Bachmann ‘Polybulk’ hopper
◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Bachmann Branchline 37‑428Z ‘Polybulk’ hopper wagon, Tiger/nacco ◆ PRICE £79.95 ◆ AVAILABILITY Rails of Sheffield Tel 0114 255 1436 Web www.railsofsheffield.com
The French-built ‘Polybulk’ hopper wagons began entering traffic in the mid-1970s, with examples built into the following decade. Designed for cross-channel and domestic cargo flows, such as grain, china clay pellets, urea and various other loose materials, the wagons offered an impressive 58-ton payload and a covered hopper to keep the contents dry and secure.
Bachmann Branchline’s rendition of the ‘Polybulk’ scooped the ‘OO’ Rolling Stock prize in Model Rail’s Model of the Year awards of 2013, yet the model has been out of production for several years. Happily, Rails of Sheffield has commissioned an exclusive production run of the ‘Polybulk’, in two different liveries, and we have the green/ grey Tiger/nacco version under review here.
Despite being a decade old, Bachmann’s tooling remains impressive. Indeed, it still deserves a place among the best ‘OO’ freight wagons of the later BR era, with a wonderful array of separately fitted detail fittings adorning the body and chassis. The fine plastic handrails are fairly forgiving of handling and the etched mesh walkways add extra finesse. The moulded hopper operating equipment, including the toothed gear wheels, are excellent and there’s plenty of ‘plumbing’ and smaller details to appreciate.
All of these individual components require careful assembly in the factory and this, along with the exclusivity of the production run, accounts for the model’s ‘premium’ pricing.
Working across most of BR’S freight network, these wagons were, thankfully, often seen in short formations – or even singly – within Speedlink services during the 1980s, so there’s no need to amass a long rake for the sake of authenticity.
To match the high level of detail, the decoration is applied to an excellent standard, with the logos and various information panels all crisply rendered and fully legible.
Both livery options suit the 1980s and early 1990s scene and would look at home being shunted around a freight yard or marshalled within a mixed air-braked freight working behind diesel or electric traction.
It's great to see Bachmann’s ‘Polybulks’ return to the market, especially for those of us who missed out on earlier production runs. It’s also pleasing to have a different pair of liveries to choose from, compared to previous releases.
Considering the value of pre-owned ‘Polybulks’ in recent years, the price of these exclusive new wagons is not unreasonable. I, for one, couldn’t resist treating myself! (GD)