Graham Farish Class 90

◆ GAUGE ‘N’ ◆ MODEL Graham Farish by Bachmann 371-781 BR Class 90, 90037 Railfreight Distribution ◆ PRICE £194.95 ◆ AVAILABILITY Bachmann stockists Web: www.bachmann.co.uk

After a fairly quiet few years, it’s great to see an all-new locomotive model appearing under the Graham Farish brand. Announced late last year, to tie in with The International N Gauge Show, the Class 90 replaces a previous version of the AC electric dating from the early 2000s. While the old ‘90’ wasn’t a bad model – indeed, it boasted an excellent drive unit – the detail specification was modest by today’s standards, with no DCC provision or working lights, which are seen as minimum requirements these days.

Having excelled itself with a superb ‘OO’ gauge Class 90 in recent years, the folks at Bachmann Europe clearly had built up plenty of expertise in relation to the prototype, and this has now been transferred to a 2mm scale version.

Redesigned from the wheels up, the new ‘90’ presents a refined, faithful appearance, with the distinctive raked back ends looking spot on. Several livery options are available in this first production run, with BR Intercity ‘Swallow’, Rail Express Systems red/grey, Virgin Trains red, and Freightliner’s latest orange/black confection. Received for review is 90037 in the stylish triple-grey Railfreight Distribution sector livery, depicting the prototype from new until repainting into EWS colours in the early 2000s.

Each version is available in Dcc-ready and DCC sound-fitted format, although all models come supplied with a pre-installed speaker. The model’s specification includes a Next18 DCC decoder socket, plus directional and cab interior lighting.

As with most overhead electric locomotives, the eye is immediately drawn to the roof area, with a sprung pantograph installed. Rendered in plastic, with a metal collector head, the pantograph can be posed at various heights and, while it’s not suitable for running in contact with a catenary system, it does look convincing if set just below the wires.

Beside the pantograph is a fine rendition of the contact bars and insulators, while the grilles and other rooftop equipment look the part, including twin aerials at the opposite end. A nice touch is the addition of the locomotive’s TOPS numbers in the corner of each roof panel.

The moulded grilles on the bodysides are neatly rendered, with the vertical louvres featuring a subtle texture. The cab doors and recessed handrails are neatly picked out and the various seam lines and sandbox filler panels are also well executed. The nose ends are equally well treated, with the horn grilles crisply moulded, and the clear headlight panels are superb. Impressively, the TDM jumper cables are not merely printed onto the nose but feature supremely fine separate components.

The clipped buffers and vestibule rubbing plates give the headstocks a purposeful air and the lower valances are fixed to the chassis rather than the bogies, which provide a pleasing, seamless appearance. Blanking plugs are provided for the valances, should you wish to dispense with the NEM coupler pockets. A set of brake hoses and dummy screw and buckeye couplings are also provided to add the icing on the cake.

Bogie frames feature an exquisite level of moulded detail, including the Flexicoil springs and dampers. Cab footsteps are separate parts, which is a welcome touch, and the brake shoes can just be discerned, sitting in line with the blackened wheels. Between the bogies, the equipment boxes are equally well observed, with the twin compressors and associated plumbing worthy of special mention.

Accessing the interior is straightforward, with both bogies simply unclipping from the chassis to reveal a pair of screws at each end. With these loosened, the body simply slides away to reveal the main circuit board, atop which lies the Next18 decoder socket.

A rectangular speaker is fixed to the underside of the roof and sprung copper contacts are provided for this and the lighting circuits, removing any delicate wires from the interior and allowing the body to lift

Build quality is excellent, with crystal clear glazing and a first-rate paint finish