DAPOL HIA AGGREGATE HOPPERS
Entering service between 2005-7, the Polish-built HIA hoppers are a common sight, working predominantly on aggregate flows from quarries in the Peak District. They’re also employed on sand and petroleum coke traffic, which makes them an ideal subject for a RTR ‘OO’ model. Happily, Dapol has taken up the challenge. HIAS 369001-21 and 369049-122 sport Freightliner’s green house colour, while a small batch, 369022-48, were outshopped in white, for use on Buxton Lime Industries traffic. However, the fleet soon became mixed up and this excellent new model from Dapol sensibly includes a selection of green and white hoppers in the initial raft of releases. Most commonly to be seen behind Freightliner ‘66s’, HIAS have also been leased to other operators. DB Schenker used them on Peak District limestone flows in 2015, while GBRF Class 66/7s have been hauling them in 2016 from the newly rail-connected quarry near Horton-in-ribblesdale, on the Settle-carlisle line. Dapol has offered six individual models in this first batch of HIAS, all of which depict wagons from the first production batch (36900148) with the four strengthening ribs on each side (the later batch featured two on each side). Although the livery is fairly simple, the level of finish is impressive, with all logos and instructions printed clearly. There’s plenty of detail relief too, even though much of it is moulded into the main components, with deft touches of paint helping the various control levers to stand out. The separate handbrake wheels are worthy of note, although the ‘loaf’ style buffers are rather disappointing, featuring undersized heads and ungainly shafts. Despite the key proportions of the model being ‘spot on’, there are a couple of minor detail errors. Most notable is the door control equipment, which ought to differ slightly on each side (they’re both the same on the model), but this is unlikely to bother the vast majority of modellers. The wheels sport admirably fine flange profiles and the Y25 pattern bogies and the discharge doors themselves are captured effectively. A small bag of brake hoses is provided, along with the bonus of a modern style tail lamp, all of which slot into holes preformed in each bufferbeam. Our samples ran very smoothly, helped by the heavy die-cast chassis. Furthermore, the interior of the hoppers is also cast metal, giving each wagon a significant weight of 215g. A prototypical rake of 20-odd hoppers would therefore require quite a bit of shifting on any sort of gradient. Combined with new, superior packaging, this must be one of the Chirk company’s best wagons to date and is certainly a great choice of prototype. With a RRP of under £25 - and with some retailers offering them for under £20 - they’re a real bargain. Little wonder then that as this issue closed for press, most retailers had already sold out of the first batch. Hopefully, more are on the way - I need a few for my own layout!