British train designs

[Siwi]

A side project of the 2 HAP was the second and third life of some of these driving units, which were converted firstly into luggage vans for the Gatwick Express airport shuttle, and then into departmental unpowered de-icing units, which sprayed anti-ice solution and grit onto tracks in winter. One such GLV (Class 489) currently still works for Arlington Fleet Group just up the road from me in Eastleigh works. I'm going to provide the template as a free model.

[Siwi]

Continuing the Mark 1 family, the Class 421 '4 CIG' is in an advanced stage of design with a carriage body test built here. The designation has nothing to do with smoking, instead it is a code for 'Corridor, BrIGhton lines'. The front end of these required accomodating cutouts where the jumper cables were stowed, and I also tried optional relief parts for the windows, which were bolted to the outside on the real thing. The model will be released in BR blue-grey, Network SouthEast, the infamous Connex white/yellow, and the rare New Southern green and turquoise, which is a nod to the old Southern Region green.

All that remains for these is to design the non powered bogies, and finalise the underside frames, which will include some optional relief details.
Drawing the new bogies will also facilitate the release of some more 3 CEP, 4 CEP and 4 BEP sets.

[Don Boose]

Excellent models, Simon, and I enjoyed seeing your bookshelf railway.

Don

[Siwi]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Excellent models, Simon, and I enjoyed seeing your bookshelf railway.

Don

I have looked at that shelf more than once and thought 'hmm, there's space to run a train into a platform or have a shunting puzzle in N gauge up there...just find some second hand stock on ebay, make buildings from card...' Maybe it's feasible to mount some of these kits on rolling wagon bases and motorise them. In OO or HO scale it's possible to make rolling wheels and track from card.

[Siwi]

The test build of the 4 CIG is almost done, with only small details to add such as buffers and shoegear. I see that it was nearly a month ago I started this, but with four carriages to build and new parts to design such as the recessed cable housing and new bogies, a thorough test build with revisions was quite necessary. The trains require two and a half different bogie designs; regular, regular with current pickups, and motors.

This unit is in a colour scheme I only saw briefly in a train simulator add-on but liked a lot, and with small differences is still in use on Southern's current modern stock. It was rare as only about six units were painted this way before withdrawal, most were left in a debranded version of the sickly yellow and grey that their infamous predecessor, Connex, used. I will be doing repaints in that livery, as well as South West Trains, Network Southeast, BR Blue and BR Southern Region green.

[Siwi]

Some test builds of the Class 150, which will be the first of the Mark 3 family to be designed. This was a 2-car diesel intended for more rural routes and had front ends both with and without connecting corridor. Some are still in service today, but at over 30 years old they are currently being withdrawn and replaced by modern types.
Currently refining the curving roof at the ends, and then the underside and wheelsets. There are plenty of liveries for these from the 1980s to the present day.

[Siwi]

Today I made another more advanced test build of the Class 150, and painted it in an early scheme from the 1980s (indeed, very 80s looking. The blue shades were reversed on most examples). The front is now made with two layers since the windows were recessed on the real thing. Got the sloping roof right now.