Revolution Trains will again be attending the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace this coming weekend, March 18th and 19th.

We will be on stand 7 towards the rear of the Great Hall, and we’re looking forward to chatting to our customers and supporters during the course of the weekend, and displaying some of the exciting samples we have of upcoming models in development.

For N gauge enthusiasts there’s a last chance to inspect the decorated samples of our Class 59 diesels. These are still available to pre-order for £124.95 DCC ready, but hurry because the book closes on March 31st. Other models on show will be the first decorated samples of the Class 313 units, Borail and YLA Mullet engineers wagons and EP 1 samples of the Southern Region General Manager’s Inspection Saloon 975025 ‘Caroline’ plus first mouldings of the Class 175 ‘Coradia’ and 180 ‘Adelante’ DMUs.

For 00 modellers there are the EP1 samples of the new Class 18 hybrid shunters in both Beacon and Tata steel versions, plus our KSA timber carriers and ‘Rover Cube’ vans, decorated samples of the Alcan PCA tanks and our FNA-D nuclear flask wagons.

Talking of FNA-D wagons, these are now in the final stages of assembly and production and we are expecting them to ship very soon. They are still available to purchase and if you order now your models will be sent to you as soon as they arrive. We are offering eight variants, each with prototypical differences in markings and warning labels, for just £32.95 each.

As usual there may be some surprises – including production samples of a forthcoming model that we are hoping will make it in time – and remember we are invariably much more indiscreet when chatting in person with our thoughts and plans for future items!

See you at the show!

Last week Revolution Trains and Rails travelled to the giant Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to make a donation to Drax’s chosen charity, the Martin House Children’s Hospice.

The money was raised through sales of N gauge models of Drax’s IIA-D biomass hoppers produced by Revolution and retailed exclusively by Rails.

A cheque for £2000 was handed over in a small ceremony and the team at Drax also explained the workings of the power station works and why biomass is an integral part of its operations.

Michelle Ford, North and East Yorkshire regional fundraiser for Martin House Children’s Hospice, said: “We very much value our relationship with Drax and appreciate all the support they’ve given us.  This donation will help us continue to provide free care and support for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.  In addition to the funds, we’d like to thank Revolution Trains and Rails of Sheffield for the model wagon pack which will be auctioned to raise even more.

“£2000 will help pay for a specialist bed that will allow a child to have a good night’s sleep when they stay at the hospice – thank you so much from all of us.”

Revolution and Rails would like to thank every customer who has purchased these models and therefore contributed to the donation.

Mark Gibbens, Head of Logistics for Drax Power, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done to reduce emissions at Drax, which is the UK’s largest single generator of renewable power, and our fleet of innovative wagons have played a significant part in this.

“We think it’s great that the highly detailed Revolution Trains models, in their attractive box-set, give railway modellers a chance to depict these operations on their layouts.”

Ben Ando, co-director of Revolution Trains, said: “As an N gauge enthusiast myself I am thrilled that we have been able to do justice to these impressive and fascinating wagons, and being able to watch the unloading operations was a real privilege. And being able to help Martin House Hospice is the icing on the cake.”

Oliver Davies, Director of Rails of Sheffield, said: “These models have been very popular with N gauge enthusiasts and are selling fast.  Rails believes strongly in supporting the community and we were delighted to be able to join in making a donation to such a good cause.”

The Revolution Trains IIA-D Drax biomass hoppers in N gauge are fully licenced and are available in twin packs depicting the original, original ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and new Drax ‘Renewable Pioneers’ versions.   Limited stocks remain at Rails and can be purchased for £79.95 per pair.

We’re hiring so if you fancy a career change and think that you have the right skills please get in touch or come and have a chat with us at Glasgow (or any future show we’ll be attending). Full details here.

As 2022 draws to an end, and we look ahead to 2023, there is time to take stock of the year and reflect on the ups and downs.

The Revolution grows…

January saw a new face join the Revolution as Mike Buick became a full-time member of the team alongside founders Mike and Ben. Paul and Gareth have also continued to be an enormous help both at exhibitions and with their expertise in model railway electronics and in knowledge about the real thing!

The train now arriving… is delayed.

New models delivered in 2022 included the hotly-awaited Class 320 and Class 321 multiple units in N (and much requested in 00), IWA ‘Sfins2’ vans and ‘Rfnoos’ timber carriers in 00 and N, JNA ‘Ealnos’ box wagons in N, IPA car carriers in 00 and FWA Ecofrets in 00 and N.

But ongoing difficulties in China with the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic and power issues caused significant delays and some (though not all) of these projects arrived later than we’d expected when we began development.

But it’s not all doom and gloom – just after Christmas, we received final production samples of the N gauge Drax biomass hoppers that are exclusively available from Rails of Sheffield. Subject to final checks these models will be shipped early in the New Year and should be here by the end of February.

So near and yet, not…

Unfortunately some models that we had expected to arrive this year – the N gauge Mk5 coaches, second run Class 390 ‘Pendolinos’ and PFA 4-wheel container flats plus 00 gauge TUA chemical tankers (for Rainbow Railways) and 975025 ‘Caroline’ saloon have failed to materialise.

China Crisis

Delays are obviously as frustrating for us as they are for you but the reality is that there is little we can do.

So what has been happening? We thought it might be helpful to give a little more depth to the standard ‘blame it on Covid’ line.

The Chinese zero-Covid policy meant that often industrial zones were closed with almost no notice if a case was identified in the area.

Factories could be told to shut immediately, and not permitted reopen for weeks or more. Lockdowns have been sudden, extensive and vigorously enforced.

Strict travel and quarantine regulations curtailed travel between areas for designers and engineers.

Restarting a complex production line after a sudden enforced shutdown is not trivial and in addition power outages exacerbated these problems. Factories in some areas were only allowed power for, say, two days a week – and those days were not necessarily consecutive! This made time critical operations such as painting and printing very difficult.

Even now, with regulations relaxed, as the Chinese New Year break approaches many factories are closing early and their owners are struggling to recruit amid concerns that rural workers who normally travel in their millions to the cities to boost their earnings may prefer to remain at home and work in lower paid agricultural jobs.

While everyone is doing their very best to return to pre-Covid levels of efficiency we anticipate that production will continue to take longer than normal for at least the next 8-12 months.

As ever, if there is a particular project you’re ‘wondering what the latest is on’ or ‘looking for an update on’ then please check our Projects page. There is a comprehensive table reporting progress on all products we have on the go and we are diligent about keeping it updated. We don’t hold back; if there’s no news there then there’s no news at all!

To blurt or not to blurt?

This in turn led to some headscratching and a slow down on some of our planned announcements, as we are acutely aware of the simple equation:

New Announcements + Lack of Delivery = Eye Rolling and Exasperated Sighs

For this reason we have tended to time our announcements in 2022 to coincide with the arrival of corresponding models; for example once the Class 320/321 units arrived we offered the Class 175/180 family, and with IWA vans and timber carriers here we were able to announce our FNA-D nuclear flask wagons.

However, the good news is that while production of finished models has been slower than we would have liked, the development phase of newer models has become, if anything, faster.

Our FNA-D nuclear flask wagon and PCA alumina tank wagons went from announcement to sampling in a matter of months, and the FNA-Ds are expected to arrive early in 2023, with the PCAs likely in the summer. Similarly, other previously announced models have shown good progress and one stalled product – the 1938 tube stock – is now back on track (sorry!) after a research visit was finally made to the London Transport Museum depot at Acton once Covid restrictions there ended.

The eagle-eyed may spot the KSA mouldings and Cartic-4 CAD in 00 and these will be the subject of more detailed updates in the next week or so.

Revolution on the road

During the year we have managed research trips to locations including Fort William, Kingmoor, the Vale of Rheidol, Acton, Whatley Quarry and Merehead, Eastleigh, Germany and Romania.

In partnership with a variety of friends in the rail industry these research trips, and others that are currently confidential, have enabled us to continue developing new models this year and have more exciting products to launch in 2023.

The Revolution will be… televised?

We’ve also started recorded videos to explain more about some of our most recent projects – you can find them on our You Tube Channel or watch them below. There’ll be more to come in 2023.

It’s all fun and games until someone gets 3D scanned…

In March members of the Revolution Team were 3D scanned by Modelu with frankly terrifying results… and Ben made it into print with a monthly column in Model Rail magazine giving his take on aspects of the hobby which is continuing into 2023.

Finally – if you’ve made it this far – Revolution would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Prosperous 2023.

We have plenty of exciting plans and we look forward, with all our customers, to continuing to grow and enjoy this wonderful hobby.

Kernow Model Rail Centre has commissioned two exclusive Class 59 models from Revolution Trains.

They are 59002 ‘Alan J Day’ in the much-requested Mendip Rail livery, and 59101 ‘Village of Whatley’ in the eye-catching revised ARC livery. Each model retails at £159.99 DC Silent.

Graham Muspratt, Kernow Development Manager said: “Our range of N gauge KMRC Exclusives continues to grow, this time in partnership with Revolution Trains, with the addition of these two unique and distinctive Class 59 liveries.

Revolution’s Ben Ando said: “We are delighted to be working with Kernow on these two exclusive models, which complete another chapter in the story of these historic locomotives.”

The images show decorated samples which are subject to some minor revisions ahead of production, and the models are expected in Spring 2023.

When we announced the FNA-Ds in February we never anticipated that it would take this long to get the first samples, but we’re pleased to announce that the factory has finished the EP samples of the OO version and that we’ve opened our order book – you can order direct from us or from any of our retailers all at the same excellent price of £32.95 per wagon (sold in singles). Our model has been produced under licence from DRS/NTS and we’re very grateful for all their help on this model (along with that of WH Davis who built the wagons).

The FNA-D nuclear flask carriers were built by WH Davis from 2014 to replace older nuclear flask wagons.  The FNA-D nuclear flask carriers are used across the network to transport spent fuel from nuclear power stations to Sellafield. The FNA-D nuclear flask wagons typically run in rakes of 1-4 wagons mostly with two locos either double-headed or top-and-tailed.

The models feature a wealth of accurately-applied detail to replicate the real thing! Check out the under frame detailing below including the prototypical see-through area where the flask sits!

The models feature our usual high levels of detail and features:

• Produced under licence from DRS
• Highly accurate OO gauge model, 1:76.2 scale on 16.5mm track
• All models share the same livery with 8 different running numbers available
• Accurate underframe detailing
• Minimum Radius 438mm (2nd Radius)
• Bogies include separate brake shoes in line with wheels
• RP25-110 profile OO gauge wheels on 26mm length, 2mm diameter axles (to make conversion to EM/P4 easy)
• Sprung buffers
• Kinetic NEM coupler sockets mounted on the body with mini-tension-lock couplers

We’ve also been working on which models to offer and we’re pleased to offer 8 different running numbers, all in the attractive teal livery.

The N gauge version is in tooling at the moment and we will have some news of this over the next few weeks.

You can place your pre-orders now either direct with us (using our deposit system if you prefer) or with any of our retailers – all at the same excellent value price of £32.95 per wagon!

Since we announced the class 128 liveries there has been a glaring gap in the versions offered – that of the attractive two-tone blue Express Parcels units. We are pleased to announce that 55994 in Express Parcels livery will be available exclusively from any of our retailers.

Our retailers would appreciate early expressions/pre-orders for this version so that they can order sufficient stock – so if you are interested in one please get in contact with your preferred retailer to reserve your model as soon as possible!

You can see a list of our retailers on our website here. Please note that this version is exclusive to retailers and is not available to order from Revolution Trains.

Revolution Trains has started supplying our MMA/JNA ‘Ealnos’ box wagons in N gauge to pre-order customers who collected at TINGS, and remaining pre-orders will begin to be sent out this week.

Visitors to this weekend’s International N Gauge Show at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre will also have seen that in addition to the previously offered versions, Revolution has limited stocks of an all-new variant in Network Rail/Wascosa yellow.

The first of these wagons arrived in the UK in 2020 and are now in widespread use.

Four differently numbered versions are available, including one with a flashing tail lamp, and can be ordered only direct from Revolution Trains via our shop.

Pre-order customers who could not make it to TINGS will also start to receive their models from later this week, however it will probably take us a few packing and posting sessions to get through all the deliveries, so please bear with us.

IMPORTANT NOTE RE MODELS WITH FLASHING TAIL LAMPS

We have discovered an error in the instruction sheets applicable to models with the flashing tail lamps. This is applicable to all versions with the suffix L on the product code, which you will find on the label on the end and underside of the packaging.

To power the flashing tail lamp unit, 2 x CR927 3V button cells are required, and not the LR44 types specified in the instruction sheet.

You can download a corrected version of the instruction sheet here to print out if you wish:

We apologise for this mistake!

Having delivered our modern style MMA/JNA ‘Ealnos’ box wagons, Revolution has not forgotten those modelling the 70s to the present day, and is delighted to confirm that we will now be offering the Redpath-Dorman-Long built PTA box wagons, and some of their steel carrying derivatives, as our next bogie wagon in N.

The PTAs were first introduced in 1972 to transport imported iron ore to steel works. Several batches were built to serve Redcar – Consett, Ravenscraig and Port Talbot – Llanwern carrying both iron ore and later limestone.

The wagons were built to be unloaded by ‘tippling’; that is, rotating them fully in a secure circular drum to empty them by gravity. To avoid the need for time-consuming, and therefore costly, uncoupling and coupling, the wagons were built with rotating couplings at one end. In early liveries this was designated by panels painted orange at the rotating end. The tippling process can be observed in this video albeit not in the UK.

Use on aggregates started in 1981 when the Consett batch were purchased by Procor and hired to ARC and Yeoman. Later in life wagon leasor VTG repainted some PTAs (now coded JUA) in light grey for a variety of aggregates which were eventually withdrawn in 2015.

In the early 1990s some redundant PTAs were converted to covered steel carriers and coded as JSAs.

When first converted the telescopic covers were made of plain sheet steel, however this was heavy and caused excessive wear on the sliding runners, giving them a tendency to jam.

Wagon lessor VTG acquired the fleet and replaced the steel covers with those made of a composite material that was lighter. This material was left unpainted, resulting in a changed appearance.

Revolution is expecting to offer models in both liveries.

In 2018 a number of the JSAs had their hoods removed to work as open coil carriers. Our model will cover all these variants.

Revolution is offering the 1950s- built HJO/HJV family of iron ore hoppers as its next transition era model in N.

Between 1955 and 1959, British Railways built more than 2,000 hopper type wagons to carry iron ore between ports, quarries and steelworks across the network.

The wagons we are offering are those to diagrams 1/163, 1/165, 1/166 and 1/168 and while used primarily for iron ore they also saw service on limestone, sand and salt traffic and these variants may be offered too.

Under the TOPS system introduced in the early 1970s unfitted wagons were designated HJO and HIO while those with vacuum brakes were given codes HJV and HKV.

These wagons were particularly associated with BR standard 8F and 9F locomotives, often mixed with other hopper types, and later with BR diesel classes 24, 25, 37 and 40.

As ever, Revolution Trains is planning to offer prototypical variety and as well as variations in brake equipment we are planning versions with prototypical variations in axle box and buffer types.

Revolution Trains is offering the Swindon-built Class 120 cross-country units as its next powered model aimed at transition era enthusiasts.

This model builds on the development carried out for our Class 128 Diesel Parcels Unit, and will use the same tried and tested chassis to speed development and allow us to keep costs as low as possible while retaining the performance, specification and detailing expected of Revolution models.

The units were built in 3 batches for the Western Region and Scottish Region and were introduced starting in 1958 with the final units being withdrawn in 1989. The units were in several variations of green before being repainted into BR’s new corporate colours – initially all blue followed by BR blue.

The fleet totalled 194 cars and these were built in three batches: 49 sets in 1958 for the Western Region; 7 sets in 1959 for the Scottish Region and an additional 9 sets in 1961 for the Western Region.

The trains operated in formations comprising Driving Motor Standard Lavatory, Trailer Second Buffet Lavatory and Driving Motor Brake Composite.

The Revolution models will be offered in two-car and three-car sets in liveries reflecting the working lives of these stalwart workhorses; a selection of possible liveries is shown and they are expected to be available to pre-order from early next year. Please note these graphics are illustrative and not based on actual CAD design, which has not been completed yet.

Unfortunately, no complete Class 120 units survived into preservation; the only remaining vehicle from the entire fleet is TSLRB 59276 at the Great Central railway in Leicestershire.

However, several vehicles – including a complete set – of the similar Swindon-built Class 126 units are preserved at the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway, and Revolution visited earlier this year as part of our preliminary research, however we are aware there are numerous differences between these and the Class 120s.

The Revolution Class 120 is in CAD design and once the prices and livery selections are finalised we will open up the order book, with the models expected late next year or early in 2024.

Revolution is proposing the Bombardier/Alstom ‘Electrostar’ family of trains as its next modern multiple unit in N gauge. The Electrostars cover a variety of prototypes from TOPS Classes 357, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379 and 387, though it is unlikely every variation can be offered.

The Electrostar family was manufactured at Derby from 1999 until 2017 with over 650 sets now in service for a variety of operators including: Southern; South Eastern; c2c; London Overground; GWR; Heathrow Express; Gatwick Express; and Great Northern as well as a number of historic train operating companies.

We have not yet finalised the liveries/variations we are offering, and as ever we are wary of over-promising while at the same time wanting to provide as much variety as possible. Among the versions we are scoping are:

Once we have finalised pricing the models will go on sale for our usual low pre-order price, and while schedules are difficult to judge at the moment we would anticipate a 2024 delivery.

For those of you who missed our newsletter announcement – our N gauge EALNOS JNA/MMA aggregate box wagons arrived at Revolution HQ this week and have been checked over.

Shipments and balance invoices will begin to be sent out early next week, but if you would like to collect your order(s) at TINGS this weekend please let us know by 9am tomorrow morning (Friday 9 September) – to let us know please complete the short form here. You will be able to pay any balance due at the show.

Apologies for the short notice!