Revolution Trains has received decorated samples of the 35t Class A fuel tankers and MTV/ZKA Zander box wagons which are scheduled to go into production shortly.
The Class As are designed to partner our award winning Class B tankers from 2017, as following their introduction from the late 1950s the two types often worked together, with the Class A tankers having a longer barrel as they carried lighter, more volatile fuel.
The barrels sent for checking have been posted on Class B sanple chassis for photography; the production models will have the correct red solebars as shown in the painting diagrams.
You may also notice the sample models are missing the photo-etched catwalks and ladders, and moulded manlids and vents (of two different types), that will be featured on production models. As with the original Class B models the chassis will feature either the original or revised suspension as appropriate.
As well as the original silver and revised grey Esso versions, these are still available to pre-order in Staveley Chemicals, Esso de-branded and weedkilling green or black variants.
In the British Railways modernisation plan of 1955 a need was identified for new, faster power-braked wagons and with the rapid growth in requirements for petrochemicals Esso and Charles Roberts Ltd jointly developed a new design of 35t tank wagons. The Class A tankers were used for lighter, more volatile fuels, and the barrels were therefore longer than the Class Bs designed for heavier fuel oils.
The addition of Class A tankers to our range enables the accurate depiction of fuel trains from the late 1950s and 1960s which often ran with a mix of both types. If a Class A tank was marshalled at the front then planked open wagons were included to act as barriers to protect the traincrew in the event of an accident. If the train was double headed the barrier wagons were not necessary as the second locomotive provided the required separation.
In the mid-1970s, as higher capacity tank wagons entered service, 150 redundant tank wagons were converted to box opens to carry stone and sand, and given the TOPS code MTV.
In the late 1980s many were transferred to the engineer’s fleet, recoded ZKV and given the fishkind name Zander.
Revolution is offering these box wagons in original brown, engineer’s revised versions with yellow top rail and fully repainted Dutch variants. Various individual wagons are being offered, with numerous subtle differences including patch painting and varied labelling.
The full listing of liveries on offer can be found on our shop page, and these wagons can be still be reserved with Revolution for a short period at the pre-order price of £19.95 each, or for some versions in triple sets with different numbers at £59.85.
In addition, a further run of Class B tankers will be produced to accompany these models, however the Class Bs will be on sale via retailers in the usual way.
We anticipate that Class A and MTV/ZKV models will be available from retailers too after production, but at a higher price.