Bachmann at the great central railway model event

[stock_2007]

Seems a long time since we've had a good announcement

[cheesysmith]

How about a model of the wonderful hybrid train conversion of a perfectly good EMU pushed through by the DaFT that was tested on said line. The model would not even need a motor, as the things appear no closer to entering service.

[GWR8700]

Interesting, I am guessing it's an SECR D class

[spackz]

As it's at the GCR event, I have everything crossed for an A5 tank. 

[ColinK]

To increase the frothing perhaps I should bring along my large logo liveried deltic and BR liveried class 232?  Look out for them on the bridge on my Linden Grove layout.

[Dick Turpin]

2 hours ago, spackz said:

As it's at the GCR event, I have everything crossed for an A5 tank. 

 

If you have access, have a wee peek at next month's Bachmann Club calendar...

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Dick Turpin

[The Johnster]

13 hours ago, GWR8700 said:

Interesting, I am guessing it's an SECR D class

Suggested as a possible Hornby announcement as well.  My money's on someone doing a Swindon Cross Country dmu, but I've no idea who.  Bachmann have the advantage of the 117 underframe, though.

[brushman47544]

3 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Suggested as a possible Hornby announcement as well.  My money's on someone doing a Swindon Cross Country dmu, but I've no idea who.  Bachmann have the advantage of the 117 underframe, though.

 

Indeed but I can’t see any possibility of Bachmann announcing a Class 120 using the Class 117 underframe before the Class 117 has been released. Until then something could go wrong with the 117 and then there would be two models affected/delayed.

[The Johnster]

The penalty of long lead times after announcement, but there have been pre-production examples of the 117 so it can't be too far off.  Could still hit snags of course, but the odds improve the closer to delivery you get.  Hornby's method seems to be different; the lead times are probably just as bad but they keep the model under their hat until closer to delivery, the penalty of which is of course that somebody else might announce in the meantime, hence the spat on television between Hornby and Rails of Sheffield over the Terrier!  

 

A 117's underpinnings would be fine for a 120, or any 64' dmu stock except perhaps the Swindon 4-car Inter Cities, which had B4 bogies and some mk2 leanings!  So, 113/4/5/6/8/9 and 120 could be done for the cost of new bodyshell toolings, but the 120 and 116 are the most widely spread, numerous, and long serving of these types, so would presumably have the greatest appeal.  The 117/8 types seem to attract manufacturers for some reason, despite being restricted to the London area for most of their lives and the WR for all of them.  113/4/5 are similarly restricted, and 119 seem to have been very much WR beasts, but 120s got about a bit, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, Crewe from the North to West line, and Scotland.  

 

The 120 appears close to the top of polls and wishlists frequently, so there is an untapped reservoir of demand for them.  They have a fairly unique profile and window outline and cannot easily be converted from other stock.  4 vehicles need to be produced, DMBC, TS, DMS and Buffet variation of TS.  Two cab profiles are needed as well; the later series had 4-character headcode boxes let in below the cab windows.  These sets are more associated with the West Country.

Edited June 2, 2019 by The Johnster

[wombatofludham]

A number of 117s and 118s migrated to Tyseley and were regulars on the Cross City between 1987 and 1993-4, including the GWR tribute unit which became T305 and a Tyseley pet, and towards the end some of the 117s were refreshed and repainted into Reggie Rail livery (the ones which ended their days at Haymarket in Scotland) so depending on the period being modelled, and the eventual release by Bachmann of Reggie Rail and GWR liveries, Midland and Eastern Scottish modellers could justify a 117 or two. Class 115 vehicles were mixed and matched with Class 116 power cars to provide toilet accommodation, and the 115 power cars were matched with Class 116 DMS vehicles and any number of permutations of 115, 127 and 116 trailers to create four car "go slower" units from the late 80s onwards and were in service right up until the demise of power-trailer formations in 1993, after which the remaining DMUs were re-arranged into all power unit combinations in a vain attempt to give the units a fighting chance of keeping up with electric timings whilst the 323 fleet was having a bad hair period.

 

I remember regularly catching 117s from Lichfield and even on occasions from Hednesford as I always made for the demoted first class section of the TCL.  I like my comfort.

 

From about 1986 Tyseley also got an allocation of Class 108s and 114s, the first time the 114s had been allocated anywhere else other than Hull in their lives.  They were the mainstay of the Hednesford to Walsall shuttles from opening day and also turned up on Stratford on Avon line duties.  So again, depending on era the Midland modeller has a bit more variety to go for than perhaps looks the case at first glance.

 

I agree though the Class 120 is a low hanging fruit, having run from Inverness to Penzance, and Yarmouth to Barmouth over their lifespan, and having covered every kind of duty from all shacks to short haul inter-city and Oxford commuter runs.

Edited June 2, 2019 by wombatofludham

[spackz]

8 hours ago, Dick Turpin said:

 

If you have access, have a wee peek at next month's Bachmann Club calendar...

 

I don't I'm afraid, does it show something I may be interested in ? Have you got a link to the calendar?

[Tramshed]

2 hours ago, spackz said:

I don't I'm afraid, does it show something I may be interested in ? Have you got a link to the calendar?

B3 a very unlikely subject in RTR. Only 6 built and none survived beyond 1949.

 

If I were Bachmann and I wanted a steam outline loco to announce on a visit to the GCR I would look at something in that railways loco pool, remembering their previous record with (e.g.) the 'Coal tank'  and H2 on previous collectors club outings. In the current climate I would also go for something that required minimal tooling or possibly something that had the tooling prepared some time ago. My guess would be a standard class 2 mogul in the 78XXX series of which 65 were built and have not been previously released in RTR. They already have the Ivatt version in their range and may well have prepared the Riddles version around the same time. After all, they have done both the Fairburn and Riddles 2-6-4 tanks and the Brighton H1 appeared almost the same time as the H2.

There is no chance of me having any inside info on this, just a logical hunch.

[sparaxis]

My guess would be  GCR liveried 04, using the revised ROD tooling.

[Dick Turpin]

The calendar shows Robinson B3 'Valour', in Great Central livery from a painting by Malcolm Root. Beautiful picture - I'd scan it and post, but I'm sure that would upset someone, so I better not. Sorry. Would make a nice stablemate for the Great Central Directors. We can dream, eh?

 

[spackz]

32 minutes ago, Dick Turpin said:

The calendar shows Robinson B3 'Valour', in Great Central livery from a painting by Malcolm Root. Beautiful picture - I'd scan it and post, but I'm sure that would upset someone, so I better not. Sorry. Would make a nice stablemate for the Great Central Directors. We can dream, eh?

 

Thanks Dick Turpin. And there's me thinking it was going to be an A5 tank.  I still live in hope.

[caradoc]

12 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

 

12 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

(edited(

 

From about 1986 Tyseley also got an allocation of Class 108s and 114s, the first time the 114s had been allocated anywhere else other than Hull in their lives.  They were the mainstay of the Hednesford to Walsall shuttles from opening day and also turned up on Stratford on Avon line duties.  So again, depending on era the Midland modeller has a bit more variety to go for than perhaps looks the case at first glance.

 

I agree though the Class 120 is a low hanging fruit, having run from Inverness to Penzance, and Yarmouth to Barmouth over their lifespan, and having covered every kind of duty from all shacks to short haul inter-city and Oxford commuter runs.

 

Wasn't it Lincoln where the Class 114s were allocated for a large part of their lives ? Having said that, as well as Lincolnshire (obviously !) they worked in Nottinghamshire (DaveF's brilliant topic has lots of photos of 114s), South Yorkshire (being common in Sheffield IIRC) and perhaps Cambridgeshire too, before being moved to depots elsewhere. Being a 2-car set too, ideal for a model I would have thought, although I agree a 120 and 116 are highly desirable also. 

 

['CHARD]

2 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

Wasn't it Lincoln where the Class 114s were allocated for a large part of their lives ? Having said that, as well as Lincolnshire (obviously !) they worked in Nottinghamshire (DaveF's brilliant topic has lots of photos of 114s), South Yorkshire (being common in Sheffield IIRC) and perhaps Cambridgeshire too, before being moved to depots elsewhere. Being a 2-car set too, ideal for a model I would have thought, although I agree a 120 and 116 are highly desirable also. 

 

 

Hmmmmm....  Not sure about the 114 myself.  Not sufficiently 'different' enough for the average modeller from a 2-car Class 108, a class of only 49 sets, and not much in the way of 'wow' factor - insofar as DMUs possess such a thing (granted that Inter City spec units have styling cues that elevate them somewhat).  I wonder what actual demand there would be, and potential for second and third production runs.

[wombatofludham]

2 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

 

Wasn't it Lincoln where the Class 114s were allocated for a large part of their lives ? Having said that, as well as Lincolnshire (obviously !) they worked in Nottinghamshire (DaveF's brilliant topic has lots of photos of 114s), South Yorkshire (being common in Sheffield IIRC) and perhaps Cambridgeshire too, before being moved to depots elsewhere. Being a 2-car set too, ideal for a model I would have thought, although I agree a 120 and 116 are highly desirable also. 

 

 

Actually you could be right, as you say they were geographically linked with the East of England and the East Midlands for all their lives until being thrust into the hurly burly of the West Midlands just at the end of their lives.  Must have been a shock to them having spent all their lives trundling around rural and semi rural areas east of Nottingham.  

 

I do like the old BTF "Diesel Train Ride" film which features some shots of the early 114s complete with lion on a unicycle logos and a range of destinations no longer served by rail on the destination blind.  It always amuses me how the train is one minute in rural Norfolk, then amazingly the next cut-away is somewhere in North Wales, then the North East, before coming back to Suffolk.   

 

I agree though the 114 must be a bit of an outside punt, other than their having been the first long frame "blue square" units built.  Unfortunately their body shell is different to the Class 119 in window arrangement so you couldn't easily do both from one set of tools, so I suspect this is one class of DMU Silver Fox will be relatively safe to keep in their range as an exclusive!

 

Must admit I always liked the 114s when I used to use the Hednesford shuttles to Walsall.  They still had their original interiors and the larger Leyland engines fitted gave them a nice engine note as they bounced along the line.