Tag Archives: oxford rail

Canute Road Quay, General, History, Rolling Stock

The lager must be mine… Graham’s Golden Lager and a tenuous link to Canute Road Quay

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Released by Oxford Rail, back in February 2021 , their OR76TK2006 Graham’s Golden Lager No113 12 Ton Tank wagon was a bit of impulse buy due to its branding and the fact that I feel their 12T tank wagon is one of Oxford Rail’s best models to date. Little did I realise at the time that a wagon of a Scottish larger brewer would have an interesting Southampton, and by association Canute Road Quay, connection…

The real Graham’s Golden Lager tank wagon, image copyright and embeded from HMRS website

In 1927 a new beer was brewed in Arrol’s Lager brewery in Alloa, Graham’s Golden Lager. This was produced on behalf of Allsopp’s of Burton, following the moving their lager plant to Arrol’s in 1921.
Being sucessful, and as now Arrol’s were brewing all Allsopps lagers, Allsopp’s took a controlling interest in Arrol’s in 1930, prior to their 1934 merger with Ind Coope.  Arrol’s was completely bought out in 1951 and the brewery converted to a lager-only plant.
Arrol’s of Alloa appeared to have a number of branded rail mounted tanker wagons that included the example as model by Oxford Rail.
In 1959, Graham’s Golden Lager was rebranded as Skol, though for a while it was branded Graham’s Skol Lager. It became the main lager of Ind Coope and later the whole Allied Breweries Group.

I think the Waterloo Tavern (Ian…) might have over ordered… the picture that uncovered the story…

…So where does this fit in with Southampton…
…following posting the picture left, on  my layout thread on RMweb, Pete Cottrel kindly related the story that the Southampton branch of the Wine Merchants business of the Eldridge Pope Brewery was bombed in 1940 and that buried in the rubble were several intact crates of bottled Graham’s Golden Lager.

They weren’t actually near the docks but in Above Bar Street, in the area that is now Guildhall Square, no rail connection though, it was in the heart of the Old Town, inside the medieval walls.

The Oxford Rail 12T Graham’s Golden Lager tank wagon, picture courtesy KMRC

In 2005 while doing trial excavations on the site the crates were discovered with a JCB bucket that broke several of the bottles. The Eldridge Pope brewery and bottling plant were at Dorchester, so bulk lager could have been sent there.  However Cooper’s Brewery in Southampton had a bottling plant and had ceased actual brewing due to war damage, so it could in theory have bottled Graham’s Golden Lager post war.

The find was also reported on the BBC website:

Archaeologists’ intoxicating find, by David Fuller BBC News June, 2005

One of the best and well detailed wagons produced by Oxford Rail to date. Picture courtesy KMRC

Archaeologists searching for remains of a city’s medieval past have made an intoxicating discovery, a cache of World War II beer.
The hundred-or-so bottles of lager buried beneath Southampton’s Guildhall Square were still capable of developing a head when they were opened. It is thought they had been stored in the cellar of an off-licence which was destroyed in the Blitz. The routine dig was to study the site before a new arts centre was built.
Pete Cottrell, the dig leader, was hoping to find evidence of a medieval leper hospital known to have been in the area. He said the bottles were in very good condition, but the liquid inside was not. “I think you’d be very ill if you drank that, it’s absolutely rank.”
Some of the bottles have now been handed to the city’s museum, while the rest has been reburied.

I thought this was a fasinating story emanating from a simple impulse buy and a picture, and was worth sharing (even as a real ale drinker), I hope this little diversion from the normal is of interest…

 

Canute Road Quay, Rolling Stock, Techniques, Workbench, Workbench Witterings

Workbench Witterings#15 Going bananas with a Great Eastern flavour

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It is not often I post about a new Great Eastern ready to run model but this post is about the latest Oxford Rail Great Eastern Railway 10 ton banana van, confused? Read on…

In fact, along with some information courtesy of friend and SR coach and wagon guru Mike King, 100 of these banana vans were transferred to the Southern between 1933 and 1937, along with 225 of LNER origin.

The GER Banana van edges into the shot of an LSWR insulated van. Picture courtesy and copyright M King

The reason was the transfer of banana traffic from Hull to Southampton in 1933 and a return to the Royal Albert Docks in 1937.
The numbers of the ex-GER vans, (I believe to their  Diagram 72) were 632822-632921 and they kept their LNER wagon oxide livery but had “SR” applied in the usual position, over a painted patch but with “NE” in small letters in lower Right Hand corner of each side. The return of these wagons was requested by the LNER on 24/11/37. We have not seen any evidence of SR diagram numbers, but no doubt there was one allocated.  Mike has kindly provided the prototype images seen left.

A GER banana van is shunted by ‘Normandy’ at Southampton

The first shows the right hand end of GER van 632849 at Southampton Docks in 1936 with the painted patch under the ‘R’ and the small ‘NE’ lettering. The second image shows van being shunted by “Normandy” at Southampton Docks in September 1936 so the justification for having at least one on Canute Road Quay is all too obvious.

Oxford rail have released their  OR76BAN001 Oxford Rail GER 10t Banana Van number 632882 in LNER wagon oxide livery, so I  thought it would make a quick and easy livery adaptation. With a cost of only £16.95 at retailers such as Kernow Model Rail Centre this van with its level of detail, especially the underframe, is very good value for money.

The Oxford Rail GER 10T Banana Van out of the box
The nicely detailed underframe noting the two plain brake levers

The only error on this particular model is that it has a plain brake level on both sides, instead of having a Morton Clutch type lever on the [edit] side adjacent to the vacuum brake cylinder, the incorrect plain lever would in fact be taking the brakes off when the lever was pulled down!
Ironically I understand that the OR76GEGV001 Oxford Rail GER 10t Covered Van version has two Morton Clutch style levers!
I have therefore replaced the incorrect brake lever, on the side adjacent to the vacuum cylinder,  with an etched version obtained from Wizard Models.

The van is pretty light and only weighs 30g which is under my preferred approx. 45g for a van of this size. Easing a small screwdriver between the bodyside and the chassis side allows the body to be removed to add some additional weight inside it.

Masked up ready for patching
SR Decals added, brake lever removed

To amend the livery I simply masked around the original NE letters and painted with Precisions Paints P952 ‘Light Brick red’ as when tested I found this to be a better match to the Oxford Rail representation of LNER wagon oxide than the Precision Paints P67 LNER Freight wagon oxide which was much darker.

Normandy in her slightly later guise shunts the finished GER Banana van with an SR Diagram 1478 version at Canute Road Quay

I then applied standard ‘S’ and ‘R’, and the non common user ‘N’ on the bottom plank from HMRS Pressfix SR Wagons transfer sheet 13 and the small ‘NE’ from HMRS Pressfix LNER wagon transfer sheet 12 to complete the relettering.

All in all, despite having to replace the brake lever this has been a quick win addition to the wagon fleet, although it awaits some weathering, for Canute Road Quay and will be something Southern Railways wise slightly different…

Exhibitions, Fisherton Sarum, HW&DMRS, Kernow Models, Model News

A bit of an update:- Hornby Lord Nelson, Hatton’s P Class, Oxford Rail, Milton Keynes Exhibition and British Model Railway Awards

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This post is a bit of a smorgasbord of updates including product development updates from Hornby and Hatton’s, a new announcement from Oxford Rail, Fisherton Sarum’s next outing and finally the 2017 British Model Railway Awards…

Hornby SR Lord Nelson 4-6-0

The livery sample of the Hornby SR 4-6-0 Lord Nelson. Image copyright Hornby and linked directly from their Engineshed blog

Announced only earlier this month as part of the 2018 range Hornby have, via their Engineshed Blog here, shown off how much of an advanced stage in development the model is at, with the first fully decorated Engineering Prototype sample having been received. Hornby are already aware that a few slight tweaks are still needed but that is the point of such samples.
Generally the process of the development of such a model is around two years, so it demonstrates how much work had been competed before the announcement earlier this month.
To see more images and a video of the model running click here.

Hattons ex SECR P Class 0-6-0t

The full suit of the Hatton’s P Class releases. Picture copyright and courtesy of Hatton’s

Hatton’s have this week confirmed that the majority of the production run of their ex SECR P Class 0-6-0t locomotives are on their way to them and will be arriving in two batches. Product codes H4-P-003 to H4-P-012 will be arriving on Friday 9th March 2018 whilst H4-P-001 and H4-P-002 will arrive in May 2018.

Originally only announced in September last year the progress made on these models has been excellent, although the over delivery dates have been delayed slight from that first stated, I feel that Hatton’s can be excused for such a slight slip in the delivery schedule.
Having had the pleasure to handle and indeed run some of the Engineering prototypes I can safely say it will be worth the slight additional wait.

For more information and to see all the sample photos, click here.

Oxford Rail announce Rail Mounted Guns

  • OR76BOOM01 WWI Boche Buster – Camouflage and ROD2330 (Dean Goods locomotive)
  • OR76BOOM01XS WWI Boche Buster – Camouflage and ROD2330 (Dean Goods locomotive) with DCC Sound
  • OR76BOOM02 Railgun Gladiator WWII

Some might be wondering why I have mentioned this here on a Southern related blog, however I am reliably informed via a number of sources that the Gladiator rail mounted gun was for a while based on the Elham Valley Railway in Kent during the Second World War. Apparently, although it was never actually used in anger it has certainly been recorded that at least one test firing broke lots of windows in the area. See here for more details on the prototype.

The have also announced a further ex LSWR 4-4-2 Adams Radial in a presentation box as OR76AR008 25th Oxford – Southern Late Sunshine Lettering 3520. New wagons to be added to range include 5 plank mineral wagons and 12 ton tank wagons.
See the full announcement on the Oxford Rail website here.

Fisherton Sarum to appear at Milton Keynes Exhibition Sat 10th February

Making its second and possibly last appearance this year Fisherton Sarum,on Saturday 10th February, will be at the Milton Keynes Model Railway Society exhibition being held at  Stantonbury Leisure Centre, Stantonbury, Milton Keynes. MK14 6B

This popular and large show will comprise of over 40 layouts, including scales T, Z, N (including BR(s) Bodmin General), H0 (including Prospect Point from the High Wycombe and District MRS) , 00, 009, EM and G. Also attending will be over 30 traders. The show is open between 10am and 4.30pm.

Please drop by and say hello.

British Model Railway Awards for 2017 (a shameless plug)

Voting for this years British Model Railways Awards promoted on RMweb and British Railways Modelling Magazine is now live and open for voting until 31st January, so you don’t have long to vote, with the winners being announced in the Spring edition of British Railways Modelling Magazine and on RMweb.

As well as giving you the chance to vote for your favourite models and manufacturers of the year, the categories also celebrate excellence and innovation in the wider British model railway scene such as websites and exhibitions. There have of course been a number of Southern / Southern Region related models released during 2017  so I urge you to support the production of these models by choosing your best in the relevant category and voting accordingly.

I am also very humbled to see that this little corner of the blogosphere of mine has once again been nominated for the third year running, within the website of the year category, so and this is a bit of a, well a big, shameless plug, please feel free to vote for it, if you have enjoyed my ramblings over the last twelve months.

Also if like me you have received excellent service from a particular retailer such as Kernow Model Rail Centre or maybe Hatton’s please also vote accordingly.

Please make sure you vote counts to support the Southern / Southern Region models that have been produced in 2016 by voting here before the 31st January.

Here endeth the shameless plug…

 

 

Exhibitions, General, HW&DMRS, Kernow Models, Model News

British Model Railway Awards, vote now, vote Southern…

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In previous years the model of the year poll was jointly run between RMweb, Model Rail Magazine and the online MREmag.com. This year Model Rail Magazine have decided to run their own awards and so the established process and poll will now be promoted on RMweb, through British Railways Modelling Magazine and on the online MREmag.com as the British Model Railway Awards.

As well as giving you the chance to vote for your favourite models and manufacturers of the year as before, the categories have been broadened to celebrate excellence and innovation in the wider British model railway scene. New awards cover retailers, websites, exhibitions and layouts, acknowledging the huge contributions they make to our hobby.

The voting is now open, running from Saturday 26th December to Saturday 9th January and the results will be published at the end of January to tie in with the magazine sale dates.

There have of course been a number of Southern / Southern Region related models released during 2015 so I urge you to support the production of these models by choosing your best in the relevant category and voting accordingly. These Southern models are as follows:

N Gauge:

00 Gauge

0 Gauge

  • Dapol A1x ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T

I am also very humbled to see that this little corner of the blogosphere of mine has been nominated within the website of the year category, so and this is a bit of a, well a big, shameless plug, please feel free to vote for it, if you have enjoyed my ramblings over the last twelve months.

Regular readers will also know that I am member of the High Wycoombe and District Model Railway Society and our annual Wycrail exhibition is one of those that has been nominated in the Exhibition of the year category, so again if you attended it, enjoyed it and think it deserves your vote…

Please make sure you vote counts to support the Southern / Southern Region models that have been produced by voting here before the 9th January. 

Here endeth the shameless plug….

 

 

 

 

General, Model News

First Oxford Rail Adams Radial tank on the way.

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Oxford Rail, the new brand of The 4mm scale road vehicle manufacturer Oxford Diecast, announced last November their intention to enter the UK 4mm 00 scale ready to run market, with initial an ex London & South Western Railway (LSWR) Adams 0415 class 4-4-2T Adams Radial Tank and a range of 1923 PO wagons (which perhaps would have been better being the 1907 version not currently already produced in RTR form). Within weeks of their announcement Hornby also announced that they were already producing such a model and theirs is currently due in January 2016.  Oxford Rail have this week released images and samples of the first version of the locomotive in their range reference number OR76AR001 as number 30583 in British Railways Late Crest livery and stated that they are due to be available from Monday 23/11 next week.

I have not yet seen a physical model in the flesh and fully accept that judging such a model from only the pictures released by Oxford Rail here along with the image below, that is courtesy of Tony Wright / BRM Magazine / Andy York / RMweb / (although their sample does appear to have a bent piston rod and one of the tool boxes is not sat square on the running plate), does not possibly give the full story, so this post is not a review just a few initial thoughts.

The Oxford Adams radial 30583 picture courtesy and copyright of Tony Wright / BRM Magazine

The first thing that struck me is that the front face of the model does not appear to be quite right, which might be due to what seems to me to be a lack of taper on the chimney, slightly high positioning of the smokebox number plate and the silver painted possibly slightly overscale appearance of the handrails, stanchions and also the smokebox dart (perhaps if they had been left unpainted they might have looked finer?).  But I would have to reserve final judgement once I have had a chance to see the actual model in the flesh. From a construction / tooling perspective there appears to be some prominent mould lines along both the boiler, chimney and also the cylinders and the dome does not appear to sit as flush to the boiler as perhaps it should. Also the motor assembly (including a flywheel),  that drives the rear axle,  is located forward within the smokebox end of the boiler resulting in the motor casing being visible under the boiler at the front which should really be daylight above the frames.
Other details such as cab backhead, pipework, underframe brake gear etc. look to be to the fine standard we have come to expect from recent Ready to Run models.

There were a number of detail difference between the last surviving three locomotives such as front frames, slide bars, Adams / Drummond boilers (with differing domes and safety vales) which were swapped betweenthe three locomotives over time, and rear radial wheel diameters etc. Oxford Rail have stated that they are tooling for all this differences and from my initial check the combination of the variations appears to be correct for 30583 in the livery being produced.

We shall have to wait and see how these models look and perform in the flesh and compare with the albeit slightly more expensive Hornby model in due course.  We will of course be able to pay our money and make our own choice.

 

General, Model News

Oxford Rail further details on Adams Radial and announce RCH 7 Plank wagon

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Back at the start of November last year the 4mm scale road vehicle manufacturer Oxford Diecast, launched a new brand called Oxford Rail and their intention to produce an ex LSWR 0415 class 4-4-2T Adams Radial Tank. They have today released further details about the model, with samples due in April, and also announced their first item rolling stock, namely a range of Railway Clearing House (RCH) 7 Plank 12 ton mineral private owner wagon.

The first three livery versions, priced at £99.95, of the Adams Radial announced are as follows:

OR76AR001 BR lined black late crest number 30583
OR76AR002 BR lined black early emblem number 60584
OR76AR003 Southern number 488 (no further details on the actual variartion of the Southern livery or if as preserved has been provided)
[Edit: The Oxford Rail website has now been amended to read “LSWR number 488”, so therefore likely to be as preserved]

The standard 12 Ton Mineral wagon was the most numerous design of mineral wagons built in the UK after 1923. They were originally built with 7 side planks, had a universal length of 16’6″ with a width of 8’0″ and wheelbase of 9’0″  These wagons were of a simple design and employed standard RCH fittings throughout.

The first livery variations of this wagon, priced at £8.95 due the second quarter this year, and already fully tooled, are as follows:

OR76MW001 No.95 Fear Bros Staines (Red body, white lettering shaded black)
OR76MW002 No.10 Leamington Priors Gas (Red body, white lettering shaded black)
OR76MW003 No.44 E Welford & Son Oxford (Red body, white lettering shaded black)
OR76MW004 No.16 Weymouth & District Co-op (Dark green body, white lettering)
OR76MW005 No.217 Coventry Collieries (Black body, white lettering)
OR76MW006 No.286 Arley Colliery (Red body, white lettering shaded black)

Full details and images of the wagon liveries can be found on the Oxford Rail website

General, Model News

New 00 RTR Manufacturer to produce an ex LSWR 0415 class Adams Radial

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After a  teaser campaign on there new website www.oxfordrail.com The 4mm scale road vehicle manufacturer Oxford Diecast, that has producing models for some time have today launched a new brand called Oxford Rail to produce a range of 4mm 00 gauge locomotives and rolling stock.

Their first locomotive, that they advise is already at a very advanced stage of development including tooling, is an ex LSWR 0415 class 4-4-2T Adams Radial Tank. This particular class of locomotives, famed for the three old age survivors working the Axminster to Lyme Regis branch, has been high on the wish list polls for a number of years. In fact there has been a number of manufacturers looking at producing this particular model recently but Oxford Rail have managed to be first past the post to announce it.

They advise the following:

“For some years the development team at ‘Oxford’ have been examining the possibilities of bringing their undoubted skills at producing accurate and detailed models to the varied and diverse world of the UK model railway market and have now decided that the time is right for them to launch their first model. Introduced under the Oxford Rail banner, the inaugural locomotive will be the much vaunted Adams Radial, Class 415, however this new division is not just interested in producing adhoc and random locomotives, but have established a development plan of introductions not seen in the UK for many years. CEO Lyndon Davies explained. “I, along with my development team have been closely monitoring, for several years the interest in model railways especially in the UK and now believe that the time is right for Oxford Rail to enter the market. Anyone who knows me is aware that I would not be interested in just introducing the odd locomotive.  We have a rolling planned introduction program based on extensive market research, as well as sitting down and talking to the modeller, and more importantly listening! I am determined that Oxford Rail will be seen and judged on the integrity and the quality of our models that I, along with my team will be offering. Our first model, which I am really excited about will be the Adams Radial, Class 415 but there will be other items announced in the not too distant future and not all will be locomotives. This first item is already in tooling and will be launched in 2015, with first shots in Q1 2015.”

The Oxford Rail website is now active and further updates on new introductions and their development will be part of the site with enthusiasts and modellers being invited to comment. Products will be available through all good hobby shops and specialist outlets.

Further announcements will be made shortly, but for the moment Oxford Rail wish it to be known that they are now open for business and it is the business of providing excellent quality models.”

Full details can be found on their website here although the list of actual variations being produced, numbers and liveries has not yet been announced. It should be noted that there were variations even amongst the final three with two different boilers  being swapped around and other detail differences, the webpage states BR rather than LSWR or SR so perhaps only BR liveries will be produced first (which would be a shame as I know other potential manufacturers were looking at a wider range of options)  so watch this space.