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Forthcoming Bachmann Cravens DMU


cctransuk

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Thinks there's a picture of one in a Bradford Barton book at Callendar on the 6 lochs railtour , before the Callendar and Oban closed down - obviously!

 

I'm not sure if they were in Scotland for long. Certainly around Glasgow they disappeared for a while , only to come back in the early 80s., I think because a fire at Ayr DMU depot had destroyed some of the native dmus. I remember being in one of them, it was certainly very down at heel and the vibration something awfull! :)

 

Sorry just checked! In fact the Bradford Barton book shows the Cravens arriving at Aberdeen! They were used there on local services to Fraserburghfor a while. Sure there's a picture somewhere of one at Callendar :unsure:

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Sorry just checked! In fact the Bradford Barton book shows the Cravens arriving at Aberdeen! They were used there on local services to Fraserburghfor a while. Sure there's a picture somewhere of one at Callendar :unsure:

Yes it's not long since I was looking at a website with loads of pics of Green liveried ones in the NE - perhaps the GNoSR Association or similar?

 

They were certainly about Hamilton in the 60s, working around the Glasgow and Lanarkshire areas, don't know how long they lingered as electrification spread and Beeching's axe struck.

 

Haymarket certainly had them late in their careers from what little I know - I believe HA was the shed that painted the (few) blue/grey set(s). Brian Daniels has picture(s) of these units IIRC on his fotopic site.

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Out of curiosity, when did the exhaust conversions begin on these units? I'm tempted to get a Blue example (which i'll backdate to include headcode displays) to run on my NE region layout in a late 60s/early 70s setting, probably under the pretence that it's 'on transfer' from Finsbury Park in return for a couple of 101s. After all, FGW have recently employed similar logic with their Pacers... But the Railcar site seems reluctant to provide an approximate time for the conversion.

 

Any ideas?

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Batch 1:

7 Norwich

8 Finsbury Park

16 Hull Botanic Gdns

5 Bletchley

 

Batch 2:

19 Accrington

8 + 1DBMS Newton Heath (several withdrawals amongst these)

 

Batch 3:

5 Norwich

35 Finsbury Park

7 Lincoln

+ 1DTCL Hull Botanic Gdns

 

Batch 4:

2 Finsbury Park

20 + 1DMBS Hamilton

 

Batch 5:

1DMBS Norwich

 

On that basis I've cancelled my pre-order for the first Bachmann ER-allocated Cravens release. If they ever do the LMR-allocated Cravens power twins then I'll buy one.

 

An ER-based twin unit was never going to be a believable component of an S&D DMU excursion, as photographed by Ivo.

 

So far I have a Hornby (Lima) Metro-Cammell 3-car set and a Bachmann Derby 2-car set.

 

Suggestions that Bachmann are actively preparing an original Derby Lightweight have persuaded me to wait for something more appropriate - there is photographic evidence of these on the S&D.

 

Let's hope that the rumours are true !!

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

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I'm not sure if they were in Scotland for long.

 

Oh, only 20 years or so; from the introduction of Batch 4 (see the Railcar link* earlier in the thread) in 1959, until probably the late 70s when the ScR started to standardise on 3-car DMU formations. Some were formed into bodged sets with a DTCL between two MBSs, and as Jamie says, a few were around long enough to receive blue/grey.

 

Certainly around Glasgow they disappeared for a while , only to come back in the early 80s., I think because a fire at Ayr DMU depot had destroyed some of the native dmus.

 

The sets that worked from Ayr in the mid 80s would have been castoffs from various places; the depot fire was one factor and there were also concurrent axle problems on the cl. 107s

 

* The Bachmann model is of the wrong van layout for Batch 4 sets - again, see earlier posts

 

 

 

Suggestions that Bachmann are actively preparing an original Derby Lightweight... Let's hope that the rumours are true !!

 

Not sure whether that has any factual basis John, but certainly when the 108 was first produced, it was very quickly mooted that most (not all) of the original sets are largely identical aft of the cab doors

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The exhaust pipe mod was done in the late 70's . The mod varied from batch to batch,due some vehicles only having a single small expansion box fitted to the exhaust system, where as others had two. When modified the small expansion box was retained and the rear silencer added, however some got a second expansion box and no van end silencer.

 

The Scottish had some of batch 4 delivered brand new most went to Aberdeen for use on the various branches, Dundee got a couple for the services such Dundee- Tayport. A few where also at Hamilton, this is where most of the units ended up before the ScR got shut of them to the ER. I believe Haymarket retained one for some time, and it was joined by some ER and LMR cast-offs. One of the these DMBS even received blue grey livery.

 

Regards

Al Taylor

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Guest Max Stafford

I'm pretty certain that I went from East Kilbride to Central on that particular combo round about the time of that photo. I definitely remember at least one Cravens unit doing the rounds on the EK branch then. I also remember a 122 being part of a formation too once in '78-'79.

 

Dave.

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Just discussing the pre-production 105 pictures with a friend of mine who wants an early style green livery one.

 

He saw the external exhaust pipes on the pre-production picture and hoped that these would be left off the older style, green liveried model, as the pipes were not external on these.

 

Does anyone know if this is the case? I know there is some info above about exhaust modification, but I was just wondering whether this meant external exhausts on the later style, blue livery 105 (as per the pre-production picture) and internal exhausts on the early style, green livery 105?

 

I've had a look around on the Internet for pictures but this isn't an area of a DMU that is photographed very often.

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Just discussing the pre-production 105 pictures with a friend of mine who wants an early style green livery one.

 

He saw the external exhaust pipes on the pre-production picture and hoped that these would be left off the older style, green liveried model, as the pipes were not external on these.

 

Does anyone know if this is the case? I know there is some info above about exhaust modification, but I was just wondering whether this meant external exhausts on the later style, blue livery 105 (as per the pre-production picture) and internal exhausts on the early style, green livery 105?

 

 

Given that Bachmann havent actually mentioned any liveries yet, that's impossible to answer with certainty, but a betting man might expect the initial introductions to be as you suggest (although a blue unit still with internal exhausts and operational headcode would of course be quite correct)

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According to the Bachmann website, liveries will be:

 

31-325 Class 105 2 Car DMU BR Blue Yellow Ends

31-326 Class 105 2 Car DMU BR Green With Speed Whiskers

31-327 Class 105 2 Car DMU BR Green With Half Yellow Ends

 

but not what body styles these will be applied to.

 

Oh, my apologies, I hadnt realised they'd done that. Still (applying a tad of logic here), you'd expect the blue 'un to utilise the later-style body - otherwise, why bother developing it

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Sorry just checked! In fact the Bradford Barton book shows the Cravens arriving at Aberdeen! They were used there on local services to Fraserburghfor a while. Sure there's a picture somewhere of one at Callendar :unsure:

 

But there are a number of photos of Cravens units (presumably the sets that were allocated to Hamilton at the time - see the class history on the Railcar website) in the January 2006 Railway Bylines magazine showing them on Six Lochs or similar railtours on the C&O, mostly the pictures show Killin, but there are also two of Callendar and one of a train on the Crianlarich chord. The photos are from 30 March 1959 (this was the inaugural "Six Lochs" and so quite well photographed), and from 21 August 1960, by which time Swindon Class 120 units were also being used (but not on the same days).

 

The Cravens units were also used on the Craigendoran to Arrochar service from 1961 (when the railbuses moved away) until 1965 when the service was discontinued and Rhu and Shandon stations closed.

 

So there's pleanty of justification for a green one on a layout set on the southern part of the West Highland!

 

Regards

Jim

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Last week I invested in the Jim Grindlay DMU allocation book 1948-68, to research Leith Central units '66-'68 for Lessismore.

 

Signature Waverley Route units seem from photos to be 64H Met-Cam and Gloucester power-trailer sets, on the northern half, and 12B Derby Lightweights the south. What I wanted to prove to my own staisfaction, given that Gloucesters and Lightweights aren't available RTR: that a Cravens twin is feasible as far as Hawick, based on the pic of one I have working the Corstorphine branch.

 

Seemingly set SC51478 + 56467 was allocated to Leith Central in 1967 during a spell away from Aberdeen. This presumably could be the unit pictured in the Edinburgh suburbs, and it may well have been diagrammed interchangeably with the rest. That's good enough for me, and will give variety amid my 101-dominated fleet.

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