Reviews
Dapol’s Class 68, Little Loco Company’s Class 15 and ‘N’ gauge stock from Peco and Farish are examined by our experts.
Ever since Foster Yeoman went shopping for new locomotives in the USA, back in the 1980s, British train operators have increasingly been obliged to look overseas for new motive power. Not that there has been much requirement for locomotives beyond the Class 66, with just a small number of Alstom’s Class 67s (Spain) acquired for special passenger train haulage, and then the GE Class 70s (USA) for heavy freight. Direct Rail Services set the ball rolling in 2012, however, with an order for mixed traffic locomotives designated Class 68. Intended for use on intermodal and passenger trains, the Class 68s began arriving in the UK in 2014. The initial order for 25 was increased to cover locomotives for lease to Chiltern Trains and Scotrail, and a further batch is on order for Transpennine, bringing the total to 34. These will be followed by 15 electrodiesel versions, called Class 88. The Class 68 is built by Vossloh (now Stadler) in Spain and is based on the company’s Eurolight design, which complies with current EU emission regulations, reduced to fit the UK loading gauge and which Vossloh called Uklight. The aim was to meet
the demand for a locomotive with an axle weight of under 20 tons, and an overall weight of under 80 tons, with high-power output and 100mph maximum speed. It is fitted with AAR (Association of American Railroads) push-pull equipment. Nos. 68006/007 are with Scotrail, and 68010-015 are with Chiltern, with 68008/009 modified to work also for Chiltern, but retain DRS livery. Transpennine Express will use a minimum of 13 from August 2018, and these will be Nos. 68019-68032, with 68033/034 modified as spare locomotives. Dapol has the licence to produce the Class 68 in ‘OO’ and ‘N’ gauges, although only the ‘OO’ model has so far been released. It is currently being offered in DRS, Chiltern and Scotrail liveries, and in DCC ready, DCC on-board and DCC sound versions.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The Dapol Class 68 made quite a significant first impression on me at Model Rail Scotland. At the time I had no particular need for, nor interest in, a Class 68, although I do very much like the current Scotrail Saltire livery. It was this striking scheme and its superb application on the Dapol Class 68 which caught my eye. I had seen the real Class 68 only in photographs, and thought its strange indented front end looked like it had been involved in an accident. I really wasn’t a fan. But an eye-catching livery that has been well executed is always a headturner. After a couple of days at the show and walking past that display, I found myself reaching for my credit card. Examining the model at my leisure has convinced me that my impulse purchase of 68007 Valiant was a good one (we subsequently received Scotrail classmate 68006 Daring from Dapol). The second impression is only evident when one handles the locomotive. It is exceptionally heavy. Weighing in at well over one and a half pounds, it must be the heaviest model of its size that I’ve ever handled - a welcome but bizarre feature for
a model of a prototype which includes ‘light’ in its name.
MODULES AND DETAILS
Modern locomotives tend to consist of various equipment modules installed on a frame. The Class 68 does at least have a streamlined body, and though the modular concept is still present, it is less obvious. The model does, however, bristle with separately fitted details and many of these are rendered more obvious because they are in contrasting colours. On the roof, for instance, there are air-conditioning pods on both cab roofs with horns tucked down beside them, and there are etched fan grilles with separate fans below them, and a large exhaust silencer ‘box’ reminiscent of the Class 59s. There are also a couple of tiny details, picked out in a silver colour, which are quite minute and which are, I guess, sensors or aerials. Separate side details are limited to the plastic cab door handrails and very fine mesh grilles, behind which some recessed detail is visible. Nameplates are separate etched
THE MODEL BRISTLES WITH SEPARATELY FITTED DETAILS - MANY RENDERED MORE OBVIOUS BECAUSE THEY ARE IN CONTRASTING COLOURS
parts. On my sample they were fine, but I have seen some on which the plates are not horizontal, or have glue visible around them. The cab door details and the curiously shaped cabside windows have been well captured. The ends are festooned with separate details. Dapol has treated this model in the way I like to detail diesels, with a ‘front’ having all the prototype pipes, cables and coupling, and a ‘rear’ fitted with the tension lock. In this instance, however, Dapol has managed to include most of the details alongside the tension lock on the inner end, too. All the pipes and cables are pre-fitted, as is the air-dam on the front end. A second air-dam is provided for the inner end and can be fitted if you are not using the tension lock. My sample has nose-end handrails (not fitted to all locomotives) and the long single windscreen wipers are very fine indeed. The lightly sprung plastic buffers are of the distinctive European shape. Bogie sideframes are well detailed, with separately fitted cab steps and speedometer cables. Apparently the cab interior of the real thing was designed in consultation with the drivers’ trade union, and while the model does have cab interior detail, it is moulded in very dark plastic and quite difficult to see. Once again, we have a locomotive with no driver!
LIGHT AND SOUND
DCC on-board and DCC sound-fitted versions of the Class 68 are being offered, while the basic analogue model has perforations above one bogie to allow for speaker installation. As supplied, the analogue model has front and rear directional lighting. Twin red rear lights are illuminated together with three white front lights and the leading cab. The lights are bright and effective. There is provision for switching off the rear and cab lights on analogue control. The instruction sheet explains the switching arrangement and the two main switches are accessible by removing the exhaust moulding on the roof. Fitting a six-function decoder allows all the lights to be controlled independently via DCC.
FIT AND FINISH
The nameplates are etched fittings in the correct style and those on my
IT MUST BE THE HEAVIEST MODEL OF ITS SIZE THAT I’VE EVER HANDLED
sample are neatly applied, and while both seem to be just slightly askew, it may just be an optical illusion. Otherwise the fit and finish is excellent throughout. The livery execution is unusually good, with the blue and white spotted elements of the Scotrail livery applied over a rich, deep blue with a satin finish. The logo, with its spotted cross, looks convincing and the model carries numerous tiny panels with fully legible lettering. The maker’s plate carries the Vossloh logo, the number 2685 and the builder’s date - 2014. TOPS data panels are carried adjacent to the cab doors, and are also fully legible. Even the overall length and bogie centre dimensions are carried. The orange cant rail line is neatly applied around the complex cab fronts, and all steps are picked out in yellow. Fuel and battery boxes carry an impressive array of markings and even the electrification warning flashes are legible. Given the weight, it is no surprise to find that the chassis is a substantial metal casting with a central recess containing the motor and drive shafts. The centrally mounted motor has a brass flywheel at one end and drives both all axles through a cardan shaft and bogie-mounted gearboxes. Both ends of the chassis are fitted with self-centring NEM pockets, one of which is fitted with a standard tension-lock coupler. As with my previous experience with the Hornby Peckett (MR232), the hook part of the tension lock fell off before tests had even begun. These couplings - or at least the cheap and nasty way they are assembled - have become a pet hate of mine. They are the one feature of modern ready-to-run models which needs an urgent redesign.
ON TEST
I was expecting great things, and I was not disappointed. Electrical pick-up is positive, thanks to the weight and the all-wheel current collection. I ran the model in on my home layout with four Mk 3 coaches in tow and was pleasantly surprised to find it virtually silent in operation, and smooth-running straight from the box. It seemed very much at home on my Code 83 and Code 75 track and ran faultlessly, unattended for much of the time. Equally, there’s no shortage of
adhesion, and on Model Rail’s test track the Class 68 was quite capable of accelerating up the 1-in-60 gradient with 13 mixed Hornby and Bachmann coaches in tow and could well have taken more. Subsequently, I had 16 vehicles behind it on the flat circuit and the only limiting factor is the tendency for very long trains of mismatched coaches to derail. The Class 68 coped well with Hornby and Peco Setrack and reverse curves and crossovers. Interestingly, the box label states that the Class 68 as suitable for first radius (371mm) curves, which is unusual for a large, ready-to-run model. It will, indeed, run light engine quite happily round first radius curves, but the end-throw affects the coupler position in relation to adjacent coaches and tends to drag them off the rails. This is in spite of a sprung cam self-centring system.
THE BEST BITS
The bufferbeam detail, the lights, the roof grilles and fans, the cab windshield and roof details, the livery application - there are so many good features to this model that it is impossible to select any one feature as the best. Perhaps the fact that I’m regretting not buying the DCC sound-fitted version speaks for itself. This is truly the best ready-torun diesel I’ve seen in a very long time.