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

[Southernman46]

Just read the linked article and have recalled just what a great design this loco was - it was a typical application of that SR / BRSR innovation and application that 1st occurred in the LSWR before WW1 and continued right through until about 1990 (and my privilege to be involved with in the early 80's) until it was  clear that privatisation was looming and development was being cut.

[rembrow]

19 hours ago, Phatbob said:

A link please?  My google-fu has failed me and I can't find your post using the search function here. :-(

 

Sorry to divert from the topic, but managed to find one of the original photos I posted before the crash, of my Silver Fox/Hornby Class 74 

[Nova Scotian]

May have missed it, but interested in the provenance of this model.

 

Is this EFE (Bachmann) finishing a commission that went south? Underneath is it Heljan, or Bachmann, or was it never going to be one of those brands? (eg. straight retailer commission). Went off the rails, sitting around designed and maybe even tooled, but without the cash to move to production?

 

Or have EFE designed this from scratch?

 

I know there have been questions on the 142 (not going into those here!), but obviously with this one there is no RTR anywhere else on the market.

 

I'm sure once delivered someone will dig into the chassis design and it will be more obvious where this orginated.

[Oldddudders]

19 minutes ago, rembrow said:

Sorry to divert from the topic, but managed to find one of the original photos I posted before the crash, of my Silver Fox/Hornby Class 74 

The 74 was another example of Southern make-do-and-mend. It provided steam-replacement for other-than-EMU services on the Bournemouth line post July 1967, completing the modernisation of Southern Region, really. And it should have been a corker, as the 71s were reasonably successful on the South Eastern, and Southern understood the principle of electro-diesel, having followed the pioneering 6 JA Class 73s with many more JBs, all great locos. Sadly not. The 74s were dogged with unreliability problems, and it seemed the class had been built by the B-team.

 

None of which would stop any model from being a resounding success - as long as the owner is happy to run a loco that was rather 'less-than'. 

[maico]

On 02/11/2023 at 13:14, Halvarras said:

 

I've seen no evidence that either of these locos ran in green with small yellow panels (quite possible as some Class 33s also skipped this livery so common elsewhere, a symptom of the SR's general tardiness with the yellow paint in the early-mid 1960s) which would make 20002 in green full yellow blue 20001's natural partner.

 

 

D0280 'Falcon' never left Loughborough in lime green with small yellow panels either but we got a model of that nonetheless. Just sayin'.........😜!

 

Only CC3 it seems

[frobisher]

35 minutes ago, Nova Scotian said:

May have missed it, but interested in the provenance of this model.

 

Is this EFE (Bachmann) finishing a commission that went south? Underneath is it Heljan, or Bachmann, or was it never going to be one of those brands? (eg. straight retailer commission). Went off the rails, sitting around designed and maybe even tooled, but without the cash to move to production?

 

Or have EFE designed this from scratch?

 

Most of those factors are irrelevant.

 

Is it a "failed" model "rescued"  by EFE?  If so it is not a failure...  Is it a model that was looking for a commission?  Well it's found it in EFE so job done.  Would it have been made without EFE?  Who knows, but the fact that it has is more important.

 

What we do know is that KMRC have a working relationship with Bachmann through EFE and that has produced some interesting products.  This is another one.

 

[31466]

A few people have mentioned the incorrect red bufferbeams on the blue 20001. I also am pretty sure this is incorrect. A Pretty basic error which affects the model greatly. I have seen multiple pictures of it ex works and well worked and all feature a blue bufferbeam which in itself is a rare colour. The release of this model is a really nice surprise and I'll certainly purchase at least one but unless they correct this mistake sadly a blue one will have to left.

 

I mentioned this to the stand at the Spalding show and the person I spoke to didn't really seem interested and said they are already on their way so too late now. That is true but I hope it can be corrected in the future. Then again I mentioned the incorrect shade of warning yellow on the Colas 70 (Except 801) and they didn't take note of that either! 

[AY Mod]

1 hour ago, Nova Scotian said:

Is this EFE (Bachmann) finishing a commission that went south? Underneath is it Heljan, or Bachmann, or was it never going to be one of those brands? (eg. straight retailer commission). Went off the rails, sitting around designed and maybe even tooled, but without the cash to move to production?

 

Or have EFE designed this from scratch?

 

It's the latter, as already explained in topic; a Kernow/EFE all-new project.

 

Please don't create speculative inaccuracies as I've now spent time, on a day off, addressing wild brain dumps.

[rembrow]

1 hour ago, Nova Scotian said:

May have missed it, but interested in the provenance of this model.

 

Is this EFE (Bachmann) finishing a commission that went south? Underneath is it Heljan, or Bachmann, or was it never going to be one of those brands? (eg. straight retailer commission). Went off the rails, sitting around designed and maybe even tooled, but without the cash to move to production?

 

Or have EFE designed this from scratch?

 

I know there have been questions on the 142 (not going into those here!), but obviously with this one there is no RTR anywhere else on the market.

 

I'm sure once delivered someone will dig into the chassis design and it will be more obvious where this orginated.

I don't think we'll know until it arrives and we see any branding on the model base or the statement ' Distributed on behalf of -----' on the box. EFE operates as a model commissioner or distributor. Recently the LSWR ventilated van in 'oo' was released for the first time under the EFE range, but is branded as a  Kernow model. This was the first model that I can recall, that Kernow released straight to EFE and not initially under it's own box brand. This may be a Kernow model, but we'll have to wait to find out I suspect.

[phil-b259]

52 minutes ago, 31466 said:

A few people have mentioned the incorrect red bufferbeams on the blue 20001. I also am pretty sure this is incorrect. A Pretty basic error which affects the model greatly. I have seen multiple pictures of it ex works and well worked and all feature a blue bufferbeam which in itself is a rare colour. The release of this model is a really nice surprise and I'll certainly purchase at least one but unless they correct this mistake sadly a blue one will have to left.

 

I mentioned this to the stand at the Spalding show and the person I spoke to didn't really seem interested and said they are already on their way so too late now. That is true but I hope it can be corrected in the future. Then again I mentioned the incorrect shade of warning yellow on the Colas 70 (Except 801) and they didn't take note of that either! 

Is it really that hard to paint the offending buffer beams into blue if it bothers you that much?

 

Although it’s obviously not ideal in terms of making post purchase alteration to the livery I would have thought it’s an easy fix which by virtue of where it is is going to be a lot more forgiving if it’s a less than perfect finish compared to alterations other areas.

Edited November 5, 2023 by phil-b259

[Wickham Green too]

7 hours ago, rembrow said:

... This may be a Kernow model, but we'll have to wait to find out I suspect.

Don't forget the bogies were much the same as under Mr.Bulleid's diesels ( less the additional wheelset ) and mounted at exactly the same similar centres - so the internals of a model could have a lot in common.

 

CORRECTION : Though the Southern Way 'Booster' book lists all the 'Hormbys' as 28'6'' bogie centres ( the same as the later diesels ) this is WRONG for the first pair which were centred at 27'6''.

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Wickham Green too
correction

[Halvarras]

1 hour ago, 31466 said:

A few people have mentioned the incorrect red bufferbeams on the blue 20001. I also am pretty sure this is incorrect. A Pretty basic error which affects the model greatly. I have seen multiple pictures of it ex works and well worked and all feature a blue bufferbeam which in itself is a rare colour. The release of this model is a really nice surprise and I'll certainly purchase at least one but unless they correct this mistake sadly a blue one will have to left.

 

I mentioned this to the stand at the Spalding show and the person I spoke to didn't really seem interested and said they are already on their way so too late now. That is true but I hope it can be corrected in the future. Then again I mentioned the incorrect shade of warning yellow on the Colas 70 (Except 801) and they didn't take note of that either! 

 

It's a pity the bufferbeams on the real one weren't black - that would have made the red far easier to correct than having to colour-match the shade of BR blue used on the model. It has to be doable though, as @phil-b259 says at least it's a self-contained area, so to speak.

But it would surely have been simpler for the factory to have painted the 'beams blue in the first place, along with the rest of it.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Halvarras

[adb968008]

Theres references to a Kernow 20001 going back to 2016 in various places on this site.

 

There is a rather prophetic post-in a DJ thread that talks about GT3,  Fell and DHP1 from another manufacturer too, a good year before KR models appeared.

 

 

 

 

[simon b]

7 hours ago, Mr chapman said:

What has really surprised me is how desirable the blue one is. I thought that would be left on the shelf but it's actually a top pick! 

The blue one will be the most popular as it was the most widely travelled on tours, and the last in service. Which means you could just about run it alongside a 74.

[Hroth]

I prefer the BR green version as it goes with my other Southern Region collection...  BTC black* is too early and BR blue too late, so 20002 is going to be my Christmas/New Year present, depending on when it arrives, to myself!

 

* Though I almost weakened as the black livery is sooooo stylish...

 

[31466]

4 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

Is it really that hard to paint the offending buffer beams into blue if it bothers you that much?

 

Although it’s obviously not ideal in terms of making post purchase alteration to the livery I would have thought it’s an easy fix which by virtue of where it is is going to be a lot more forgiving if it’s a less than perfect finish compared to alterations other areas.

I'm not an expert at painting and the thought of painting an intricate area on a £150+ model straight from the box doesn't appeal! I'm sure some people wouldn't think twice about doing it.

Getting the blue to be an exact match for the rest of the body would also be very tricky so I'll either wait for them to do a correct version or simply not get one. Currently working out whether to go for the Southern or BR Green one!

[Wickham Green too]

52 minutes ago, 31466 said:

...  thought of painting an intricate area on a £150+ model straight from the box doesn't appeal! ... Getting the blue to be an exact match for the rest of the body would also be very tricky ...

The buffer beam is in shadow - and probably rather grubby - so an EXACT match won't be too important ( though of course RailPrecisionMatch paints OUGHT to be an exact match straight out of the tinpot ).

 

My £150+ CC1 will probably go straight into the paintshop to be stripped of 'SOUTHERN' and replacement with 'BRITISH RAILWAYS'.

[GeoffBird]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

I prefer the BR green version as it goes with my other Southern Region collection...  BTC black* is too early and BR blue too late, so 20002 is going to be my Christmas/New Year present, depending on when it arrives, to myself!

 

* Though I almost weakened as the black livery is sooooo stylish...

 

 

This is my option too.  I havent seen any dates yet of when they might be available but, I notice that no one has yet commented on the post from Graham Muz :"the SR Boosters, that are currently being shipped to the UK" 

 

Also, ass well as a 21-pin sopcket fprDCC thetre is also a speraker inclufedc as staanard as I read it.  What noises would one get from the loco and is there a sound set being produced?

Edited November 5, 2023 by GeoffBird
additional information

[RFS]

15 minutes ago, GeoffBird said:

 

This is my option too.  I havent seen any dates yet of when they might be available but, I notice that no one has yet commented on the post from Graham Muz :"the SR Boosters, that are currently being shipped to the UK" 

 

I believe a date of January 2024 has been quoted. 

 

EDIT: Bachmann/EFE website says Dec/Jan.

Edited November 5, 2023 by RFS

[phil gollin]

.

 

Well, when this first release sells out (which I hope it does, quickly)  -  I would like a 20001 in BR Green (with roller blind ???)

 

.

[Phatbob]

10 minutes ago, phil gollin said:

.

 

Well, when this first release sells out (which I hope it does, quickly)  -  I would like a 20001 in BR Green (with roller blind ???)

 

.

IIRC (I'd need to check "the book" to be sure) 20001 didn't get a roller blind headcode until the trip to the works from which it emerged in BR Blue.
20002 did appear in plain all over green (no go faster stripe) with roller blind headcode around 1964/5 (again, I'd need to check the book). 

"The book"
 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Phatbob
Typo.

[Nova Scotian]

10 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

It's the latter, as already explained in topic; a Kernow/EFE all-new project.

 

Please don't create speculative inaccuracies as I've now spent time, on a day off, addressing wild brain dumps.

It wasn't speculative inaccuracies - I was asking a question. That's what the question marks were about.

 

And I did not see it explained in the topic, hence my opener "May have missed it, but interested in the provenance of this model.". I went through the eight pages, I was skimming, so I must have missed it.

 

 

 

[stovepipe]

4 hours ago, Phatbob said:

IIRC (I'd need to check "the book" to be sure) 20001 didn't get a roller blind headcode until the trip to the works from which it emerged in BR Blue.
20002 did appear in plain all over green (no go faster stripe) with roller blind headcode around 1964/5 (again, I'd need to check the book). 

"The book"
 

 

It was August 1964 I believe.

 

[No Decorum]

11 hours ago, GeoffBird said:

 

This is my option too.  I havent seen any dates yet of when they might be available but, I notice that no one has yet commented on the post from Graham Muz :"the SR Boosters, that are currently being shipped to the UK" 

 

Also, ass well as a 21-pin sopcket fprDCC thetre is also a speraker inclufedc as staanard as I read it.  What noises would one get from the loco and is there a sound set being produced?

I’ve been looking for one without success. Wheeltappers produce sound projects for such exotica as the Turbomotive and 18100 and are working on the Class 80. The sounds are generic but said to be enhanced with archive recordings, which is likely to be as good as can be expected. I’m keeping an eye on the website. 

[Wickham Green too]

12 hours ago, GeoffBird said:

... What noises would one get from the loco ...

Probably not a LOT different from an E5000 !!?!