Graham Farish Class 70
The Class 70s were launched with great fanfare in 2009 as Freightliner joined forces with US builder General Electric to produce locomotives that promised increased power, improved environmental performance and reduced maintenance costs. The resulting Class 70 was designed for use across Freightliner’s portfolio of services and, with nearly 3,700hp available, they were expected to be used on everything from Anglo-scottish intermodal services to the heavy stone trains operating from the Peak District and other quarries.
Unfortunately, their introducfreightliner’s tion was marred by disappointing performance – especially at speed – and a series of engine fires. The problem was found to be in the positioning and design of the air intake grille – in motion the streamlining effect of the cabs on the narrow centre section created a void that sucked air away from the intake, causing low engine power and overheating.
GE’S solution was to raise the air intake grille away from the bodyside and into the air slipstream and this was implemented with immediate effect for both Freightliner and the ten Class 70s ordered by Colas in 2013.
This revision still caused problems in tunnels and so the Type B design was brought in from around 2014. This has a distinctive additional box below the intake on one side, housing an air analysis system to govern engine performance characteristics in areas of restricted airflow. This later design has been fitted to all Colas Class 70s and is being progressively introduced through the Freightliner fleet.
Graham Farish originally introduced its Class 70 model in 2013 and then announced the Type B modified version in 2015. It may have taken a while to deliver but the revised Class 70 is now here.
Our review sample depicts 70015, which received its modified intake in 2017. The most obvious change is the raised intake grille on the body side, but Farish has also captured minor changes, such as one of the tiny porthole windows on the bodyside door moving to the right. Later locomotives lacked a diagonal panel seam on the cabside and this too has been depicted.
Comments about the original model still apply to this version. It certainly captures the looks of the real thing and is correct in all main dimensions. Its panelled sides and sectional roof – designed for ease of maintenance – make for a model
The livery has been well applied – with clean paint separation and a smooth, even, silk finish
with lots of obvious detail that is in some ways far more appealing than the somewhat ungainly prototype.
The livery has been well applied – with clean paint separation and a smooth, even, silk finish – and lettering and smaller labels sit well over the uneven bodysides. The only obvious livery omission is the Freightliner ‘zero injuries’ logos which are found immediately behind the cab access platforms at each end.
LIGHT TOUCH
The model has an excellent mechanism and, despite being lighter than many other Farish diesels at 81g (due to the narrow centre body), it performs smoothly and strongly, and under test was comfortable with scale-length trains.
It is fitted with a six-pin DCC decoder socket but has a switch on the underside to allow DC users to disable the red tail lamps. The lighting is bright and effective, and comes on at almost full power even when only a small amount of track voltage is applied.
The bogies are neatly moulded, though the secondary dampers above the outer axles lack relief and the large triangular sandboxes on the centre underframe should be considerably deeper and protrude as far as the solebar.
The couplers are in NEM sockets that are mounted on the bogies. To avoid fouling them the air dams are too, though on the prototype they are part of the body.
The Class 70 is a useful contemporary locomotive, especially as it now carries the Colas livery too, and the Farish model in its upgraded form continues to look the part and perform well. Who could ask for more? (BA)