Revolution drax Biomass Wagons - N Gauge

[TomE]

Announced on the 1st December live feed. 

 

At the CAD stage already and looking mighty impressive:

 

More info here: 

 

https://www.revolutiontrains.com/bio-massive-news-from-revolution/

 

Tom.  

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by TomE

[bmthtrains - David]

Massive looking things. Interesting that they are only available from Rails, not even through revolution, so a slightly different funding model. 

 

Just within the era I’m modelling so may have to save up for a rake of these.

 

David 

[steam-driven boy]

Hi, 

It would seem that the post-Rapido announcement euphoria buzz of that not costing me anything has resulted in some kind of costly (multiple £10 deposits) rebound ordering - Ooops!

https://railsofsheffield.com/news/articles/3676-drax-power-iia-d-biomass-hoppers-in-n-gauge

Regards, Gerry.

[njee20]

A bit gutted given I’ve been doing 3D prints of these for a year or so, but they do look superb from the CAD, and it was a certainty at some point, given their striking nature!

[ash39]

I nearly guessed at these but assumed it was still a no-go due to licencing issues. Really pleased to see an agreement has been reached, I will be ordering a rake of the original livery. Spent many an evening photographing these around Milford Junction when they were brand new.

 

Does anyone have any photos of the Northern Powerhouse livery variant? Don't think I ever saw them wearing this.

[4630]

6 minutes ago, ash39 said:

 

Does anyone have any photos of the Northern Powerhouse livery variant? Don't think I ever saw them wearing this.

Some of my photos on the class 60 and 66 threads feature biomass workings, so there’ll be some photos there.

The following video of mine from a couple of months ago also features the Northern Powerhouse livery.

 

Biomass at Hebden Bridge 12092020

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hello all,

 

In answer to some of the points... 

 

Yes, it took some work to arrange an agreement but Drax have been incredibly helpful since to ensure the model is as accurate as we can make it.

 

As the news item on our website explains, there are three variants of the livery now, the original Drax Power/Powering Tomorrow, the updated versions with HM Government Northern Powerhouse branding and additional photographs showing engineers at work, and within the last 18 months or so some have received new vinyls titled “Renewable Pioneers” that are predominantly blue and with a selection of four different photos , including the biomass domes (silos) at Drax and the dam at Cruachan Power Station.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[njee20]

4 hours ago, ash39 said:

Does anyone have any photos of the Northern Powerhouse livery variant? Don't think I ever saw them wearing this.

There are hundreds of photos of these on Flickr, so loads of inspiration to draw on! Plenty of photos of ‘celebrity’ locos hauling them too, ironically it was virtually never the matching Drax liveried 60 in DBC days. 

This is the Northern Powerhouse livery:

it’s interesting to see how tatty some of the vinyls have got too, Paul Bartlett’s got some great photos like this. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by njee20

[MGR Hooper!]

12 hours ago, Ben A said:

 

Hello all,

 

And within the last 18 months or so some have received new vinyls titled “Renewable Pioneers” that are predominantly blue and with a selection of four different photos , including the biomass domes (silos) at Drax and the dam at Cruachan Power Station.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

Anyone has any pics of the "Renewable Pioneers" ones?

[Steven B]

Ben, next time you're chatting to Draw could you ask why they went for a hopper rather than a tippler?

 

Ever since these were first built I've wondered why they opted for hopper wagons rather than tipplers like those used for iron-ore traffic.

They clearly had the infrastructure for working with hoppers but given the scale of the investment I'd have thought money saved by building a wagon based on a basic box with no hopper operating mechanism could have gone some way to paying for a tippler unloader. There'd then be a few more cubic feet of load space available too.

 

Given the density of the load a two body on three bogie design could have worked.

 

Steven B.

[TomE]

20 minutes ago, MGR Hooper! said:

Anyone has any pics of the "Renewable Pioneers" ones?

 

 

There seem to be a few different variations of photos around. 
 

Tom. 

[njee20]

 

44 minutes ago, MGR Hooper! said:

Anyone has any pics of the "Renewable Pioneers" ones?

There are 4 different ones:

 

Northern powerhouse IIA by DBS 60100, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

[Vonzack]

15 minutes ago, Steven B said:

Ben, next time you're chatting to Draw could you ask why they went for a hopper rather than a tippler?

 

I think hopper discharge is generally faster than tippler. As the biomass needs to be kept dry, would you get covered tippler wagons?

 

If you look at a Satellite view of Drax, you can see a rake of these wagons just prior to being unloaded. The 4 large domes are where the biomass is stored.

[MGR Hooper!]

Thanks @TomE and @njee20.... Pre-order duly placed!

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hello all,

 

The biomass domes are pretty cool.  

 

The shells were fabricated from synthetic fabric and then inflated like a giant bouncy castle.  Then concrete was sprayed into the inside to create a hard shell, before the metal headhouse assembly was fitted.

 

This educational Drax video shows the process at about 2'50" in: 

 

 

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

 

 

[Vonzack]

I think this is a great choice of wagon, one I'm definitely interested in getting a few of for Heworth.

 

A question to @Ben A / @red death, given a full rake of these is likely to be 20+ wagons. If the design has ballast weights, would it be possible to make them removable if not required?

 

Cheers, Mark.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Vonzack

[TomE]

Another question for @Ben A , are you doing all of the renewable pioneers versions? I'm presuming so given two twin packs but can you say which pack relates to which versions of the liveries? 
 

Cheers,

 

Tom. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by TomE

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hello all,

 

In answer to the questions:

 

1)  The weight hasn't yet been finalised, but on the CAD it is a separate slab of metal so should be removable, as can be seen in this image:

 

 

2)  There are two different Renewable Pioneer variations - we are offering both in each twin pack.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[njee20]

Do they have different vinyls each side then, Ben? 

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hi all,

 

So far the work has been predominantly on getting the CAD right.  

 

Re the Renewable Pioneers: there are two combinations of four vinyls which I have called Dam/Turbine and Domes,/Tunnel.  The exact wagons will be finalised when the painting diagrams are prepared.  This will begin soon, now the CADs are complete.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[MGR Hooper!]

What's the usual motive power for these? Class 60s? Class 66s? And which FOC operates them?

[Steven B]

Over the years they've been hauled by class 60, 66 and 70s from EWS/DBS, GBRF & Colas.

I can't find any DRS or Frieghtliner hauled trains.

 

I wonder if Farish will be sorting out the livery diagrams for 60066 which carries Drax livery following this announcement.

 

Steven B.

[Ed-farms]

45 minutes ago, Steven B said:

I wonder if Farish will be sorting out the livery diagrams for 60066 which carries Drax livery following this announcement.

 

Wonder if Rails of Sheffield will commission i? be a good partner to market the complete train

 

I am certainly impressed by these wagons, trying to work out if I can make my layout big enough to fit a full rake in

Edited December 3, 2020 by Ed-farms

[njee20]

1 hour ago, Steven B said:

Over the years they've been hauled by class 60, 66 and 70s from EWS/DBS, GBRF & Colas.

I can't find any DRS or Frieghtliner hauled trains.

 

I wonder if Farish will be sorting out the livery diagrams for 60066 which carries Drax livery following this announcement.

 

Steven B.

Pretty sure the only Colas ones are the ex-Colas 60s which passed to GBRF, most of which actually just say "Rail Freight" on the sides. AFAIK it was a DBC contract, before transferring to GBRF. DBC tended to use 66s; 60066 didn't seem to be used very often at all strangely. Even in GBRF days there are still DBC 66s occasionally.

 

Flickr is awash with photos - searching for Drax IIA, Drax wagons or Drax train all yield plenty of good photos.

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hello all,

 

As far as I am aware both GBRf and DB Cargo have current contracts for Drax trains.  Drax operate more than 15 trains every day, so there's plenty of traffic.

 

5-year DB Cargo contract apparently signed in June: https://www.drax.com/press_release/db-cargo-uk-secures-new-five-year-contract-with-drax/

 

Latest GBRf contract extended until 2025 from August: https://www.drax.com/press_release/gb-railfreight-and-drax-extend-rail-contract-to-transport-biomass-until-2025/

 

Re: 60066 - yes please - especially as it also appears to be a frequent performer on tanker trains too:

 

 

cheers

 

Ben A.