAN’
50037 ORIGINAL NSE ‘ILLUSTRIOUS’

Other new locomotives include a range of GWR Pannier Tanks, the Class 22 and the General Motors Class 59.

Rolling Stock

A range of Maunsell coaches are confirmed, these had already been hinted at on Dapol’s own Facebook page some time ago. These will be ready for the fitting of the Dapol lighting bar and also their working gangway connectors.

Maunsell 6 Compartment Brake 3rd

They do not appear to have formally listed what is being released but from the images files it looks like the following:

– Six Compartment Brake 3rd,
– Corridor Composite,
– Corridor All first,
– Corridor Compartment 3rd (to be confirmed)

Maunsell Composite

As this appears to be very similar to Hornby’s original releases ( I will not speculate on why) lets hope that they allow for the fact that the SR used set formations and release enough Brake 3rds to allow correct formations to be made.

Utility Van, SR Van U (BR CCT)

These I am sure will popular and great news to accompany the previous announcement by Bachmann of their planned release of Bulleid coaches.

A CCT utility van (Van U as per SR designation) is also announced, to be released in SR green, BR Maroon (sic, perhaps this should be crimson?), BR Blue and BR Engineers red.

The SR Van B, not listed as a release but included in the CAD drawings.

However within the CAD images supplied is also an image of a Van C (BY in BR parlance) as well but this has not been listed as a separate to be release item. I will endeavour to seek clarification on this in due course and post accordingly on here.


00 Gauge Items

First laser scan of Class 73

Development still continues on previously announced 00 items such as the Class 73 as announced here and class 22 headcode disc version. They have also announced a GWR streamlined railcars which I am sure will popular of modellers of that other railway!

Signals – 2mm, 4mm and now 7mm
Further to the recent introduction of working GWR and LMS style semaphore signals in 2mm and 4mm scales the range will be expanded to include Southern Rail Post built (Ladder types as described by Dapol) and Lattice type along with bracket options. These will also be released in due in 7mm scale as well.

0 Gauge

Dapol announced at Warley last year their entry into the 7mm market with a number of private owner wagons and the Class 08 shunter. Thus year will see two Southern related items added to range:

‘Terrier’ A1x class 0-6-0′
Featuring full cab detail, their OO motor connected to a flywheel with DCC compatibility, darkened profile wheels (to Gauge 0 Guild standards) and a heavy chassis. Like many new models this will be the result of laser scanning one of the numerous examples preserved.

The initial releases planned are:
32640 BR Black (Early Crest)
32646 BR Black (Late Crest)
W8 Southern Green ‘Freshwater’
55 Stroudley Green ‘Stepney’

‘Pill Box’ Southern Brake Van
Dapol have tooled this model to include left or right duckets, and correctly depicted brake gear, handles and chassis plates etc. It is also fitted with a working tail lamp!
SR BRAKE VAN ‘pillbox’ DS56400 Olive Green
SR BRAKE VAN 55965 ‘SR’ Brown / Vermillion red
SR BRAKE VAN DS55148 Engineers red
SR BRAKE VAN DS55597 dark grey with yellow warning panels.

Edit 21/07/12: Following communication with Dapol they have confirmed that the brake van SR livery would be brown not grey as originally stated within their press release and also that they plan a number of variants including  left and right duckets, 2 or 3 end windows, working tail lamp (where possible), air tanks where needed, axle box raised lettering etc.

A further announced 7mm release is that of an LMS pattern 6 Wheel milk tank

Previously announced Items

I also have CAD images of the previously announced Bulleid original and rebuilt Light Pacifics that I will post later in the week.