RETURN OF THE ‘DELTICS’

This year marks Accurascale’s fifth birthday and, to celebrate the occasion, the company has announced a second production run of its hugely successful Class 55 ‘Deltic’. Six new versions have been announced so far, encompassing BR green and Rail blue liveries, plus the famous vision in purple that was Gordon Highlander while under Porterbrook ownership.

The new models will feature a number of subtle improvements, building on experience gained during the initial production run. Most notably, the brake chains – linking the bogies with the bodywork – have been redesigned to offer greater resilience and ease of removal. A few of the small parts that were prone to coming adrift in transit, such as the corner footsteps, have also been redesigned, while the speaker baffle will be reinforced to reduce vibration.

Despite covering all 22 prototypes in the first run, there is still plenty of opportunity to offer new versions of individual examples in different liveries and with period‑specific fittings. A good example is 55013 The Black Watch, in a special Rail blue livery with silver fuel tanks, grey roof and other adornments which it gained for the Rainhill commemorations in 1980, although it never actually attended the event!

Two of the models will be reserved for the Accurascale Exclusives range, available only from the Accurascale website, depicting 55002 Royal Scots Grey when it was working for Virgin Trains’ Crosscountry franchise in the late 1990s, plus Gordon Highlander in Porterbrook purple. The latter is a re‑run of a version from the first batch, which has returned owing to huge customer demand.

If the first batch is anything to go by – and with the prices the same as the first batch – these ‘Deltics’ are likely to sell out fast, so don’t hang around!