Albion Yard

GER/LNER/BR N7

The N7 announced last year is very close to release and Oxford had an advanced EP on the stand to have a look at. As such it has some issues eg the coupling rods have been put on upside down (Oxford are aware), but on the whole it looks very promising. The weight of the loco is striking, most of the superstructure being cast metal, so I think there’s unlikely to be many traction issues. The rear pony truck appears rigid, the wheelset having a good amount of lateral movement and a small amount of vertical movement. Decorated samples are due very soon, and the detail on the EP looked a good cross section of quality and finesse. It was certainly standing up well to be handled frequently at the show.

Also on show were the early tooling shots of the round top version, again with corrections anticipated, there should be three washout plugs each side whereas the EP has two.

5 Plank Wagon

These are images of the first shots of the new 5 plank wagon, tooling appears crisp and no unusual features on first inspection like their 7 plank open with its repair patch on the end corner strapping.

The chassis looks like the existing under frame from the 7 plank series, and the EP has the same buffers as the 7 plank so a representation of RCH types but a bit on the undernourished side. You can see the two types on the images above, note the second image shows the end door buffer type, an incorrect housing for a non drop end wagon. The 35T GLW A and B tanks announced last year are still work in progress, no EP was available to view and livery details are still being resolved. No prototype detail or EP’s were available for the new tool 12T tank wagons announced at the show, and the various PO livery 7 plank wagons continue to sell well, as have the six wheel brake vans.

The BR Mk3 coaches were on display in the blue grey livery. First blue/grey paint samples were on show and corrections are being fed back to the manufacturing team, in particular the white line around the vestibule area.

18 Inch Howitzer Rail Gun

Occasionally a model company releases something that initially looks like a bonkers idea, and this 18 inch Howitzer almost certainly falls into that category. The three pictures here are of the 3D Print to give people an idea of the prototype, and final model so excuse the rough contours and detailing of this print. However once past the WTF! reaction, its quite a cool idea and model. It will appeal across a section of the modelling community who like odd stuff, the physical size of it in 4mm scale is a massive piece of equipment. Oxford with their military vehicle range will have a natural crossover in the collectors market for this model. It’s likely that military modellers will find this of interest for dioramas, wargamers may well be attracted to it too, and it will also be available with sound as part of a set including a War Department livery Dean Goods.

And probably the thing that will sell this item the most is the price. Around £50 for a complete Rail Gun, that price point will surely attract the ‘buy it because I like it’ rather than use it modeller. With an example covering the first world war to the late 1950’s they’ve chosen well for the popular era’s too. It seemed to be attracting a good deal of interest from the stand visitors and feed back from the retail trade had been positive. One to watch …

Finally a couple of pictures of a new Dean Goods Livery, and in black, it certainly has a charm to it.