EFE Rail - Winter 2023 Announcements inc. Southern 'Booster'

[AY Mod]

Possibly the biggest surprise this Winter comes by way of the EFE Rail range where Bachmann has invested in a suite of brand new tooling to model the Southern Railway Booster locomotives. This pair of pioneering electric locomotives has never been produced in model form before and Bachmann’s tooling covers a timescale of almost thirty years, capturing the various changes and modifications that the real locomotives underwent during this time. Five models make up the launch range catering for Southern Railway and BR Southern Region modellers all the way from the first days in traffic through to the final operations in 1969.

 

E82001    EFE Rail    OO    SR Bulleid Booster CC1 SR Grey    £184.95

E82002    EFE Rail    OO    SR Bulleid Booster CC1 SR Green    £184.95

E82003    EFE Rail    OO    SR Bulleid Booster 20002 BR Black    £184.95

E82004    EFE Rail    OO    SR Bulleid Booster 20002 BR Green    £184.95

E82005    EFE Rail    OO    SR Bulleid Booster 20001 BR Blue     £184.95

Bulleid/Raworth 'Booster' spec.

 

We are delighted to present this brand new model of the Southern Railway ‘Booster’ Electric Locomotive  as part of the EFE Rail OO scale range. Conceived in the late-1930s to take advantage of the Southern’s expansive electrified network, two of these Co-Co locomotives were built, gaining the nickname the ‘Boosters’ due to their motor-generator-flywheel drive arrangement employed to overcome ‘gapping’, when the locomotive could momentarily loose its electrical supply when travelling over gaps in the conductor rail.

 

Produced especially for the EFE Rail range, this all-new model features a wealth of detail with a varied tooling suite allowing the first two locomotives, CC1 and CC2, to be modelled accurately at various points in their careers. Driven by a 5 pole, skew wound motor with flywheel, each of the six axles are driven whilst all twelve wheels provide electrical pickup. Directional lighting will operate in the forwards direction (the real locomotives were not fitted with tail lights), whilst cab lighting can be operated using a magnetic wand when used on analogue control, or when a 21 Pin DCC decoder is fitted, via two DCC functions. A speaker is pre-fitted to every model, allowing a sound decoder to be fitted to bring another dimension to your model in an instant.

 

 

 

E82001 SR Bulleid Booster CC1 SR Grey

Equipped with a 21 Pin DCC Decoder Socket – Recommend Decoder item No. 36-557A

Length 225mm

 

DETAIL VARIATIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS MODEL

·         Small Cab Windows

·         Single Windscreen Wiper

·         Single Whistle

·         Stencil Route Indicator Box

·         Twin-tread Steps between Bogies

·         Original Axle Boxes

·         Five Sandboxes per Bogie

·         Bogie Fuse Boxes

·         T-Shape Shoe Beam Flash Guards

·         Bufferbeam-Mounted Vacuum Pipes

 

E82002 SR Bulleid Booster CC1 SR Green

DETAIL VARIATIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS MODEL

·         Standard Cab Windows

·         Vertical Handrail alongside the Left Hand Cab Window

·         Two Windscreen Wipers

·         Single Whistle

·         Route Indicator Discs

·         Single-tread Steps between Bogies

·         Original Axle Boxes

·         Five Sandboxes per Bogie

·         Bogie Fuse Boxes

·         Square Shoe Beam Flash Guards

·         Standpipe Vacuum Pipes

 

E82003 SR Bulleid Booster 20002 BR Black

DETAIL VARIATIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS MODEL
•    Standard Cab Windows
•    Vertical Handrail alongside the Left Hand Cab Window
•    Two Windscreen Wipers
•    Twin Whistles
•    Route Indicator Discs
•    Twin-tread Steps between Bogies
•    Original Axle Boxes
•    Two Sandboxes per Bogie
•    Bogie Fuse Boxes
•    Square Shoe Beam Flash Guards
•    Cab-front Jumper Cables
•    Standpipe Vacuum Pipes

 

E82004 SR Bulleid Booster 20002 BR Green

DETAIL VARIATIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS MODEL

·         Standard Cab Windows

·         Vertical Handrail alongside the Left Hand Cab Window

·         Two Windscreen Wipers

·         Twin Whistles

·         Route Indicator Discs

·         Twin-tread Steps between Bogies

·         Original Axle Boxes

·         Two Sandboxes per Bogie

·         Square Shoe Beam Flash Guards

·         Standpipe Vacuum Pipes

 

E82005    SR Bulleid Booster 20001 BR Blue

DETAIL VARIATIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS MODEL
•    Standard Cab Windows
•    Vertical Handrail alongside the Left Hand Cab Window
•    Revised Windscreen Wipers
•    Roof-mounted Horns
•    Roller Blind Route Indicator
•    Single-tread Steps between Bogies
•    Roller Bearing Axle Boxes
•    Two Sandboxes per Bogie
•    Square Shoe Beam Flash Guards
•    Standpipe Vacuum Pipes
 

 

EFE RAIL SR BOOSTER SPECIFICATION

MECHANISM:

·         Five pole, skew wound, twin shaft motor with two flywheels providing drive to both bogies

·         All axle drive

·         Electrical pickup from all wheels

·         Separate metal bearings fitted to each axle

·         Diecast metal chassis block

·         Gearing arranged for prototypical running speeds and haulage capabilities

·         16.5mm (OO gauge) wheels to NEM310 & NEM311 standards with authentic ‘Bulleid’ profile and detailing

·         Bogie-mounted coupling pockets to NEM362 standards at each end

·         Designed to operate on curves of second radius (438mm) or greater

DETAILING:

·         Metal Pantograph, sprung for posing in the up or down position

·         Bogies constructed from multiple components featuring full relief detail

·         Separately applied detail parts, including lamp irons, handrails, roof vents and whistles

·         Sprung buffers

·         Cab interior detailing including seats, power handle, brake wheel and dials

·         Each model supplied with a full set of decorated, model-specific bufferbeam pipework and accessory parts

LIGHTING:

·         Directional lighting (forward direction only)

·         Cab lighting, switchable on/off via magnetic wand, or via two separate functions when used on DCC

·         Authentic light colours and temperatures selected for each model based on era and application

DCC:

·         21 Pin DCC decoder interface

SOUND:

·         Speaker installed in all models for optimum sound reproduction

LIVERY APPLICATION:

·         Authentic liveries applied to all models

·         Multiple paint applications employed on each model using SR/BR specification colours

·         Logos, numerals and text added as appropriate using multi-stage tampo printing using authentic typefaces, logos and colours

 

SR ‘BOOSTER’ HISTORY 

The Southern Railway was an early adopter of electric traction, quickly building a network of electrified lines and creating what was once the world’s largest electrified railway system. Electric Multiple Units were principally employed on these electric routes, but as the system expanded beyond the suburbs, the Southern’s Chief Mechanical Engineer Oliver Bulleid and Chief Electric Engineer Alfred Raworth recognised the potential of electricity to power locomotives that could haul coaching stock and freight too. And so, the pair designed a Co-Co electric locomotive, the first of which was built in 1941. The design of the two cabs shared many features with EMUs of the time, whilst between them, within the body of the locomotive, could be found the electrical equipment.

 

With a much shorter distance between their front and rear pickups, when compared to a multiple unit, locomotives could be prone to losing electrical pickup if any gap in the conductor rail was greater than the distance between the pickups – known as ‘gapping’. To overcome this, two motor generator sets and flywheels were included in the design with the power collected from the third rail used to drive the generators, fitted with heavy flywheels, which then powered the motors. Thus, power to the traction motors would be maintained by the motor generator sets being driven by the flywheel when the traction supply was briefly lost in the event of ‘gapping’. These motor-generator-flywheel sets were referred to as ‘Boosters’, giving the type its nickname. Pantographs were also fitted for overhead pickup in sidings and depots where a conductor rail presented danger to staff.

 

The first locomotive, No. CC1 (renumbered to No. 20001 by BR) was outshopped by Ashford Works in 1941. Carrying Photographic Grey livery, three horizontal stripes were applied to the bodysides, culminating at the cab end in what we would now call speed whiskers. Being wartime, the cab windows had metal plates added to the top and bottom to reduce the aperture. Next, No. CC1 carried Malachite Green livery with ‘Sunshine’ Southern lettering and yellow lines at solebar and cantrail level. The second locomotive, No. CC2 (BR No. 20002) was built in 1945 and emerged in the same livery. Both were used on express passenger and goods trains.

 

Passing into BR ownership in 1948, the pair continued in use, with various modifications over the years. A third locomotive, No. 20003 was completed by BR in 1948 however its appearance differed somewhat, having a cab design based on that of more contemporary EMUs with a slab front. Whilst successful locomotives, being a class of three non-standard types, the ‘Boosters’ eventually succumbed to withdrawal with No. 20003 the first to go in October 1968. No. 20002 was withdrawn in December 1968 and No. 20001 survived until January 1969, having been decorated earlier in BR Blue livery with full yellow ends. The trio were classified as Class 70 under the Total Operations Processing System (TOPS), however their withdrawal by 1969, and subsequent scrapping, prevented any of the locomotives from carrying TOPS numbers.

E83023    EFE Rail    OO    Class 143 2-Car DMU 143624 Arriva Trains Wales (Revised)    £249.95

E83032    EFE Rail    OO    Class 144 2-Car DMU 144013 BR Regional Railways    £249.95

E85505    EFE Rail    N    WD Austerity Saddle Tank 195 Longmoor Military Railway Lined Blue    £124.95

E85506    EFE Rail    N    WD Austerity Saddle Tank Army 92 'Waggoner' Army Green    £124.95

E85507    EFE Rail    N    WD Austerity (J94) Saddle Tank 8064 LNER Black (LNER Revised)    £124.95

E85510    EFE Rail    N    WD Austerity Saddle Tank 7 'Robert' National Coal Board Lined Green    £124.95

E87520    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 33 70 9382 061 ECC Blue    £44.95
E87521    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 33 70 9382 065 ECC Blue    £44.95

E87522    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 33 70 9382 068 ECC Blue [W]    £49.95
E87523    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 33 70 9382 072 ECC Blue [W]    £49.95

E87532    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 11627 ECC International White    £44.95
E87533    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 11612 ECC International White    £44.95

E87534    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 11616 ECC International White [W]    £49.95
E87535    EFE Rail    N    PBA Tiger TRL 11620 ECC International White [W]    £49.95

 

[jjb1970]

Well I didn't see the booster coming, 11 out of 10 for this one, back of the net!!

[Graham_Muz]

More details about the SR Boosters and the models can be read here https://southern-railway.com/2023/11/01/Bachmann-announce-the-sr-bulleid-raworth-electric-locomotives-cc1-20001-cc2-20002-as-part-of-their-efe-rail-range-and-the-refurbished-4-cep-joins-the-Bachmann-branchlines-range/

[Erixtar1992]

Strange that the 1959 tube train wasnt discussed! 

[Graham_Muz]

Just now, Erixtar1992 said:

Strange that the 1959 tube train wasnt discussed! 

It is an exclusive for the London Transport museum.

[Erixtar1992]

1 minute ago, Graham_Muz said:

It is an exclusive for the London Transport museum.

Yes i know, doesnt stop them mentioning it lol

[Geep7]

Wow, wasn't expecting a Booster to be announced. The BR Blue one does seem rather tempting.

[No Decorum]

A Class 70 electric! Wonderful!

[woodenhead]

16 minutes ago, Erixtar1992 said:

Yes i know, doesnt stop them mentioning it lol

That would be like them announcing a Kernow 20003 Booster.

[Trofimow]

I'd been expecting someone would do the booster sooner or later.

Pleased to see who has picked it up.

[ndg910]

I was wondering how long it might be before we saw the SR Raworth Boosters. We have just about every other prototype loco post WW2 - Bulleid Diesels, Fell, 18000,181000, Leader (I know its not released), etc in 00 Gauge and these were the obvious missing candidates. I didnt expect EFE Rail to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat but having thought it through, I guess there is some link up with Graham Muspratt of this parish and Kernow.

 

I for one was not expecting Bachmann/EFE Rail but I see them as a safe pair of hands for this and well done for a good choice.

[Oldddudders]

It must have been about 1971, well after these electric locos had been withdrawn, that the Norwood Yard Downside Numbertaker, giving me the consist for the 00 34 Norwood to Brighton freight, gave the loco number as CC1, and chuckled. It was in fact no doubt an EDL. CC1 had been renumbered to 20001 more than 20 years before. 

[Jeremy Cumberland]

46 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

Conceived in the late-1930s to take advantage of the Southern’s expansive electrified network, two of these Co-Co locomotives were built, gaining the nickname the ‘Boosters’ due to their motor-generator-flywheel drive arrangement employed to overcome ‘gapping’, when the locomotive could momentarily loose its electrical supply when travelling over gaps in the conductor rail.

I'd only ever heard them called "Hornbies", but I suppose that isn't a nickname that Bachmann/EFE wish to advertise.

[No Decorum]

26 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

That would be like them announcing a Kernow 20003 Booster.

Oh boy! That would be excellent!

[Graham_Muz]

7 minutes ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

I'd only ever heard them called "Hornbies", but I suppose that isn't a nickname that Bachmann/EFE wish to advertise.

 

Both nicknames were used, the loco crews did tend to use the name 'Hornby's' 

[Graham_Muz]

1 minute ago, No Decorum said:

Oh boy! That would be excellent!

 

Calm down...  the changes between the Wardle loco and the first two does not lend itself to being produced as part of the CC1/2 tooling suite...

[The Stationmaster]

Great to see that 'the Hornby' (aka Booster) has made it into the public arena  and it looks like the time spent getting it here has been very well spent.  Excellent job Mr Muz, it really looks the business.

 

PS Does this announcement remove the log jam please?

Edited November 1, 2023 by The Stationmaster

[phil gollin]

.

 

Excellent choice of subject, thanks.

 

The front/rear of these locos are very like the 4-CORs, and the liveries frome Southern through to BR Blue are very similar  -  so your next choice is obvious (!)

 

(  Or, of course, you could do an LSWR  T3  first,  of course.)

 

.

[C126]

Three cheers for a wholly new item!  I will support them with the excuse of a homage to my late father, who built this from a kit and then had Mum drop a box-file on top of it one day...  Except mine will be rail blue.

[No Decorum]

26 minutes ago, Graham_Muz said:

 

Calm down...  the changes between the Wardle loco and the first two does not lend itself to being produced as part of the CC1/2 tooling suite...

All right, I’ve calmed down. I know CC3 was noticably different but I would still like love one. I know the price of models is a hot topic and a lot of people are sick hearing about it but I do notice that the price of these compares very favourably to the Class 80 being done by Heljan for Rails. What’s more, these have retailer discounts whereas the Rails locomotives haven’t. Very well done, EFE and Graham Muz!

[Peter749]

Just came across the announcement of the Bullied Booster Electrics

I have had a resin version for some time but its just about ok using a Hornby Class 40 motor and the resin bogies were not very good at staying attached.

 

Ordered 20001 in Blue and this will be so much better :)

 

Peter

[RFS]

Very pleased to see these available and have ordered a 20002 in black as it's the same era as my diesel 10203.  Do these new models have similar options for customising disc head codes as do the diesels?

[Graham_Muz]

2 minutes ago, RFS said:

Very pleased to see these available and have ordered a 20002 in black as it's the same era as my diesel 10203.  Do these new models have similar options for customising disc head codes as do the diesels?

 

The model's depending on version come with user fitted open or closed discs, alternative route stencils or roller blinds.  

[cctransuk]

Right - as we appear to be clearing out the late SR 'oddities', who is game for 11001?

 

Built under SR / BR(SR), it also appeared on BR(ER) for a period.

 

We are getting to the point where all of the early, non-steam motive power that ran under BR has been covered - it would be a shame to miss this one!

 

(Yes, Mr. Edge, I do have your kit for 11001 to build, but I'm biddng for those who don't / won't build kits).

 

CJI.

Edited November 1, 2023 by cctransuk

[Graham_Muz]

2 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

Right - as we appear to be clearing out the late SR 'oddities', who is game for 11001?

 

Built under SR / BR(SR), it also appeared on BR(ER) for a period.

 

We are getting to the point where all of the early, non-steam motive power that ran under BR has been covered - it would be a shame to miss this one!

 

(Yes, Mr. Edge, I do have your kit for 11001 to build, but I'm biddng for those who don't / won't build kits).

 

CJI.

 

I have the Judith Edge kit to build as well, so don't need another, so read into that what you will...