Category: Multiple Units

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Electrostar pre-orders open!

Revolution Trains has opened the order book for its upcoming Electrostars in N. CAD has been completed and the models will be going into tooling very soon. (If you are having problems placing an order please see our News item about issues with our card payment processor.)

The models have been competitively priced for pre-order customers at just £284.95 (DC Silent) and £384.95 (DCC Sound) for a complete four-car train.

Purchase an N gauge Electrostar

Prototype operations

Now in service for a quarter of a century the Electrostars of various classes are the most populous units on the network with over 500 sets in service.

Photos clockwise from top left: 375707 at Wandsworth (John Taylor/Creative Commons), 377105 at Batttersea (Michael Garnett/Creative Commons), 377407 at Sydenham (Hugh Llewelyn/Creative Commons), 387160 at Taplow (John Ray/Creative Commons), 387203 at Harringay (Hugh Llewelyn/Creative Commons) and 387120 at Kings Cross (Hugh Llewelyn/Creative Commons).

They operate across southern England on commuter trains radiating from London to Kent, West and East Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. They also operate routes across the capital to Buckinghamshire (Milton Keynes), Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

The model

Revolution’s tooling suite enables us to offer detail variations including ribbon or gasket glazing, two-part or three-part front lights, and pantographs fitted or unfitted, so most variants can be offered including Class 375, 377/1, 377/2, 377/4 and 387/1 and 387/2.

The models feature illuminated destination blinds, directional head and tail lights (which can be switched off for multiple working), full interior saloon lighting and where appropriate pantograph and forward facing camera lights. DCC users also have working Central Door Locking lights.

Where lights are controllable the switches are conveniently hidden below magnetic roof panels. For DCC users kinematic power couplers ensure only a single Next-18 decoder is required, and the socket is accessed via a removable underfloor panel, so there is no need to remove the bodyshell.

All models are supplied with speakers pre-fitted so upgrading to sound is simple, and realistic cosmetic couplers are incluided along with functional couplers for multiple working.

Livery options

The full list of versions on offer is:

Class 375 Southeastern.

375906 (London Victoria – Ramsgate) or 375920 (London Cannon Street – Ramsgate)

Class 377 First Capital Connect.

377501 (Bedford-Brighton)
  • Also available 377510 (Bedford – Brighton) in Great Northern branded ex-FCC livery without urban lights graphics.

Class 377 Southern.

377118 (Brighton – Portsmouth Harbour), 377101 (London Victoria – Brighton), 377214 (dual voltage unit South Croydon-Milton Keynes)
  • Also available 377210 (dual voltage unit Brighton-Bedford) in Thameslink branded ex-Southern livery.

Class 387/2 Gatwick Express.

387204 (Brighton – London Victoria)
  • Also available 377201 (Kings Cross – Ely, 377205 (London Paddington – Newbury) in debranded Gatwick Express livery.

Class 387/1 Great Northern.

387124 or 387127 (both London Kings Cross – Kings Lynn)

Class 387/1 GWR.

387152 (London Paddington – Cardiff) or 387133 (London Paddington – Didcot)
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Car carriers to star at Great Electric Train Show

Samples of Revolution’s upcoming OO gauge Cartic-4 and WIA car carriers will take centre stage on Revolution’s stand at the Great Electric Train Show in Milton Keynes on October 12th and 13th.

GETS is always a great show, with a friendly atmosphere, and this year is set to feature up to 30 layouts and more than 50 trade stands and demonstrations.

Revolution is on stand 14, close to the centre of the main Arena display area, and directly opposite the star attraction: Pete Waterman’s Making Tracks 4 which depicts sections of the southern West Coast Main Line in the present day and includes OO gauge depictions of Watford Junction Station and Bushey Viaduct in Hertfordshire and the well-known ‘birdcage’ cutting at Roade in Northamptonshire. 

Making Tracks 4. Photos Key Model World/Cavalex

The whole Revolution team will be present and we are looking forward to displaying, for the first time, decorated samples of our upcoming Cartic-4 car carriers and first Engineering Prototypes of the imposing WIA 5-unit covered sets.

In addition we will have the decorated samples of the OO IHA steel carriers on display for the first time; these arrived during the summer and while the N gauge models were displayed last month at The International N Gauge Show, until now there has been no opportunity to show off their upscaled cousins. The pre-order book for these in both scales closes immediately after the show so production can get underway.

N gauge modellers aren’t being left out, with 1938 stock trains in both London Underground and Isle of Wight versions, and first deco samples of the Class 180 and 175 diesel units available for inspection. In addition, first engineering prototypes of the Alcan PCA tanks in N will also be on display.

And other than items on display, we will be happy to answer questions about our recently annoucned Class 99 bi-mode locomotives, and anything else you might want to ask us about. We are always more indiscreet in person!

In addition we will have a second Revolution Raffle, with proceeds going to the Railway Children charity, and this year we have been generously supported by Cavalex who have donated several models to the prize pot. Last year, thanks to the generosity of show goers, we were able to raise nearly £4000, and anything raised this year will be in addition to the £18,000 raised whilst we were taking part in the Beacon/GBRf industry-wide 5-a-side football tournament last month.

And finally we will have limited stocks of some hard-to-find models that may be sold out at retailers. These are items we are clearing from our own stores, or from cancelled or returned orders. If there is anything in particular you’d like please let us know and if possible we will bring it!

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Underground seen overground…

Revolution Trains has unveiled decorated samples of its forthcoming 1938 stock trains in London Underground Rail Red and Bus Red colours, and the 2-car Isle of Wight versions in Network Southeast livery.

L-R: Revolution N gauge 1938 stock driving cars in Bus Red, original Rail Red with cream window bars and in Rail Red with Bakerloo line brown roof as preserved (NB the preserved set is not available to order yet). Photos: Tom Everitt/N Gauge News.

The models are available in 4-car or 3-car sets, enabling complete 7-car trains to be assembled, in both original Rail red and 1970s bus red liveries with destination boards for both Northern and Bakerloo line services.

In addition to the London Underground versions, Revolution has now received both variants of the Class 483 Isle of Wight two-car trains in Network Southeast and SWT ‘Island Line’ lvieries.

The models are now being assessed and tested, and we anticipate production starting toward the end of the year with delivery anticipated for Q1-2 2025.

Purchase 1938 stock in London Underground or Isle of Wight versions

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Revolution PEP joins ‘PEPs on Tour’!

Revolution Trains was delighted to support the Class 313 Farewell ‘PEPs on Tour: Sussex Rambler’ event on the South coast this weekend.

The 313 Farewell Railtour passes Bedelands Nature Reserve, Burgess Hill. Photo courtesy Jonathan Hughes.

The railtour was organised by the Branch Line Society and Southern to celebrate the Class 313 PEP (Prototype Electro-Pneumatic) units, that have served generations of commuters and travellers since the mid-1970s.

The PEPs pioneered many now commonplace features such as dual voltage traction and powered doors. For most of their service lives they operated in and around London, however in recent years they enjoyed something of a renaissance on Southern’s ‘Coastway’ route, having been refurbished by Southern and owners Beacon Rail Leasing.

313211 at Brighton in Southern Coastway colours.

In Scotland the similar Class 314s performed likewise.

For some time they have been the oldest units on the network still in squadron service, but they are set to bow out in the upcoming mid-May timetable change.

The railtour took us from Brighton, along the western stretch of the coastway route to Portsmouth Harbour, back to Three Bridges via Littlehampton then across to Hastings, Eastbourne and Newhaven Marine, before returning to Brighton. (Tour images at Hastings and River Arun at Ford courtesy Foulger Rail/Creative Commons)

The tour generated enormous interest, with photographers and enthusiasts waiting at most stations, and internet celebrity trainspotter Francis Bourgouis was one of those on board – patiently posing for photographs at every stop, with young and not-so-young fellow enthusiasts.

It also raised £25,000 for Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice and The Railway Children charities, through ticket sales and an onboard auction which included among its prizes a voucher for an N gauge model of the Class 313 provided by Revolution Trains – congratulations to all lucky winners!

Francis Bourgeois with three annoying hangers-on.

The Revolution Trains N gauge Class 313 ad 314 PEP unit models are now nearing production, and we expect to close the order book in the next 4-8 weeks. We were delighted to support the tour and join hundreds of others in celebrating these stalwart units. And of course it was a great chance to compare with our decorated sample!

We expect to have decorated samples of other models being offered – including Network Southeast, Silverlink and Southern, in the next few days.

All being well these will be on display at the N Gauge Society’s Celebration of N Gauge at the National Railway Museum, York, over the weekend May 13th and 14th, so anyone still undecided who may wish to pre-order can examine them personally. Come and see us there!

Our class 313/314 PEP models can still be pre-ordered at the low pre-production price of £225 (DC with Next18 socket and speaker) or £320 (DCC Sound fitted) using the button below. (Please remember to use separate orders for different types of model, though different liveries or numbers of the same item can be mixed. Thanks!)

Purchase an N gauge Class 313 or Class 314 EMU