apollo 079

It cannot be 45008 for the reason I have stated and a 45/1 would require surgery to rrskin the area of the bodyside where the footsteps were, also the roof area would require some extra work. As has been noted before, no manufacturer has yet produced a correctly detailed class 45/1. Kevin

Given the model they had, if they wanted to renumber it to an un-named 45/0 the options were severely restricted because of the lower bodyside grille and the sealed beams. The only options would have been 45019/26/56. 008 would be no good as it had central headcode boxes to its withdrawal. Kevin

or alternatively, "sea", if I remember correctly. Kevin

As I said before, 046 comes with backing plates but no crests. If you fit the back plates they will cover over the Tindley white rose emblems.

Ok here goes, 022 comes with red backed nameplates, no backing etch as obviously LSA did not have crests. 040 comes with red backed 'plates, blue back panel but no crests. 041 comes with blue backed plated with blue backing panel but only one has a crest. O46 comes with blue backed 'plates plus backing panel but no crests. Finally 049 has red backed 'plates with blue backing panel and both crests. Also of note 040 has no electrification flashes, 041, 046 and 049 have cab door handle back plates picked out in silver, the other two are blue. And of course 022 and 041 have the additional trapezoid grille below the long body grille, as per prototype. Hope this helps. Kevin

As a reminder from an earlier post of mine, all class 46s had the lower body panel replaced by a grille, as did 45008/19/22/6/41/56/102-9,12,4/21-2/34 and 45141. No peaks had the grille plated over, the lower bodyside grille was a modification. Kevin

Not forgetting D870 ZULU with the 'Whizzo style' cab roof air horn cowlings ;) Kevin

Hi all I had a chat with one of the reps in the BCC members' club lounge yesterday. There are two EPs on display in the cases, the one shown above has the original trapezoid access panel below the long bodyside grille, which is correct for 45040/46/49.The other is identical except that it has the trapezoid grille in place of the panel, correct for 45022/41. Note that neither has the square moulding which was noted on an EP at a previous exhibition). Improvements noted include wire handrails on the noses (previously these were moulded), single-piece nose side grilles with hinges, a better representation of plated over footsteps (these appear to be moulded now rather than separate fittings), the rectangular access panel on one side is depicted by moulding rather than tampo printing and the holes above the bogie pivots on the bottom of the bodyside are correctly depicted as plated over. It was also confirmed that the loco will have working sealed beam marker lights and tail lights. This I believe covers all the improvements which were promised in a previous conversation with a one of his colleagues at DEMU. The plan for delivery has been moved back, so they are now looking at end of 2020 or possibly early 2021. Hope this helps. Kevin

Sorry, that's not correct. The orange end; as Mark says above; indicated the end with a rotary coupling, so all of the inners and half of the outers were orange at one end. Also for obvious reasons the orange ends all faced the same way. Kevin

Both sets are on the website now. Search Manufacturers, Cavalex and you will find them. Running numbers are:- Pack A 910026/75/45 Pack B 910161/267/342. Kevin

As was 046. But Royal Fusilier's painted name was on a blue background (with Tinsley white rose in place of the regimental badge). The actual 'plates had a red background when they had been in place (when loco was blue with sealed beams). Will Bachmann print the name on blue? I doubt it. Kevin

E-mail from Oxford confirms it will be 12014 and 12030 (in ScotRail).

Of the 45s so far announced by Heljan in the standard range, only 45106 had the trapezoid grilles fitted. Locos with the grilles were (original numbers):- D11/8/21/33/43/51/3/9/60/1/82/5/6/90/1/4/106/16/20/6 TOPS numbers:- 45008/19/22/6/41/56/102-9/12/4/21/2/34/41. As far as is known, no other 45s ever carried trapezoid grilles. This was a modification (see above) which was made to all 56 class 46s and just the above 20 class 45s. 45119 is not in the above list, so the model should be a standard one with the original trapezoid access panel. Kevin

Another typo now corrected. Is was of course 45134; not 143; which retained WR and LMR headboard brackets but not the horizontal handrails. That is all for tonight.

That's right, the later 45122 of course.

Ok, edited my response to suit. My guess is the additional ventilation proved to be of little or no benefit, so they cancelled the mod, which was what I suspected. Reminds me of the headcode box mods on a few late English 24s. Also done by Derby at around the same time...

That makes sense as only 20 class 45s received trapezoid grilles. Derby obviously decided the mod was not required so left the rest of the 45s as they were built. Quite a few 45s received single piece centre headcode boxes at Derby, including 45001/11/5/6/8/24/6, all early split box built machines.

Yes, I think a few were done at Derby so they didn't receive grilles. Some mods at one end would be crash repairs, like no1 end of 44009. This seems to have been a whole new cab since it had shorter handrails at that end. But I digress.

Sorry, typo, should be 46049, not 46047. Will correct. Also will add 45071 to the list. I was confused by a photo which was stated as 45071 but can't be because it has a trapezoid grille. Kevin

That's interesting, I have noticed that the 45s which received the trapezoid grille also had their headcode boxes modified to single piece, suggesting that Brush were most likely responsible for those as well. That explains a great deal.

One more thing to note. The modification of the headcode boxes of D138-173 seems to have been concurrent with the replacement of the trapezoid panels with grilles. At least I have found no photos of a Brush Peak with divided centre boxes and trapezoid grilles. Again, unless of course..... Kevin

Yes, which is why it was the only 45/1 not to have a centre headlight fitted. I didn't mention that as I assumed everyone knew about that. Photos of the less damaged end of the loco show that the top headboard bracket (sometimes referred to as a lamp bracket) was still in place. As far as I know 147 was the only peak to run in that condition. Unless of course..... Kevin

Interesting, it looks like only the blue split box 45s (45053/120) seem to have this printing. 45048 models did not and neither, surprisingly, did 45036. I would hope that the new 45s will include this feature either as a moulding or possibly as an etch. Kevin

The following is a summary of class 45/46s which for one reason or another did not have the standard sealed beam fronts at withdrawal:- 45025/7/47/53/61 retained outside split headcode boxes to withdrawal 45032/5/6 retained twin centre headcode boxes to withdrawal 45008/18/24/67 and 46005/12/20/4/37/41 retained single centre headcode boxes to withdrawal 45043/71* and 46016/49 has sealed beam lights but retained handrails and both WR and LMR headboard brackets to withdrawal 45134 had sealed beam lights but retained the WR and LMR headboard brackets to withdrawal 45147 had sealed beam lights but retailed the LMR headboard brackets to withdrawal. All class 45/1s except 45147 carried the central headlight before withdrawal, though 45109 was not in this condition very long before it became the second eth peak to be withdrawn. * 45071 also had smaller than standard marker lights, also fitted to the bonnet end of 20228. Hope this helps. Kevin

To confirm, as I posted on the Bachmann thread last week, the 45s with grilles in the place of the original trapezoid shaped access panel were (TOPS numbers) 45008/19/22/26/41/56/102-9/12/4/21/2/34/41. All others retained the original access panel. Also all Brush machines (which became class 46) were built with the trapezoid access panels, but most if not all had the panels replaced with grilles in the 1960s, many whilst still GSYP. Certainly all 46s had trapezoid grilles at withdrawal. Kevin