Newsdesk: Accurascale MGR wagons finally break cover
Hints of new ‘OO’ gauge MGR wagon models by the Irish manufacturer were alluded to last year. Pictures of the prototype models are now made public by Accurascale.
AS much a design icon of the British
Rail era as the HST, the fleet of 10,961 air-braked Merry-Go-Round (MGR) hopper wagons became a regular sight on the mainline from their introduction in 1964, dominating coal traffic until their run-down in the early 2000s.
They modernised coal handling at power stations and industrial sites by automating unloading without having to constantly stop a train to discharge wagons.
Construction was completed almost exclusively by Shildon Works, except a handful built at Ashford. Production was completed in 1982 with 460 wagons (HDA) fitted with upgraded suspension allowing the wagon to run at 60mph, a higher speed than standard MGRs for use on longer runs. The first builds of MGRs coded HOP AB were fitted with cross members or struts to strengthen the hoppers.
They were easily damaged resulting in weakened hoppers which were replaced with a new design with reinforcing panels along the inside of the top edge.
TOPS code HAA was allocated to the MGR wagon, a code which was soon supplemented with other codes to identify wagons fitted with aerodynamic canopies in the early 1990s alongside those fitted with upgraded airbrake distributors. Canopy-fitted HDAs became HBA whilst HAAs fitted with canopies became HFA and latterly HNA with uprated distributors. Despite the variations introduced in the HAA family in the early 1990s, wagons with different features and TOPS codes commonly ran together in the same train.
The design was successful enough to see wagons constructed for different commodities, including a similar narrow bodied type used on gypsum traffic. The narrow design was intended to suit the restricted Hastings line loading gauge. A larger fleet was built for china clay traffic in Cornwall, a fleet which remains in use today. It was supplemented by conversions from the existing HAA fleet.
HAAs have been redeployed on other freight traffics including mine spoil and scrap metal, the latter was not as successful as their use on mineral flows on Tees-side. However, their usefulness was coming to an end in the early 2000s with the last wagons being taken out of coal traffic use in 2008 as modern high capacity coal hopper wagons came to dominate power station coal deliveries – for a while.
Worst kept secret
Accurascale's new MGR model range had to be one of the worst kept secrets in recent times due to the mysterious appearance of an MGR model in the background of an Accurascale video last year. Accurascale became aware of a parallel development by Cavalex Models in partnership with two retailers after tooling had commenced. It does not wish to cause problems for another emerging manufacturer, and to that end, has avoided duplication of liveries with the first two tranches of models.
Tooling for the Accurascale MGR wagons commenced last summer and nearly a year later, livery samples have arrived for approval. Production is due to commence with a late 2021 arrival of the first packs of wagons which will include the standard HAA, HCA and the CDA china clay hopper wagons.
Comprehensive tooling
Accurascale has seen the MGR wagon family as strategic to the company's range since its inception in 2018. Both the original type of MGR with bracing struts with HOP AB code and the later design are featured in the brand-new Accurascale range of MGRs. The project is vast, with numerous variations applied to the largest fleet of BR-built air-braked wagons to contend with during design and tooling. The models will be based around a cast metal underframe fitted with lost wax and plastic detail castings to a high standard. One feature new to a mainstream ready to run model is the use of pinpoint bearings to make the models as free-rolling as possible to allow scale length trains to be run. MGR wagons were not restricted to power station coal circuits. In their twilight years, wagons were used to haul different commodities including minerals. HAA No. 353570 fitted with a canopy is an example of a redeployed MGR wagon which was photographed at Tees Yard on January 30, 2009.
Twenty-three wagon packs
Such is the wide variety of wagons and liveries in the MGR family that a very comprehensive range of packs of three wagons is being offered to help build up authentic rakes of wagons. Four of the box sets are loaded with HOP AB wagons alongside two Railfreight red HAA packs; two HBA packs; three of HDAs, one of HMA with blue cradles (Mainline Freight) and a Trainload Coal pack.
Four wagon packs cover the CDA china clay wagons in both EWS and DB liveries. Each pack is priced at £74.95 regardless of type or level of detail.