More model ideas

[wombatofludham]

I agree the Electrostar must now be on the horizon after the unexpected, but personally welcome, announcement of the 323 which I really didn't think would ever be forthcoming.  I just hope we don't have to wait for the market to get an idea of how popular the 323 is before deciding to bring forward other models.  I still have an itchy feeling the next unit may be a 313-508 "PEP" series given the highly standardised nature of the bodyshells and huge range of liveries, and wide geographical spread.  It would make sense for Accurascale to make this their first EMU given it develops on the existing range of diesel locos (31s, 37s and even 55s and 92s all ran alongside versions of the classes), has a long lifespan with many popular livery options, and has a highly standardised appearance which would help reduce development costs.  It seems however, if rumours are to be believed, A N Other is considering a model of the sons of PEP so who knows.

I just hope the next unit announcement from IRM is an 80 class (just thought I'd park this here, again...)

[NBL]

14 minutes ago, wombatofludham said:

I agree the Electrostar must now be on the horizon after the unexpected, but personally welcome, announcement of the 323 which I really didn't think would ever be forthcoming.  I just hope we don't have to wait for the market to get an idea of how popular the 323 is before deciding to bring forward other models.  I still have an itchy feeling the next unit may be a 313-508 "PEP" series given the highly standardised nature of the bodyshells and huge range of liveries, and wide geographical spread.  It would make sense for Accurascale to make this their first EMU given it develops on the existing range of diesel locos (31s, 37s and even 55s and 92s all ran alongside versions of the classes), has a long lifespan with many popular livery options, and has a highly standardised appearance which would help reduce development costs.  It seems however, if rumours are to be believed, A N Other is considering a model of the sons of PEP so who knows.

I just hope the next unit announcement from IRM is an 80 class (just thought I'd park this here, again...)

I think AS have stated that they won't be doing a PEP unit due to someone else reportedly looking at it.

 

AS could capitalise on its Mk1 shell and roll out 304's (and the other variants) to keep the north west interest up that the 323 will surely generate.

[No Decorum]

On 21/11/2023 at 23:24, Budgie said:

 

Gettng back to the title of this thread, there's a locomotive that someone could make. I'll have a couple.

Taff Vale Railway? More Oxford Rail, I would have thought. 🤣

[Wickham Green too]

Does that mean you know more about the future of Oxford Rail than the rest of us ?

[Rugd1022]

On 20/11/2023 at 19:27, The Johnster said:

71 now and 16 when steam finished on BR.  I have pretty solid memories from about 10 years before that, though, and at that age I would have been able to tell you the difference between the main classes that I saw  at Cardiff General; Brits, Castles, Halls, large prairies and 56xx, standard 3MT, 28xx, 9F, WD, 8750s, 94xx, and could have named them.  I would probably not have realised that the green pannier on the Marshfield Flyer (6412) was a different class, but I knew the difference between the newly introduced dmus, 116 and 120s. 

 

The other BR standards common in the area, 5MT and 4MT 4-6-0s, might have stumped me, but I was pretty clued up, courtesy of great-uncle Ted who we've met before in these pages.  Mother helped as well, more knowledgable than she let on, not many mums would have been able to identify Castles or Kings...

 

I'm probably bang in the middle of the retiree section of the market demographic, and if it is true that we model the scene we remember from our childhoods, then steam-outline RTR has perhaps another decade left in it, but the reality is much more complex than that.  The market may well change; one might expect a surge of interest in the 70s scene as that generation of gricers hits retirement with time and disposable income, but I predict an increase in demand for pre-grouping, Victorian, and 'early' layouts as steam enthusiasm becomes less bound up emotionally with the BR/Death Steam experience.  I suspect that firms like Accurascale and Rapido will be well placed to exploit this

 

My own sphere of interest is rooted in the period immediately before my 6-year-old experiences, 1948-58, BR changeover.  I can remember blood'n'custard coaches and locos with the unicycling lion device, but not their heyday, which has provided me with some very enjoyable modelling!

 

I can certainly relate to that despite being thirteen years younger than you - I have no memory of BR steam but have been told my my uncle that as a toddler I travelled out of Waterloo behind a Bullied Pacific twice (it was a relatively small window of time, September '65 to July '67) so I do feel a connection to the 'classic' steam days of BR. Coming from a mostly railway family (Great Western and LMS) it's all pretty much ingrained anyway, and although my main sphere of interest is the Diesel-Hydraulics there will always be a soft spot for the last decade of steam. 

 

I'd add that another reason for the long running popularity of BR steam is the fact that so much of it has been recorded on film, so it is in effect right there in front of us, whether in still photography or moving film, giving us a gigantic window on what everything looked like.

[BVMR21]

Something else coming to the Accurascale website soon?

[No Decorum]

22 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

Does that mean you know more about the future of Oxford Rail than the rest of us ?

No. First name of the boss.

[The Johnster]

Is it Cameron?

[Flying Pig]

19 hours ago, BVMR21 said:

Something else coming to the Accurascale website soon?

 

Class 455, or other Westcode-fitted type.

[BrakeCoach]

I just realized--why not LMS period 3 Stanier corridor stock? It would go well with future models if Accurascale does end up releasing LMS locos, but it also renews the tooling that has not been done since 2005!

[Dunsignalling]

13 hours ago, BrakeCoach said:

I just realized--why not LMS period 3 Stanier corridor stock? It would go well with future models if Accurascale does end up releasing LMS locos, but it also renews the tooling that has not been done since 2005!

 

Period 2 would be even better. That's not been done at all, (the elderly Airfix/Dapol/Hornby 12-wheel Restaurant car excepted), and a fair amount of it survived to c.1960.

 

John

[Wickham Green too]

I'll add my vote to the "not been done at all" lobby against the "not done for eighteen years" faction. 🙃

[reddragon]

Some Mk1 buffets / full BGs to supplement the Mk2bc rakes would be a good addition. Whilst available elsewhere the range is very narrow, dated and prevents some regions being able to create a full rake. EG - no WR blue / grey buffet cars and minimal BG availability

[Steamport Southport]

On 22/11/2023 at 08:44, reddragon said:

I found most units north of the river dull & boring but the Southern units had plenty of character & variety even within classes.

 

Evidence to the contrary.

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rossxpres/36236639984/in/photostream/

 

Anyone who thinks that is dull and boring needs to get out more. Probably one of the best looking multiple units ever.

 

 

 

Jason

[reddragon]

45 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Evidence to the contrary.

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rossxpres/36236639984/in/photostream/

 

Anyone who thinks that is dull and boring needs to get out more. Probably one of the best looking multiple units ever.

 

 

 

Jason

Agreed but these travelled more & have more livery options

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by reddragon

[PieGuyRob]

4 minutes ago, reddragon said:

Agreed but these travelled more & have more livery options

 

 

 

And look so much better with wrap around cab windows.

[Wickham Green too]

6 minutes ago, PieGuyRob said:

And look so much better with wrap around cab windows.

Yes, the rebuilds with two flat panes were not very pretty - would have been better to do something more akin to the CIGs etc. ....... no doubt more complex & expensive, though.

[Budgie]

9 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Evidence to the contrary.

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rossxpres/36236639984/in/photostream/

 

Anyone who thinks that is dull and boring needs to get out more. Probably one of the best looking multiple units ever.

 

Really. That's been polished up for preservation and is on a railtour. Try comparing it with some of the units that were in day-to-day use and didn't get cleaned very often.

[The Johnster]

10 hours ago, reddragon said:

Agreed but these travelled more & have more livery options

 

 

 

 

 

To my mind the Clactons only just have the edge over the Swindon Class 123 Inter-City 4-car sets, the edge being provided by better headcode positoning, livery, and the use of Commonwealths instead of B4s. These were a good bit quicker as well!  The 123s travelled a good bit more than the Clactons over their service lives, though...

Edited December 1, 2023 by The Johnster

[wombatofludham]

Having just watched "Dean Park"'s video showcasing the pre-production Mk2b coaches, I have to say we will definitely need similarly detailed and tech-spec Mk1 restaurant vehicles as well as the Mk2d.  Existing models of the Restaurant cars (I was planning to use the Bachmann RB) in a rake of Accurascale Mk2b and c coaches won't have the finesse and play features like lighting to match and similarly a rake of 2ds to the same standard will allow for the mixed 2c-d rakes often seen in the early 70s, especially as the 2ds suffered from air conditioning problems, to be correctly modelled.

Even the pre production models look incredible.

[Steamport Southport]

12 hours ago, Budgie said:

 

Really. That's been polished up for preservation and is on a railtour. Try comparing it with some of the units that were in day-to-day use and didn't get cleaned very often.

 

I travelled on them every day. They were never dirty. 

 

 

 

Phil Richards - Wiki

 

They lasted longer than most SR units, 1930s to mid 1980s, they worked over an extensive area and were painted in a variety of liveries. If it wasn't for war then the LMS Third Rail Electrification would have happened elsewhere such as Manchester, Birmingham and London. 

 

Liveries? LMS Crimson, BR Crimson, BR Green, BR Blue, BR Blue/Grey. That's five off the top of my head. 

 

Also don't forget we had mainline electrics before the SR did!

 

L&Y in 1904.

 

 

 

Jason

[wombatofludham]

There was a plan by the LMS to divert the Bedford suburban services into a newly rebuilt Euston (artists impressions show a very "Grand Central" fantastic Art Deco station) and electrify them with third rail units similar to the Wirral/Liverpool units, presumably alongside similar trains for the North London and Watford DC services.  That would have made for an interesting operation.

[reddragon]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

I travelled on them every day. They were never dirty. 

 

 

 

Phil Richards - Wiki

 

They lasted longer than most SR units, 1930s to mid 1980s, they worked over an extensive area and were painted in a variety of liveries. If it wasn't for war then the LMS Third Rail Electrification would have happened elsewhere such as Manchester, Birmingham and London. 

 

Liveries? LMS Crimson, BR Crimson, BR Green, BR Blue, BR Blue/Grey. That's five off the top of my head. 

 

Also don't forget we had mainline electrics before the SR did!

 

L&Y in 1904.

 

 

 

Jason

Class 503 1938-1985 = 47 years

 

Class 405-415

 

Last were withdrawn in 1995, so 1951-1995 = 44 years but . . intermediate trailer cars were ex class 405s TSOs that replaced the class 415 compartment stock and most of these dated back to 1946 - 49 years but odd earlier examples persisted to late on.

 

All of these coaches were rebodied 3/4-SUBS from 1911-1935 many of which were converted from steam hauled stock dating back to the 19th century.

 

Liveries applied SR Green, BR Green, BR blue, BR blue/grey, NSE  so comparable.

 

Units numbered in the 100's though!

[Wickham Green too]

4 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

... air conditioning problems, to be correctly modelled. ...

Intriguing !

2 hours ago, reddragon said:

... 3/4-SUBS from 1911-1935 many of which were converted from steam hauled stock dating back to the 19th century. ...

To be fair, the bodies might have dated back to the 19th century but the chassis certainly didn't.

[Southernman46]

On 26/11/2023 at 18:49, wombatofludham said:

I still have an itchy feeling the next unit may be a 313-508 "PEP" series given the highly standardised nature of the bodyshells and huge range of liveries, and wide geographical spread.  It would make sense for Accurascale to make this their first EMU given it develops on the existing range of diesel locos (31s, 37s and even 55s and 92s all ran alongside versions of the classes), has a long lifespan with many popular livery options, and has a highly standardised appearance which would help reduce development costs.  It seems however, if rumours are to be believed, A N Other is considering a model of the sons of PEP so who knows.

Class 501 - using them suburban bodyshell mouldings ..................................... 👌