Bachmann Branchline Class 159
◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Bachmann Branchline 31-520 Class 159 DMU 159013, Network Southeast livery ◆ PRICE £339.95 ◆ AVAILABILITY Bachmann stockists
It’s all very well a manufacturer saying that it’s going to produce an all-new version of ‘X’ but sometimes that’s easier said than done. So it was when Bachmann decided to produce a new version of its Class 158. This new model has been designed from the ground up, although not without its headaches, for it took eight years to arrive on the shelves.
Unwanted as that timescale might have been for Bachmann, the result was worth it and George Dent and Chris Gadsby found much to praise in their review in the April 2020 issue (MR272). The shape, the finish, the features; the ‘158’ scored highly in every category. But while Bachmann’s design team were hard at work producing the definitive ‘Express Sprinter’, why not go the whole hog and produce the ‘159’ too? Well, that’s exactly what Bachmann did and here it is. Superficially the same model, we decided that we’d like to cast an eye over the ‘159’ and Bachmann very kindly loaned us 159013 in the striking colours of Network Southeast.
NSE started to struggle with the unreliability of its Class 50s on services beyond Salisbury to
Exeter in the 1990s. Of all the possible solutions, the most economical was to add 22 three-car sets to the Class 158s that Derby Litchurch Lane Works was churning out by the dozen. The problem was that NSE demanded a higher quality interior and larger First Class saloons than BREL was fitting into the ‘158s’. NSE was forced to choose an outside contractor and Babcock at Rosyth Dockyard undertook the upgrade, which also fitted retention toilets as the originals were unsuitable – flushing onto the live third rail was a bad idea!
Suitably modified for their new, long-distance role, the ‘159s’ entered service in 1993. They were joined by eight Class 159/1s in 2006/07.
Visually, aside from the different TOPS numbers, the only clue that this is a ‘159’ is the orange First Class band above the windows on Driving Motor Composite 52885. First Class accommodation was installed during the conversion process. On the windows are tiny First logos. Look inside and the First Class seats are painted red, whereas Standard Class seats are blue. However, the model retains the 2+2 First Class seating of the
‘158’ rather than the 2+1 seating that NSE specified.
The ‘159’ also gives us the opportunity to study a Motor Standard centre car. Unlike the real thing, it’s unpowered but the underframe bristles with beautifully moulded engine, transmission and ventilation gear.
The centre car shape looks spot on and compares well to photographs in Modern Locomotives Illustrated No. 190. It certainly matches the high standards set by the two Driving Motor cars. The roof features the same separately fitted ventilators and access hatch handrails and, while the non-exhaust end looks particularly bare, it matches prototype photographs.
FACE VALUE
Everything else is as per our Class 158 review. The ‘face’ looks absolutely spot on, the underfloor mechanism is a work of engineering genius and the way the engine/ transmission unclips to reveal the Plux22 decoder interface is incredibly user-friendly. It also has the 14-pin coupling system, just like the ‘158’, with a special coupling tool. In fact, you know you’re looking at truly excellent model when the
only discrepancy you can spot is that the hatch on the valance that hides the multiple working socket is raised when it should be flush!
Network Southeast livery looks striking on any train and the ‘159’ is no exception. Bachmann’s rendition looks effective, although the lower band of grey looks a lot darker than images in MLI suggest that it ought to. That said, the colours are beautifully applied with razor-sharp lines between the various shades. Modern image ‘OO’ gauge Southern Region modellers may not have an awful lot of choice when it comes to ready-to-run models, but Bachmann has thrown them a considerable bone with the Class 159. It might not be 100% perfect, but it’s one hell of a model and several ought to grace any 1990s and 21st-century layout depicting the South Western main line from London to Exeter. (RF)
The underfloor mechanism is a work of engineering genius