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Class 37, by Accurascale


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18 minutes ago, Chilly said:

 

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BR English Electric Type 3 No.D6700...

 

60 years ago, today on 2nd December 1960, English Electric delivered the first of what was to become British Rail’s Class 37 locomotive, D6700, to Doncaster to begin its acceptance trials from its works at Newton-le-Willows.

Locomotion Models has commissioned its own OO Scale model of D6700 from Accurascale to be its latest addition to its National Collection in Miniature. It will be produced as delivered on that day in plain green livery (yellow warning panels were not added until much later), when it would have worked alongside steam locomotives which were in the process of being phased out of the British Railways network at that time in favour of diesel and electric traction.

309 examples of this mixed-traffic 1,750hp Co-Co class were built by English Electric and Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn between 1960 and 1965 to two basic designs, split and centre headcode. They could be found systemwide leading all kinds of freight and passenger services. 135 were rebuilt in the mid-1980s giving them a further lease of life, while further major rebuilds have taken place since privatisation. Many are still in service today.

D6700 was released from the factory on 2nd December 1960 and was immediately allocated to Stratford Depot in East London but underwent acceptance trials before running light engine to its new home arriving on 23rd December. It was allocated at various times to Haymarket, Thornaby, Toton, March, Gateshead and Tinsley. It was repainted into rail blue livery in June 1969.  After introduction of the TOPS (Total Operations Processing System) computerised numbering system D6700 became No. 37119 in 1974. It subsequently became a member of the 37/3 sub class in March 1988 and was renumbered to No. 37350. Having passed to English, Welsh & Scottish Railways (EWS) at privatisation the locomotive was backdated to pseudo-1960s condition for the Toton Depot Open Day in August 1998 and was named ‘National Railway Museum’ three months later. It was withdrawn on the 1st December 1999 and was presented by EWS to become part of the National Collection.

The Accurascale model will be delivered in Locomotion Models packaging and features a 21PIN DCC socket.

The model features include:

Plain BR green as delivered in December 1960

Split Headcode with four-character display (with optional customer-applied headcodes)

Nose connecting doors

No nose corner grab irons

Bufferbeam cowling with large round Oleo buffers

As delivered bufferbeam configuration with vacuum/steam/control pipes and multiple working equipment

Original windscreens and cab interior

Open boiler exhaust and steam valve (with optional plated version)

Double-riveted roof with large cab roof vent

Fabricated bogies

Underslung fuel tank with boiler water tank

Frost grille

Early cantrail grille with riveted surround

The model has a retail price of £169.99. It can be pre-ordered for £30 and is due for delivery in Autumn 2021.

Oh! Is it gloss finish? I’ll order if it is! 

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5 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

 

 

NOW I will struggle not to order one of these as it's a local lad... I knew it was right to hold back lol

I have just ordered one, I had ordered the D6702 awaiting the D6700 coming out which it has faster than anticipated ah well I will have 2 running.

 

Chilly

 

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42 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

There had better be, I just paid for it sound fitted :D

 

It wasn't there when I checked a few hours ago hence thinking it only came as DCC Ready, yes of course sound fitted has now been added.

Edited by classy52
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There are so many variants of the 37 that Accurascale are going to be kept busy for years. A core model for them for sure.
However, in Fran's interview with Jenny kirk, he mentioned they are planning to make steamers. Indeed the Thompson Pacific was going to be their first UK outline, not the Deltic, until Hornby announced a new one.

So how about making one of these which is not currently available RTR?

 

Ch6-4b-1920x723.jpg.36b263602b548552c9ae7625d600fea4.jpg

Edited by maico
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19 hours ago, maico said:

There are so many variants of the 37 that Accurascale are going to be kept busy for years. A core model for them for sure.
However, in Fran's interview with Jenny kirk, he mentioned they are planning to make steamers. Indeed the Thompson Pacific was going to be their first UK outline, not the Deltic, until Hornby announced a new one.

So how about making one of these which is not currently available RTR?

 

Ch6-4b-1920x723.jpg.36b263602b548552c9ae7625d600fea4.jpg

Hornbys Tooling for a streamlined P2 exists.

if you look at the service sheet (401) / under the hood of their released P2, the chassis block is streamlined. The smokebox on the rtr p2 is a separate moulding (i had to replace one). So its clearly on their radar.

 

Edited by adb968008
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2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

f you look at the service sheet (401) / under the hood of their released P2, the chassis block is streamlined

It is, but it’s wrong, as there is a distinctive ‘hump’ between the cab and the smoke box of the streamlined P2 that isn’t there on the ‘standard’ version and which hasn’t been allowed for.

All of which means that it requires new tooling to produce ;-)

 

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14 hours ago, Islesy said:

It is, but it’s wrong, as there is a distinctive ‘hump’ between the cab and the smoke box of the streamlined P2 that isn’t there on the ‘standard’ version and which hasn’t been allowed for.

All of which means that it requires new tooling to produce ;-)

 

Crashed in flames there then.

;-)

Were the original P2’s different in their individual smokebox design between each one before being streamlined ?

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1 hour ago, TomScrut said:

 

Not sure about the specifics but I don't think any of the first few were built alike IIRC.

All were different, although not all the differences would have been visible.

2001 Cock o’ the North had rotary cam valve gear and an A.C.F.I. feed water heater;

2002 Earl Marischal had piston valves;

2003 Lord President was streamlined and could be regarded as the standard version from which the others varied;

2004 Mons Meg had an exhaust by-pass valve;

2005 Thane of Fife had a plain single chimney;

2006 Wolf of Badenoch had a longer combustion chamber.

2001 & 2002 were rebuilt in streamlined form to match 2003 but detail differences remained.

 

I’d be delighted by a RTR version, with due attention to detail. If Accurascale were to do it, can’t we just see Hornby rushing one out?

 

2003 Lord President 2.jpg

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2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Were the original P2’s different in their individual smokebox design between each one before being streamlined ?

There's all sorts of oddities creeping in: The front casing differed between 2001 and 2002, 2002 obviously has different valve gear, there's the front sole bar drop, different smoke deflectors, etc, then after streamlining there were extra cab ventilators on 2003-6, lubricators in different positions, different rivet patterns on the cabs, 2005 had a single chimney, 2006 had 5 handholds on the firebox, not 4 etc, etc.

Enough to make it 'interesting'

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14 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

can’t we just see Hornby rushing one out?

 

Maybe. Although I do think whilst I appreciate the fact Hornby went to the trouble of tooling the class in the original form doing it as a railroad doesn't do what is in my opinion one of the coolest steam locos that ran in the UK justice. Imagine what one of these (streamlined or not) would be like with the same levels as the W1 and A4?

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7 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

Maybe. Although I do think whilst I appreciate the fact Hornby went to the trouble of tooling the class in the original form doing it as a railroad doesn't do what is in my opinion one of the coolest steam locos that ran in the UK justice. Imagine what one of these (streamlined or not) would be like with the same levels as the W1 and A4?

Going back to where we were before, a streamlined one from AS could be interesting !

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2 hours ago, TomScrut said:

 

Maybe. Although I do think whilst I appreciate the fact Hornby went to the trouble of tooling the class in the original form doing it as a railroad doesn't do what is in my opinion one of the coolest steam locos that ran in the UK justice. Imagine what one of these (streamlined or not) would be like with the same levels as the W1 and A4?

I couldn’t agree more. 2001 was produced at a time when Hornby was just beginning to climb out of  the “design clever” pit. Some people seemed to get models which performed reasonably well but others, including me, had a lot of trouble, which was only solved by replacing the motor. (Thanks, RMweb & mikesndbs!)

Edited by No Decorum
Credit where it’s due.
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8 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Is that a hint? :lol:

I take it that’s our cue to get back on topic. All the same, one of the new staff members seems to have done some research. Possibly for a former employer, possibly since. If he says anything at all, it will be, “I couldn’t possibly comment.”

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