British N Scale resources and manufacturers

[Kiran]

I am finally getting around to figuring out my UK train collection. I am glad to see both Graham Farish and Dapol getting into producing more N scale passenger trains, especially DMUs. In addition to Virgin Pendolino and Class125 (with class 43 locos), I have the following on order:

CLASS 170/3 170308 SOUTH WEST TRAINS 2-CAR DMU
By Graham Farish 

Class 121 020 Chiltern Railways Blue 

Class 101 2-Car DMU BR Blue & Grey DCC Sound
Class 150/2 2-Car DMU 150236 Arriva Trains Wales (Revised) DCC Sound

Class 142 Pacer Mock Great Western Chocolate & Cream 2 Car DMU No.142022

Class 56xx GWR Unlined Green (Great Western Lettering) 0-6-2 Tank Locomotive No.6671

Class 153 153302 Wessex Trains Black/Gold DCC Fitted
Class 153 153323 Arriva Trains DCC FITTED

Class 450 4-Car EMU No. 450073 in South West Trains livery

 

What I really want is Class 165 or 166 in FGW or GWR livery. I used to take those from Reading to Maidenhead to get to work.

 

P.S: I guess Revolution Trains need to be added to the list of manufacturers in the first post.

[Welshbloke]

You may or may not be impressed with the Pacer. I know I wouldn't have been happy paying full price for one. The windows aren't deep enough and it looks drastically overscale compared to my other Dapol DMUs. Mine was an impulse buy for £50 in pretty much unused mint condition.

 

What's annoying is that they spent ten years developing it and were warned about these errors when they unveiled the very first set of CAD drawings. They completely ignored the advice, when even a quick comparison of the side view to a photograph of the real thing would have proven the fault...

[disturbman]

More pictures of the upcoming Class 800s have been released.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SHPakNai2q6wscjR9 (pitcures courtesy of N-Gauge information, link courtesy of @roadstar_na6)

The Azuma looks a lot better than I had expected.

Edited March 17, 2021 by disturbman

[railsquid]

Hmm, why are the windows in one half of the cab cars blocked off?

[disturbman]

It's a bi-mode train (diesel and electric).

[railsquid]

Aha! I am not very up-to-date with modern British trains... Mind you that's a typical half-assed British railway policy decision of the kind which gave us 3rd-rail Eurostar... I shall probably buy one anyway to encourage Kato,  likely the red version as I like it more.

Edited March 17, 2021 by railsquid

[matt_d10]

The blocked out windows on the LNER version are where the first class kitchen is! The engines are underfloor I believe. GWR have bi-modes too with no blocked windows. Looks like a nice model for sure! 

[disturbman]

You are right, it's a "crew and kitchen" area: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0aOBNiWkAAP3Rg.png  British ICs have a dedicated lunch service for the first class?

The GWR also has three blocked windows: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pwakely/47930583541/

 

[matt_d10]

Nice spot, didn't realise GWR had it too! LNER brought catering back to compete with the west coast operators. Usually a free meal is served during the week when fares are higher. In the past I've found cheap "advance" first class fares when travelling, which is a nice find when you get a dinner and a few gin and tonics!

[Welshbloke]

The bi-mode bit varies between operators.

 

GWR sets are intended to run at line speed on diesel, as they still haven't electrified the entire network these run on.

 

LNER set diesels are more like an aircraft APU, if the power goes off the lights/heating/aircon/toilets will still work, and the train can move at around 20mph to the nearest station. Saves the problems which have occurred with electric units stuck in the middle of nowhere with no rescue locos and increasingly hacked-off passengers, who are overheating or freezing and need the loo.

 

In the unlikely event of the GWR network being fully electrified they may well remove excess diesel engines and have something like the LNER setup. At this rate that'll be for the replacements of whatever replaces the 800s, some time in the 2090s!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

The biggest problem with the bi-modes is they have effectively killed off major electrification projects for the foreseeable future in the UK. Much cheaper to run a fleet of bi-modes than electrify deep into the west country for example... 

 

That said, they're nice-looking sets. I have an LNER set in order myself.