Accurascale TPE Mk 5a Coach Set

◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Accurascale ACC22352 Mk 5a Transpennine Express coach set ◆ PRICE £225.00 ◆ AVAILABILITY Accurascale stockists Web: www.accurascale.co.uk

With the production lines already set up to produce Mk 5 stock for the Caledonian Sleeper franchise, Spanish train builder CAF was able to offer similar vehicles to Transpennine Express at an attractive price. Although the basic shell is similar to the Sleeper stock, TPE’S coaches differ markedly in terms of passenger accommodation and are classed as Mk 5a vehicles.

A fleet of 66 coaches was constructed, with a mix of First class and Second class cars, plus Driving Trailers (with Second class provision), which are marshalled at one end of the five-car rakes. Designed for operation with hired-in Class 68 locomotives, the ‘Nova 3’ sets finally entered traffic in 2019 transforming TPE’S Liverpoolscarborough and Middlesbrough services. A dedicated pool of Class 68s is provided by Direct Rail Services, painted in a matching TPE livery.

Last month’s issue featured an in-depth review of Accurascale’s Caledonian Sleeper Mk 5 stock, and there are many common features with the TPE Mk 5a sets, in terms of body profile, bogies, underframe detail, gangways and magnetic couplers. Not wanting to repeat myself too much, we’ll concentrate on the TPE stock’s unique features here.

The Driving Trailer is the most striking vehicle within this five-car set, with a streamlined outer end topped with a rooftop air conditioning unit. The heavy-duty buffers are sprung and an array of bufferbeam detail is installed. An NEM coupler pocket is moulded integrally with the object deflector, but this can be replaced with a more authentic version supplied in the packaging, if you have no intentions of coupling a locomotive to this end.

The prototype’s huge windscreen wiper has been captured well, although the straight blade does not conform to the curved windscreen. Inside, a driver’s seat and console are clearly visible, complete with power and brake controls.

At the opposite end of the rake, the non-gangwayed end of the First class car is also equipped with buffers and an impressive array of detail, including separately installed hoses and jumper cable sockets. The small porthole-style window looks the part and is neatly flush-glazed.

The arrangement and nature of the underframe detail has been well observed, with subtle differences between vehicles to suit the prototypes (I was intrigued by the presence of sanding gear on the Driving Trailer!). Like the Sleeper stock, digital destination panels are provided for customer fitment, with an extra panel fitting above the Driving Trailer cab. A choice of Liverpool Lime Street and Scarborough destinations is supplied.

The inter-coach couplings are magnetic, but of a different pattern to those on the Sleeper cars (as per the real thing). They work extremely well, keeping the substantial gangways extremely close together on straight track, but creating a suitable gap as the train enters a curve. These free-running carriages were tested on second radius (438mm) curves without any issues.

Interior lighting is provided, with a magnetic ‘wand’ being used to activate the LEDS when running the trains on DC and DCC control. The interior mouldings reflect the layout of the real carriages and non-intrusive ‘stay

alive’ capacitor units ensure flicker-free operation. Working head and tail lights are installed into the Driving Trailer car, with a 21pin decoder socket located inside to allow DCC functionality (although the interior lighting is not controllable via DCC).

The TPE livery is a real work of art, with the base metallic shade neatly applied, and the various blue and purple elements look superb, especially at the cab end of the Driving Trailer. The gradations in the colours look very convincing. What’s more, it’s a close match with Dapol’s TPE Class 68, making for a consistent appearance.

Recreating an attractive and

The TPE livery is a real work of art, with the base metallic shade neatly applied, and the various blue and purple elements look superb