Hornby Network Rail QQA
Breakdown support vehicles
FOUR former NKA Super GUV mail vans were secured by Network Rail as breakdown train support vehicles and converted for the role in 2010. Painted in Network Rail livery of yellow with a mid-grey roof, the vans have a similar outward appearance to the original Super GUV design and are coded QQA.
The four vans are numbered ADB 971001-004 which were originally NKA Nos. 94150, 94190, 941919 and 94168. All four vans run on Commonwealth bogies and have retained most of their original shell ventilators. The end jumper cables have been removed whilst oval buffers are retained. Lighting sockets and conduit have been fitted on the ends of the bodies. On the underframes, the vacuum brakes are long gone, replaced with air brake equipment.
Two vans are usually to be found at Bescot Yard including No. ADB 971001 and the featured No. ADB 971003. The remainder were usually to be found at Warrington. Recent photographs show the vans to be in faded but otherwise good condition.
Revisiting the Super GUV
Hornby acquired the standard GUV and Super GUV models when it bought the Lima ‘OO’ gauge range. The Super GUV model issued as No. ADB 971003 this year is the same model with neatly applied Network Rail livery with DB Schenker and Network Rail logos, representing one of the two vans allocated to Bescot. It is a close fit of the livery to the model. There is the potential for Hornby to release the Super-GUV with numbers of two of the three other vans and be reasonably close where detailing is concerned.
THINGS WE LIKE
An end view of the model which could be detailed with lighting conduit and sockets for supplying power to the external lighting which is fitted to the solebars of the vans.
The former Lima Super GUV is now quite old, but is the only one available as an off-the-shelf model. It retains the original underframe moulding which, when the standard GUV was first released, was the only model of a shortframe Mk.1 coach with an accurate underframe trussing, prompting the development of several Mk.1 full brake (BG) coach body kits to fit it.
Bodyshell
A separate roof moulding is clipped into a body composed of sides, ends and floor. The fit of the roof is tight along the rain gutter and consequently for those wanting to use the model for detailing, the use of internal clips makes the roof tricky to remove.
Shell ventilators are moulded in the roof along with the curved rain strips, features retained on the Network Rail QQA vans.
The body features the three roller shutter doors on either side alongside the ventilators in the lower section of the bodyshell. The tooling is crisp and explains why the Super GUV remains a popular model. It has the correct proportions for a GUV and together with the underframe and neatly applied livery, remains a desirable model, making Hornby’s decision to reissue it a good one.
Underframe and bogies
At the time of its release, the Lima GUV was well received by modellers thanks to its nicely moulded underframe including separate trussing and neatly moulded underframe boxes. The
Super GUV was fitted with the same underframe moulding as the original GUV model including vacuum brakes and dynamo detail which is not ideal for modern air-braked Super-GUVs.
One area that Lima made a poor job of the Super-GUV model was the bogies, they being a loose representation of the Commonwealth bogies fitted to the Super-GUV fleet. The frames are too narrow to accept wheel sets with 26mm pinpoint axles or closer to scale wheels. Again, the same bogies are fitted to the model, equipped with metal three-hole disc wheels in place of 14mm coach disc wheels. Couplings are moulded as part of the bogies and are the same format as other Lima models.
A potential detailing project
The important thing about the Hornby model is that many modellers will be happy to own one or two as it comes a close representation of a modern use for the Super GUV. It will delight the detail enthusiast too, as the ideal base model for conversion and detailing which is possible without having to fully repaint it.
No. ADB 971001 is fitted with side and roof grilles together with an exhaust pipe for an on-board power source, making it an interesting one to model. Updating the underframe with air cylinder and distributor in lieu of the vacuum brake cylinders, will bring it up to date. The bogies can be replaced with Commonwealth bogies from Replica Railways, fitted with the correct coach disc wheels whilst the ends may be detailed with lighting conduit and a representation of the solebar mounted lighting.
The roof would benefit from new cast metal ventilators, and when photographs of the full size vehicles are examined, you can see that some of the original ventilators have been replaced with ridge dome and dome ventilators. That alone will make a nice detailing project – the prominent ventilators being characteristic of Mk.1 stock. Despite the legacy issues of the model inherited from Lima, the SuperGUV model remains valid and should appear in the Hornby range a little more often, the Royal Mail versions being particularly missed.
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