You Love '2c' It - Announcing The Accurascale Mark 2c Coaches

[WCML100]

Ordered the West Coast TSO(T) offering on Friday, along with my brother ordering the matching BSO for our respective WC rail tour rakes. Looking forward to seeing them arrive 😁

[GD]

Mk2C 5524 at halifax, not sure if its still there or repainted?

[Accurascale]

We're delighted to announce two exclusive Mk2c Coaches to our ever expanding range! 😁
 

Mk.2c QXA DB 977390

 

 

As ‘Sprinterisation’ started to bite from the mid-1980s, the Mk.2c fleet was increasingly sidelined with many examples withdrawn or sold abroad. This proved to be a boon for the departmental businesses which engorged themselves, primarily as brake force runners, and most retained their original livery until they were finally retired several years later. The First Opens, mostly declassified as Second Open coaches by 1984, seemed to be particularly popular and of the 18 built, seven became departmental coaches, while six were sold for use in Ireland/Northern Ireland.

 

One of the most widely travelled of the BR survivors was DB 977390 (ex-M6410/M3164), which became a QXA brake force runner for the Civil Engineer’s Mobile Track Assessment fleet in early 1987 and usually operated with DB 977339, a former Mk.1 BSK, and either BR High Speed Track Recorder coach DB999550 or the London Underground’s own track recorder vehicle TRC 666. It was one of just two Mk.2c to gain the MTA red stripe embellishment on its standard blue/grey livery. It later moved to Crewe and became part of the depot’s electric locomotive test train, complete with plated bodyside windows. Incredibly it survived the disbanding of this formation and was acquired for preservation, eventually coming under the custodianship of Eastern Rail Services, who kindly allowed Accurascale to survey the almost completely intact BR-period interior of this vehicle as part of the Mk.2 project. It now resides at Great Yarmouth and will eventually be restored to its original external condition.

 

Mk.2c QPA DB 977787

 

 

While most Mk.2c retained their blue/grey livery during their often short departmental service, one of the most colourful and long lasting vehicles was Civil Engineer/InterCity West Coast Staff & Tool Coach DB 977787, renumbered with few obvious external or internal differences from Brake Second Open M9453 in May 1992. One of three BSO to transfer to departmental use and one of just a handful of coaches to be repainted in the grey/yellow ‘Dutch’ livery, it also carried the lettering “InterCity Civil Engineer Preston”. It was initially based at Carnforth for use on the North West section of the WCML, although it was recorded at Doncaster by 1993. It later gained a generator, which involved significant reworking of the brake end gangways and the replacement of several windows with grilles.

 

After spells at Carlisle Kingmoor, Carnforth and Derby Etches Park it was finally retired in the early 2000s. Stored at Throckmorton Airfield, Worcestershire, and then Dalton Transport & Storage, North Yorkshire, as part of the ill-fated Mk.2 Preservation Group project, the gas axe finally caught up with it during the mass clearout of the remaining vehicles from the latter location. It was cut up at CF Booth, Rotherham, in April 2022, but not before donating parts to help bring several other Eastern Rail Services’s Mk.2s back to service in due course.

 

Both coaches will feature the same excellent specification of the main range Accurascale Mark 2c coaches including:

 

-Highly-detailed OO Gauge / 1:76.2 Scale Models on 16.5mm track

-Extremely fine exterior rivet detail on roof and coach ends

-Separately-applied etched metal and high-fidelity plastic parts, including handrails, brake/steam heat pipes, ETH cabling and sockets, footsteps, dummy drophead knuckle coupler, and roof vents

-Prism Free Glazing

-Pre-painted etched metal water filler covers provided for customer to install

-Fully-detailed underframe with numerous separate parts, pipe runs and accurate differences between versions

-The most accurate B4 bogies ever produced, with provision for re-gauging to EM or P4 (18.83mm) gauges

-Blackened RP25.110 profile wheel-sets with 14.4mm back-to-back measurements, and 26mm over pinpoints

-Different buffers for retracted and non-retracted positions

-Accurate interiors with characteristic 'winged' headrests, separate metal interior handrails on the brake and corridor vehicles and fully-detailed guard's compartment

-Correct height NEM standard coupling sockets with mini tension lock couplers and kinematic close-coupling

-Easy conversion to compatible knuckle couplers

-Full lighting package, including

-magnet 'wand' controlled interior lighting

-'Stay-Alive' capacitor in all coaches

-Minimum Radius 438mm (2nd Radius Set-track)

-Coach Length: 269mm

 

These coaches are primed for production and will begin once the Mark 2b production run is complete. They will arrive in stock in Q4 2023 and are the same great price of just £59.95 each and 10% off when you order multiples direct via the Accurascale website.

[25901]

12 hours ago, GD said:

Mk2C 5524 at halifax, not sure if its still there or repainted?

Still there in the lovely rain that Halifax has lol

[Flood]

Slightly off topic but I managed to finish the Mk2C BSO conversion, from an Airfix Mk2D BSO, today. Painting and transfers by Glenn, additional close-up photos are on the Aberdeen Kirkhill thread.

 

 

 

I won't be making another one. Any more we need will be Accurascale ones.

[GordonC]

12 hours ago, Flood said:

Slightly off topic but I managed to finish the Mk2C BSO conversion, from an Airfix Mk2D BSO, today. Painting and transfers by Glenn, additional close-up photos are on the Aberdeen Kirkhill thread.

 

 

 

I won't be making another one. Any more we need will be Accurascale ones.

 

You've done a lovely job of that, really impressive!

[Bucoops]

So, I was toying with getting a Mk2c - but was googling running number to see if any were locally allocated.

 

 

 

What the smeg?! 😵 No I didn't click on it.

[No Decorum]

15 hours ago, Bucoops said:

So, I was toying with getting a Mk2c - but was googling running number to see if any were locally allocated.

 

 

 

What the smeg?! 😵 No I didn't click on it.

Naturally, I did. Waste of time. As for “smeg”, I note that the source of all knowledge for the Southern (the Southern E-Mail Group) has changed the key part of its web address from “SEMG” to “SREMG”. It has stopped my brain autocorrecting it.

[slg]

MK2C samples are now on the website and Facebook

 

https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/nice-2c-progress-mark-2c-decorated-samples-revealed

 

https://www.facebook.com/AccurascaleUK/

 

[Cruachan]

From a comment I saw on Facebook today - yeah, I know that doesn't indicate accuracy - but supported by an early post on this thread, could I just check if the air-con style square toilet window is correct on Regional Railways liveried TSO 5554?

 

As it's been noted previously that they were fitted to second batch vehicles from 5562 onwards. I only have a clear photo of the one other comparable vehicle in the same livery, 5505, but frustratingly it's taken from the non-toilet side.

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by Cruachan

[BrakeCoach]

The departmental Mk2Cs look fantastic. I wonder though, which formation did they run in? I could only find around 4 pictures of the dutch liveried one, but that doesn't really give out their formations.

[alexross42]

A slide I recently acquired shows one of the Mk2c IC BFK's in prototype formation along with a MK1 RMB RBR (corrected - thanks to Flood) and some MK2 aircons on a 1990 cross country service (York to Bristol TM), in case anyone needs their appetite whetted further...

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by alexross42
RBR correction

[Flood]

On 04/12/2023 at 10:38, alexross42 said:

A slide I recently acquired shows one of the Mk2c IC BFK's in prototype formation along with a MK1 RMB and some MK2 aircons on a 1990 cross country service (York to Bristol TM), in case anyone needs their appetite whetted further...

 

Sorry, that's not an RMB it's an RBR.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Flood

[alexross42]

1 hour ago, Flood said:

Sorry, that's nor an RMB it's an RBR.

Thanks - corrected and credited 👍

[MistaMatthews]

Has there been any update about when these will become available?

 

Thanks

[McC]

30 minutes ago, MistaMatthews said:

Has there been any update about when these will become available?

 

Thanks

https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/nice-2c-progress-mark-2c-decorated-samples-revealed

[Roy Langridge]

52 minutes ago, McC said:

https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/nice-2c-progress-mark-2c-decorated-samples-revealed

is the modern day equivalent of telling people to RTFM now RTFW, replacing manual with website?

 

You all have the patience of saints. 
 

Roy

[WILLIAM]

I know our Accurascale friends read this forum - I wondering/hoping a Mk2c FK in Trans-Pennine livery will appear at some point to go with the Mk2b/c TSOs already announced?

[acourtrail]

On 20/10/2023 at 22:10, Cruachan said:

From a comment I saw on Facebook today - yeah, I know that doesn't indicate accuracy - but supported by an early post on this thread, could I just check if the air-con style square toilet window is correct on Regional Railways liveried TSO 5554?

 

As it's been noted previously that they were fitted to second batch vehicles from 5562 onwards. I only have a clear photo of the one other comparable vehicle in the same livery, 5505, but frustratingly it's taken from the non-toilet side.

 

 

5554 was an early build MK2c with the MK2b style toilet windows.  The only later build MK2c TSO that carried either Trans - Pennine or Regional Railways liveries was 5614 (it carried both liveries).

[Cruachan]

30 minutes ago, acourtrail said:

5554 was an early build MK2c with the MK2b style toilet windows.  The only later build MK2c TSO that carried either Trans - Pennine or Regional Railways liveries was 5614 (it carried both liveries).

Thanks for clarifying that.