Tag Archives: Rapido Trains

Model News

Latest ex LBSC E1 class 0-6-0t CAD renders from Rapido Trains UK

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Rapido trains UK confirmed back in January that they are going to produce the LBSCR ‘E1’ 0-6-0T in ’00’ gauge, as part of their growing range, despite it no longer being a commission by Model Rail magazine. My friends at Rapido trains UK have kindly provide me with copies of the latest CAD renders for this project and allowed me to post them here.

CAD renders of the Rapido ex LBSC E1 note the different dome and safety valve versions

They advise me that they will hopefully be confirming soon which running numbers and liveries they are going to produce and I will of course publish the details here when known. I understand it will cover a number of the class variations throughout their lifetime and geographical working area. As I model 1946 to 1949 I am hoping at least one will be in SR sunshine black, or suitable for a quick repaint and renumber to that period, as a number of members of the E1 class were often seen shunting at Southampton Docks and will be therefore be suitable motive power on my Canute Road Quay layout.

The early E1 version

It should of course be noted that these CAD renders are a work in progress and some areas in particular are known to require some amendments, such as tank tops. I am also hoping that the couplings might be revised slightly to reduce their protrusion.
It is the purpose of such renders to help evaluate the overall shape and details to confirm they are totally correct before approving the CADs for tooling to commence. Contrary to the belief of some, the first impression from tooling / the Engineering Prototype is to confirm fit and function and perhaps make some minor adjustments, not to see if the basic shape is correct…

A 3/4 rear view of the early version note the open coal rails

The class were originally introduced in 1874 by William Stroudley for local goods and piloting duties, as the E class.  Many gained a Marsh type boiler from 1906-7 with a larger dome moved rearwards, encased Ramsbottom safety valves and the whistle relocated to the cab roof.  The last six engines were built by RJ Billinton that also has slightly different boilers, Ramsbottom safety valves and a manhole cover, with whistle, was fixed over the firebox. These six were also given different chimneys, to Billinton’s design, (a cast-iron type in one piece) and were known as Class E1, subsequently all the earlier engines also became known as Class E1.  Withdrawals commenced in 1908 and continued in SR days

The later Marsh Boiler version with revised dome position and Ramsbottom safety valves

during the 1920s, with some examples sold to industrial railways rather than scrapped. Eight examples were also rebuilt as E1/R 0-6-2 radial tank engines for use in the west of England. Four E1s were also transferred during 1932/3 for duties on the Isle of Wight and renumbered W1-W4  and given names related to the Island:136 (originally Brindisi) became W1 Medina, 152 (originally Hungary) became W2 Yarmouth, 154 (originally Madrid) became W3 Ryde and 131 (originally Gournay) became W4 Wroxall.

Thirty  survived to British Railways ownership but during the 1950s they were gradually replaced by diesel shunters. The last survivor,

The tank tops, that should be recessed are an area already noted to be improved

BR no 32694, was allocated to Southampton Docks. It was withdrawn in July 1961.
Number 110 was withdrawn in February 1927, and sold to the Cannock and Rugeley Colliery Company and fitted with a revised boiler design. Withdrawn again in 1963 she was preserved and now resides on the Isle of Wight steam railway and  is being restored with the identity of W2 ‘Yarmouth’ 

It is good to see this project progress and as soon as Rapido trains UK let me know their intended versions being produced I will post the details accordingly.

A rear 3/4 view of the later version
Model News

Model Rail Magazine announce ex LBSC E1 0-6-0 in 00

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Model Rail Magazine in cooperation once again with Canadian manufacture Rapido Trains, (their previous collaboration the ex GER J70 is close to delivery) is to be producing the LBSCR Class E1 0-6-0T. Officially being announced with the publication date of the July issue No. 249 of their magazine on June 7th, however with  subscriber copies now having been delivered the information is in the public domain.

E1 Class as currently on the Isle of Wight steam railway, masquerading as W2. Originally B110 and sold to industrial use in 1927

With the exception of the final six built in 1891 under the auspices of RJ Billinton with different boiler, dome and chimney known as E1s from new, the rest of the 80 strong class were originally introduced by William Stroudley from 1874 as the E Class. Essentially a larger goods version of the A1 Terrier 0-6-0t, using the same cylinders, motion and boilers as the D Class 0-4-2 passenger tanks. Later all the E Class were reclassified as E1s.

E class 686 in LB&SCR livery. Picture courtesy and copyright Mike Morant collection

Although most of the class worked on the Brighton section some were used In Southampton Docks, so ideal for Canute Road Quay, and on the Isle of Wight. Ten members of the class were converted between 1927 and 1929 to become E1/R Class 0-6-2t with new cabs, extended bunkers and the addition of a Radial axel for use in the West Country.

E1 class 2506 in post war’Sunshine’ black livery. Picture courtesy and copyright Mike Morant collection

Although withdrawals started as early as 1913 many passed into British Railways ownership with the last surviving to 1960. Four members of the class ended up being sold into industrial colliery use, including the one preserved example B110 now located on the Isle of Wight steam railway.

The initial Model Rail Magazine versions to be available, during 2020, are as follows:

  • MR-401  97 – LBSCR Stroudley Improved Engine Green
  • MR-402  127 – LBSCR Stroudley Goods Green
  • MR-403  B96 – Marsh umber but with ‘B’ prefix as applied by SR
  • MR-404  2142 – SR black (pre-War)
  • MR-405  2606 – SR black, ‘sunshine’ lettering
  • MR-406  32151 – BR lined black, no emblem
  • MR-407  32113 – BR plain black, early emblem
  • MR-408  32689 – BR plain black, early emblem (weathered)
  • MR-409  W2 – SR (IoW) lined green
  • MR-410  W4 – BR (IoW) black, early emblem

They will be available soon to be pre-ordered via the Model Rail Offers website managed by the Kernow Model Rail Centre.

Full details of the specification to follow.

Also announced by Model Rail Magazine, also via Rapido Trains is the BR(w) 0-6-0 16xx Class pannier tanks.

Exhibitions, Model News

Warley Exhibition 2017 news round up for Southern related items, Bachmann, @hornby, @hattonsmodels, Dapol

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The weekend saw the Warley National Model railway Exhibition at the NEC,  as in previous years I have endeavoured to round up some of the news and items of interest from mainly a Southern / BR(s) perspective.  It has been usual for some of the manufacturers to use the event to make announcements of new items or showcase updates to new products under development, this year however relevant new announcements were thin on the ground but there are a small number of SR  / BR(s) related updates as shown below.

The full size H Class was the centrepiece of the combined Hornby and Hornby Magazine stand at Warley

Also many thanks to those of you who read this blog for popping by the Hornby Magazine Twelve Trees Junction layout where I was playing trains for the weekend. For the first time Hornby Magazine and Hornby had a joint stand, demonstrating the closer co-operation between the two separate organisations that has been in place for the last twelve months.  The large stand made a big impact due to the centrepiece being the splendid and recently repainted in full SECR livery, twelve inch to the foot scale, Wainwright H class 0-4-4t that had travelled up from the Bluebell railway.

Hornby

In the last few years Hornby had made some of their new product announcements for the following year, however they are reverting to a single range announcement next January, date still to be confirmed, when of course I will fully cover the items of Southern interest on this blog.

Bachmann / Graham Farish

ex LBSC H2 Class SR livery sample. picture courtesy and copyright Bachmann

As is usual for Bachmann / Graham Farish no new models were announced at Warley. Their 2018 catalogue will be announced on Sunday January 7th 2018 and I will report the Southern related news then, direct from the media event. However they did have on display for the first time a few 00 gauge items of interest.

ex LBSC H2 Class BR livery sample. picture courtesy and copyright Bachmann

Firstly the livery samples of the ex LBSC H2 Class 4-4-2 ‘Atlantic’ locomotives first announced back in August 2013 and being initially produced in two liveries as
31-921 – 32424 “Beachy Head” BR Black Early Emblem
31-920 – 2424 “South Foreland” (note chane of name and number as was originally announced as being 2421 ‘St. Albans Head”)  SR Olive Green

Other livery samples on display were: OO9 former War Department Baldwin Class 10-12-D (now in production), Freightliner Flats and Containers, Carflats and Class 66 No. 66779 ‘Evening Star’.

The Impressive 45t Ransoms and Rapier steam crane EP. picture courtesy and copyright Bachmann

Engineering prototypes (EP) of the Bachmann 45t Ransoms and Rapier steam crane were also on display. These models were originally announced in Mach 2015 and initially they will be released in four versions:
SR Black (38-800),
GWR Black (38-801),
BR Black (38-802)
BR Red (38-803)

45t Ransoms and Rapier steam crane EP. picture courtesy and copyright Bachmann

These certainly looked impressive and had the ‘wow factor, although not motorised, all the moving parts do correctly move including all the gears, linkages, job and outriggers allowing the model to the posed accordingly and potentially motorised (DCC?)  in the future.
Tooling variations correctly allow for the slight differences between the cranes supplied to the different railway companies such as toolboxes etc. and also the chimney can be in the raised or stowed positions. Final price is still be confirmed but due to the level of detail and fidelity of these models I would not expect them to be cheap but I am sure they would be worth it.

Also on display were the EPs of the LNER J72 and BR Class 90

Bachmann also advised that: “We are progressing positively with re-engineering a number of models that have been in the catalogue for a while and with the high profile of these items, the focus is in delivering fidelity to prototype that is not compromised by timescale”.

The ex SECR Birdcage stock, reviewed here, that originally arrived in BR Crimson Livery are now starting to arrive in Lined SR green and SECR Dark Lake (slightly revised from the original livery sample) liveries although at the time of writing the SR liveried composite is still to arrive.

Hattons

The Hattons P Class running sample on Twelve Trees Junction DCC fitted with sound!

Hattons Models do not actually exhibit at Warley, however our friends from their team did visit the show and kindly lent us on Twelve Trees Junction one of the Running samples of their ex SECR P Class 0-6-0t not only DCC fitted but with sound as well! Just goes to show what can be done in such a small locomotive.  Further details of the Hattons P Class announcement and the 12 livery versions available can be found here. 
More details and how to order can be found on the dedicated page on the Hatton’s website here.

Dapol 

Dapol livery sample of the ex LSWR B4 No. 88 in SR lined green

The first livery samples if their 00 gauge ex LSWR B4 0-4-0t were on display. These were first announced in March 2014 and initially five versions are being released:
‘Normandy’ (Number 96) as preserved by the Bulleid Society on the Bluebell Railway
‘Caen’ (Number 90) Southampton Docks brown livery with Drummond Chimney
Number 88 in Southern lined black

B4 No 30089 in BR Black early emblem

Number 30089 in BR black, early emblem (originally announced as being 30082 but changed to suit tooling options)
Number 30096 in BR black, late crest
Also being released as a Dapol collectors club model is No. 91 in LSWR pea green livery.

Also on display were the livery samples of the body toolings for the 4 compartment Brake 3rd and 6 compartment composite Maunsell coaches in N gauge.

Rapido Trains 

The Canadian manufacturer Rapido Trains, whom have been extending into the UK market with a number of commissions, made an pre-announcement of their intention to release in 2018 LMS/GWR/BR Gunpowder Vans, they had a 3D print on their stand but it appears to be a combination of possible tooling variants,  full details to follow next year. Although not SR related they are likely to have run on SR metals.

So that rounds up the Warley SR Related news for another year. I had a good time at the show and for a change had an opportunity to have a reasonable look around and there was certainly a variety of some great and interesting modelling on display amongst the 90 or layouts on show. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea as a show but I still believe it is well worth a visit.