PECO GLYN VALLEY COACHES

• Peco GR-500 Glyn Valley Tramway enclosed side coach • GR-520 GVT open side coach • GR-530 freelance four-wheel brake coach

What will happen to ready-to-run ‘OO9’? Will it create a completely fresh avenue for our hobby to go down, or will it fizzle out? Only time will tell - we’ll probably have a better idea once Heljan’s Lynton & Barnstaple 2‑6‑2T and Bachmann’s Baldwin 4‑6‑0PT become available. In the meantime, RTR ‘OO9’ pioneer Peco continues to release new rolling stock. Despite a few flaws, its L&B coaches and wagons are great little models. It was, therefore, with great interest that we awaited what would come next. We didn’t have to wait long. Here are samples of its next range of coaches, again from another classic narrow gauge railway. The eight-mile 2ft 4½in gauge Glyn Valley Tramway linked quarries in the Ceiriog Valley with the GWR main line at Chirk. Opened in the 1870s, it was converted to steam power in the 1880s and, from 1891, worked by three distinctive Beyer Peacock 0‑4‑2Ts with their motions enclosed. It was prosperous to begin with, but it couldn’t survive in the post-great War era and closed in 1935. It’s an ideal railway for Peco to offer stock for. Not only does it offer a GVT locomotive kit, but the railway also bought a second-hand Baldwin 4‑6‑0PT in 1921 - the very locomotive coming from Bachmann! Peco’s GVT range comprises two Third coaches - one enclosed and one open - plus a freelance brake van. All versions share the same boxy lines and four-wheeled chassis. These vehicles follow the same path set out by the L&B stock. They’re basic, with lots of moulded detail. But they’re good looking, and their simplicity isn’t a bad thing. In fact, the GVT coaches seem more refined than the L&B models, probably helped by their cutesy shape, white lining and fine foot steps. The models closely match photographs of the two surviving GVT coaches at the Talyllyn, and have their wheels set to how they would have been during their service days. The TR has lengthened the wheelbase and has fitted buffers, the latter being a modification that Peco will offer. The freelance coach is also a charming little model, mixing the GVT outline with Lynton & Barnstaple guard’s duckets. It wouldn’t look out of place on either line, and there’s a hint of TR brake van No. 5 about it, with its distinctive ticket window. Roofs are removable to allow access to the interior, but beware: the one on our example open coach had a looser fit than the others. The only other niggle was a wonky axle on the brake van, which only slightly hampered performance. Happily, the printing on these models looks to be of a higher standard than the L&B stock and didn’t suffer from lettering coming away with handling. Competitively priced for a British-made, exclusive product, they add more fuel to the ‘OO9’ fire. We can’t wait for more! (RF)