Review: Realtrack PCAwagons
Realtrack Models has a reputation for some excellent ‘OO’ gaugemodels, including its ‘Pacer’ and Class 156. It steps into the world of ‘N’ gauge wagons with superdetailed modern cement tank wagons in three liveries.
Looking like miniatures of the Accurascale PCA wagon, the ‘N’ gauge version is as impressively finished and assembled as its ‘OO’ counterpart.
REALTRACK MODELS commissioned an ‘N’ gauge model of the French-built PCA cement tank wagons from Accurascale which were produced and released around the same time as the ‘OO’ gauge model. Realtrack Models offers packs of wagons in three different liveries including the up-to-date Castle Cement scheme; Rugby Cement as applied to the fleet of 15 wagons operated in the south of England and STS grey as applied to wagons once available for lease.
It is a modern air-braked wagon designed to carry dry powders such as cement and was introduced in the UK by STS in 1982 following the construction of 12 similar wagons for Blue Circle Industries. Allocated to Diagram PC017B and PC017C, this type of PCA was built in several batches. The first batch of 52 vehicles is numbered STS10600-651, built in two lots by CFMF during 1982 and 1983 and placed in spot hire by STS where they found use with Blue Circle and Rugby Cement.
A further 15 wagons were built by Fauvet Girel in 1985, numbered STS74030-044 and allocated to Diagram PC017C. All 15 wagons in this batch of dry powder hopper wagons were hired to Rugby Cement where they worked from the cement works at Halling on the Medway Valley line in
Kent to Southampton and the London area, working alongside other designs of cement tank wagon. Class 33s and Class 73s were common traction on these trains until Rugby cement withdrew from rail distribution in the early 1990s.
After a short period in store, until the mid 1990s, all of the PCAs were hired to Castle Cement for flows originating from the Ketton cement works near Stamford to a terminal in the King’s
Cross area and a newone close to St. Pancras station. The wagons were overhauled and painted in Castle Cement grey livery. Thewagons from both diagramswork together in block rakes with Class 66 haulage and continue to do so to this day for Hanson Cement.
The Diagram PC017B/C dry power tank wagon is a modern classic fourwheel air braked wagon fitted with Gloucester suspension and eightshoe clasp brakes. The tank barrel is a unique design which is not fully circular in cross-section, a feature faithfully modelled in the Realtrack ‘N’ gauge model. The tank sits between the wagon frames with a chute at the bottom for discharging the load through pipes fitted on either side. It has a complex shape which has been faithfully represented in the model, a
feature which is apparent when the models are first taken out of the box.
Each of the three liveries which cover the wagon’s life from its first introduction until present day are offered in a single runner pack of three with different running numbers in the same manner as the Accurascale ‘OO’ gauge models.
Super-detailed
It is almost like looking at a miniature of the ‘OO’ gauge model when the Realtrack PCA is first examined. The level of fine detail, particularly for the price per wagon, is remarkable and certainly casts a shadow over many other ‘N’ gauge wagon models currently available for the D&E scene.
The shape of the tank barrel is designed to make the discharge of a product, which will settle and become compacted in transit, quicker and more efficient. The unusual shape of the wagon’s superstructure is accurately modelled with thin sections to the edges of the barrel sides where they overlap the curved end panels, themselves a complex piece of injection moulding.
It is composed of three pieces – the middle section which joins with two ends along a weld line that parallels the edge of the barrel structure itself. The joins between the ends and middle section are barely noticeable in the model. Finishing off the structure above the solebar are delicate plastic ladders and walkway frames which are fitted with see-through mesh. Between the walkway sections are neatly modelled filler hatch covers which have the hinge detail correctly located.
Underframe
The unique shape of the Frenchbuilt PCA wagons is extended to the underframe, which is faithfully