EFE Rail ZCA ‘Sea Urchin’

◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODELS • E87018 BR ZCA ‘Sea Urchin’, EWS • E87021 BR ZCA ‘Sea Urchin’, DB Schenker ◆ PRICE £38.95 each ◆ AVAILABILITY Bachmann stockists Web: www.bachmann.co.uk

This new addition to the EFE Rail range portrays one of a number of types of ZCA ‘Sea Urchin’ wagons, the first examples of which appeared in the 1990s. With more and more of BR’S fleet of fixed axle open and covered wagons under-utilised, they were equipped with new steel bodies and cascaded to the engineers’ department.

Intended for the transport of ballast or spoil, the low-sided bodies aided loading and unloading by on-track plant or mechanical grabs on the lineside. Most of the early ZCA ‘Sea Urchin’ conversions utilised reconditioned underframes from OAA and OCA open wagons, or VDA vans.

EFE Rail’s wagon, however, depicts a batch of vehicles modified from 1970s-built SPA steel-bodied open wagons, which were rebuilt at the turn of the millennium for EWS. In fact, the model itself is also something of a rebuild, featuring a newly tooled body atop a chassis from the SPA originally produced by DJ Models for FTG. The tooling later passed to Kernow MRC and subsequently entered the EFE Rail range in 2021.

The chassis features twin pivoting axle units, with slightly under-scale wheels, ostensibly to allow the long-wheelbase vehicle to negotiate tight radius curves. However, there’s no spring or self-centring arrangement, which often leads to the couplings (which are mounted to the axle units) being out of kilter. Furthermore, on occasion, the axles can also slip out of alignment, causing stiff running.

This has been a recurring issue with the SPAS since their first release, along with several detail inaccuracies, mostly regarding the brake gear (most of which hangs too far from the floor). However, there’s an extra disappointment with these new models, thanks to the badly drooping NEM coupler pockets on both of our samples.

Under test, coupling up with other ‘OO’ stock (from various manufacturers) proved difficult and a few derailments were encountered, especially during propelling moves. I extracted a few SPAS from my collection (produced under the Kernow banner a few years ago)

and, curiously, these earlier models do not suffer from drooping couplers.

Apart from the chassis and couplers, the new body tooling replicates the prototype admirably, with the angled upper edges faithfully captured. The strengthening ribs are crisply moulded and the Oleo buffers are nicely rendered. Moulded lamp brackets adorn the ends, but a pair of fine wire grab handles are fitted to the corners, above the chassis access steps, which is a pleasing touch.

The paint finish and printed legends are tidily applied, although the overall sheen is a little dull. Six versions are on offer currently, all in red/gold livery, split equally between EWS or DB Schenker branding. As well as the pristine models featured here, the other four options depict wagons in either ‘light’ or ‘heavily’ weathered condition.

With Hornby, Bachmann, Accurascale and Dapol all offering a range of twin-axle ballast and spoil wagons of varying types, there’s certainly no shortage of EWS/DB engineers’ wagons for use on modern layouts. While the ‘Sea Urchin’ is certainly a welcome arrival, the coupling issues on both of our samples were rather disappointing.

If EFE Rail could tweak this chassis tooling slightly, it would definitely make for a much more attractive product. (GD)