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Accurascale

Andrew Barclay Tanks Complete And Due In Stock Very Shortly!

18. okt. 2024 Richard Watson

Great news! The production of the Andrew Barclay tanks, originally announced by Hattons Model Railways, and taken over by Accurascale earlier this year, is now complete! These popular and colourful locos offer a wealth of small and large layout possibilities in industrial settings and can inspire a whole need creative direction for your modelling. Check out the latest production samples below! These locomotives are already on their way to us and will land with customers in early/mid November! Fancy one, or another one? Order yours for just £99.95 direct only via the link below, while stocks last! Pre-Order Your Andrew Barclay Here

ICI Bogie Limestone Hoppers Return In OO/4mm Gauge

23. sep. 2024

Hattons Original favourites, the ICI Bogie Limestone hoppers join the Accurascale Exclusive lineup! Yes, We've managed to secure another of the tooling suites from ex-retailer Hattons in the form of the extremely popular ICI Bogie hoppers, joining our 'Moving Britain' range. History The ICI bogie limestone hopper was one of the first bulk bogie hoppers built, with the design dating as far back as 1931 with the LMS. The Vacuum only wagons were ordered by ICI Limited to transport crushed limestone from Tunstead quarry in Derbyshire (Peak Forest), to the Soda Ash plants at Northwich in Cheshire. Each wagon could carry 43.5 tonnes, the gross weight being 66.5 tonnes. They take the historical distinction of being the first ‘block freight’ train. A total of 152 wagons were built by Charles Roberts in Horbury between 1936 and 1953 in three batches, the first batch of 84 wagons numbered 3200-3283, the second batch of 36 in 1945 numbered 3284-3319, and the final batch 3320-3351 in 1951. With a working lifespan of 62 years, these wagons became part of the Peak District scenery and were very robustly built workhorses. The fleet had a few subtle differences, the most obvious being the ICI plate lettering on the hopper sides, 3200-3283 had the smaller type, and 3284-3319 having the larger lettering. As time went on, the lettering was removed completely on overhaul but the odd wagon managed to keep it or retain the scars from where it used to be. Generally the wagons were in pretty good condition up until the end of their working lives. The ‘BSC’ Iron Ore hoppers. These 123 ‘unfitted’ wagons followed on from the ICI hoppers and were built between 1952-1958 for John Summers and were very similar in design. The biggest tell tale is they are 5.6 inches shorter than the ICI wagons so are easily spotted in a rake because they are lower in height. The wagons passed to British Steel in the 1970s, and by 1980 were becoming surplus from British Steel Shotton. With perfect timing, BR was obliged to replace 13 wagons which were lost in accidents and scrapped between 1980-82, and ICI purchased most of the remaining wagons to increase capacity, also adding vacuum brakes and ICI lettering. The remaining purchased wagons (around 90) were used as a source of spares which surrendered their newer plate style bogies to the original build of 84 ICI hoppers built with diamond open frame bogies to standardise the fleet. The surplus BSC hoppers were sold as internal users or scrapped. These ex-BSC hoppers were mixed in with the ICI fleet and survived until the end, and the original Baldwin diamond frame bogies had all been replaced by the mid 1980s. The wagons have seen a variety of traction over the years, being hauled by LMS and BR 4F and 8F locomotives, followed by the Sulzer Type 2s (Class 24/25s) into the 1980s. Pairs of Class 20s were trialled from 1982 and by 1985 had seen some braking modifications. This led to a new subclass being created in 1986, the Class 20/3, and featured further braking modifications (not to be confused with the Class 20/3 conversions for DRS) but the subclass and conversion project was dropped by late 1986 replaced by single Class 47s. This gave way to the famous pairs of Class 37s hauling these trains across the Derbyshire scenery. Other classes such as 3F, 9F, Co-Bo, 31, 40, and 45 lending a hand too. Wagon rakes varied from 11 in the early 8F days, to 24-28 with a pair of Class 37s up front. The wagons remained in service into the 1990s, usually hauled by a pair of Class 37s, withdrawal from mainline duties came in December 1997. The main reason for their withdrawal apart from their age was that the entire fleet were vacuum brake only, and EWS were unable to commit to providing reliable pairs of Class 37s as the years went on. Classes 56 and 60 were air brake only and no use for this traffic flow, and with the Class 66 invasion planned, the situation wasn’t going to change. Comment was made by one of the scrapyards that these wagons were so solidly built they were very difficult to cut up, and still had lots of life left in them. A credit to Charles Roberts build quality all those years ago. The wagons were replaced from 1997 by redundant two axle PGA hoppers dating from 1979-1981, hauled by pairs of Class 37s or a single Class 60. Several ICI Hoppers are preserved in various places, both ICI and BSC types being represented. The Model A welcome addition to the 00 gauge ready-to-run scene when first released, these bogie hopper wagons formed part of the "Hattons Originals" range and have been highly sought since previous production runs sold out. Decoration samples are now complete with the first samples having arrived for assessment. While the models are shaping up nicely feedback on fit and finish will be triple-checked before being signed off. Our ICI bogie hoppers will be sold in 15 twin packs, 5 packs each for three eras; 1950s - 1973, 1973 - 1992 and 1992 - 1997, priced at £79.95 per pack. Delivery is anticipated for Q2 2025. We're offering the usual 10% off when you buy two packs or more, along with a new offer of 15% when you buy 5 or more packs direct from our website. Pre-order yours today for no money down via the link below.Pre-Order Your ICI Bogie Limestone Hoppers Here!

DCRail 60055 'Thomas Barnardo' joins our Exclusives Range!

17. sep. 2024

The announcement of our Class 60 locomotives has certainly piqued the interest among modellers as sales of these Mountain movers have defied even our lofty expectations, with well over 80% of the first run selling through! Today we can confirm the final piece in our line up for Run one, as we announce Accurascale exclusive 60055 'Thomas Barnardo' in DCRail colours. Some of you will have seen this model already in our launch video as it was originally penned in to be our charity special. Unfortunately, that has not been possible this time however keep a close eye on Run 2... 60055 was completed at the Brush locomotive works in Loughborough in 1991 and accepted by British Rail on the 15th of May that year. It Rolled out of the works the smart, triple grey Railfreight livery, wearing the black and yellow diamonds to denote its coal sector allocation. 60055 was named Thomas Barnardo from new, a name it would carry for the rest of its working life. Thomas Barnardo (1845 – 1905) was an Irish born philanthropist. He was born in Dublin and moved to London in 1868 in an attempt to save and educate destitute children following a cholera outbreak. From his first orphanage he set up in 1870 a further 121 were opened by his death in 1905, caring for around 60,000 children. Barnardo’s legacy was to establish the children’s charity in his name that is still very much active today. The locomotive bearing his name continued to work for the coal sector until under the “shadow franchise” period it became part of the Transrail fleet, this meant in 1995 it lost its coal sector markings in place of the Transrail “big T”. Soon ownership passed to EW&S Railways in 1996 but 60055 did not receive an updated livery for another decade until 2006 when the “big T” was covered by the iconic EWS “Three Beasties logo”. Unfortunately, 60055 did not last long in this condition as it was placed in to storage at Toton in November 2008 as part of EWS’ reduction in operational fleet. Moved by rail to Crewe in 2009, this is where 60055 would spend the next decade of its life before being purchased by DCR and moved by road back to Toton for a full overhaul. In November 2019 60055 worked its first revenue train in multiple with class leader 60001 as a test run from Toton to Boston on the steel train. Still in tatty triple grey livery, it had yet to visit the paint shop to gain its new coat of single grey to indicate its new ownership.DCR are notable for having impeccably clean locomotives and 60055 is no different. One of four operational class 60’s in the fleet, it can be seen working in rotation around many of their aggregate contracts and is always kept looking its best by the staff. The latest chapter in 60055’s story came during late 2023 when it was fitted with the latest BMAC LED style headlights as seen on our model. The Decoration sample shown will have numerous tweaks before arriving, including the addition of all-black buffer faces, not to mention a highly collectable custom box! Production is well underway so pre-ordering 60055 is advised, Don't miss out on this wonderful exclusive; pre-order below in DC/DCC Ready specification for just £169.99 or DCC Sound Fitted for £269.99 with free UK postage and packaging below! Pre-Order Your DCRail 60055 Class 60s By Clicking Here!