Modern power station wagons
New releases from Accurascale are always hotly anticipated thanks to the success of past models. The latest in the ‘Powering Britain’ series is the large capacity HYA and IIA bogie coal hopper wagon. Will they meet the keen expectations of modellers?
CONSTRUCTION of the near 400-strong fleet of HYA/IIA high capacity bogie coal hopper wagons allowed GB Railfreight and Fastline Freight to challenge the dominance of EWS and Freightliner on power station coal traffic.
Introduced over a four-year period from 2007, the wagons are up-to-date, with TF25 low track force bogies and an uncluttered appearance. Hopper bodies are of unpainted metal adorned with operator logos and the strange network of brown lines where the hoppers were welded together, which is unique to this wagon type. The TOPS code IIA was adopted for HYA wagons numbered in the UIC number sequence, hence the two TOPS codes being issued for the type, even though they are essentially all the same design.
The wagons are similar in appearance to the large fleet of HTAs built for EWS. They are a development of the HTA made by IRS in Romania, the successor company to Thrall which built the HTA wagon fleet. Batches of
IIA wagons have also been constructed by WH Davis in the UK.
The demise of coal traffic to power stations following changes to the tax regime for coal burning and adoption of biomass fuel placed the large fleet of HYA and IIA wagons in a difficult position. Unsuited to aggregate traffic due to their length and with a sudden need for wagons to transport bulky biomass fuel, a number of the Britishbuilt IIAs were fitted with hatches and operating rams at the wagon ends for GB Railfreight, with the first wagons appearing in 2010.
The poor load to length ratio of the HTA and IIA makes them less than ideal for aggregate traffic. Consequently, half the fleet has seen their length reduced from three bays to two, with the first examples appearing in 2016. However, unmodified HYA and IIA wagons remain in use today, some utilised on coal traffic between Immingham and Ratcliffe on Soar power station, while other uses include industrial coal to steel works. Unmodified HYA and IIA hopper wagons are also mixed in with the shortened version for aggregate traffic from time to time.
In typical Accurascale style, the HYA models have been produced in several different liveries. Twin wagon packs in each livery, with unique running numbers, allows complete trains to be made up from a single production run. Liveries include GB Railfreight with First Group markings, together with Fastline Freight and variations on the theme. The Fastline wagons soon became mixed with other operators wagons after the demise of the company in 2010, which meant differently labelled wagons became mixed up within trains.
This review covers the power station wagons including GB Railfreight biomass wagons and Fastline Freight coal wagons. The shortened aggregate version will be examined in a separate article in a future issue. The tail light-fitted version was not supplied for review, so no comment has been made on that feature other than the instructions suggest that the batteries and magnetic switch are concealed under one wagon end panel.
Unboxing impressions
We have come to expect a high level of detail combined with excellent assembly quality and finishing on wagons from Accurascale. Removing these large wagons from the box showed that Accurascale remains consistent in its standards. If anything, matters have improved over past releases, with brake gear applied to the bogies and the rear faces of the wheels correctly profiled. Liveries are amazing works of art down to the brown weld lines and panels. None of the models are supplied with weathering – that is up to you!
Hopper sub-assembly
Careful examination of the hopper of both the coal and biomass version of the model shows absolutely no flaws whatsoever and careful assembly of the component panels and parts. No sink marks could be seen on the hopper sides or the hatches making up the top of the biomass version. Edges are sharp, folds in the hopper profile crisp and assembly of small components as neat as is possible in ‘OO’ gauge. Just check that the ends of the underframe has not become disengaged from the hopper assembly though – easily resecured with a dab of solvent cement if it has occurred.
No assembly seam lines are visible externally in the hopper structure, only between the sloping panels and bay dividers within the coal wagon hopper. Assembly of the additional hatch fittings on the biomass wagons are also neatly applied including the fine operating rams fitted to the wagon ends.
Underframe
Another important check is to discover, using careful sighting along the length of the model, that the underframes are straight and true on such a long model, without any distortion in the solebar.
All was found to be well on all of the samples and the wagons sat square on their bogies. It is on the underframe where the majority of small standalone details are applied, from the discharge doors and their operating mechanisms to brake pipe runs and sprung buffers.
Headstock detailing parts are supplied in the box and were located under the internal packaging. Overall, the assembly of the underframe is neat, accurate and without glue marks.
Bogies, wheels and performance
All of the models run smoothly on well made metal wheel sets. There is minimal side play of the axles within the bogies, themselves beautifully moulded with sharp, well-cut in detail and decorated with a wealth of brake components. Brake shoes align with the outer face of the wheels and are fitted with yokes and rods.
The wagons run freely which means that a rake will not present much of a challenge to up-to-date models of Class 60 and Class 66 locomotives. They will negotiate curves down to second radius at a pinch – the bogies do rotate freely around their pivots, although the door discharge detail catches the inner wheel set when turned in one direction. When converted to ‘EM’ and ‘P4’ gauges, this ceases to be a consideration – one of the compromises of ‘OO’ gauge modelling is tighter clearances with ‘OO’ gauge wheel sets.
Close coupling cams
Lightly sprung close coupling cams are fitted to the underframe, neatly concealed behind the headstocks. When bar couplings are used, they work well and have minimal slack in them compared to other manufacturers efforts in this area. Given that the HYA and IIA wagon fleet is operated in block rakes, a bar coupling would work well in the NEM coupling pockets, something which could be added to the detailing pack for future releases, bespoke made for the models.
Livery application
There is a surprising level of printed detail for a sparsely painted wagon with bare metal hoppers (no money wasted on paint). VTG, Fastline, GBRf and GE logos are neatly applied with no sign of raggedness along the edges. The fascinating web of brown weld lines is a distinctive feature of the type. They are of the correct colour and vary in width and consistency in the same manner as those on the full-size wagons.
Numerous labels for operating instructions for releasing the discharge doors, maintenance instruction, ownership and number labels are clearly and accurately printed. Labelling is not restricted to the dull silver hoppers but is present on the solebars and the black wagon end panels. Most importantly, there are no signs of printed detail rubbing away in places – it is well-applied.
Overall impressions
The inevitable comparisons can be drawn with other models of a similar type and era with regard to the level of detail and the cost per wagon.
The Accurascale wagons are sold in packs of two which works out at a touch under £37.50 per wagon. This is very competitive when compared to a wide number of ‘OO’ gauge models of similar complexity, detail level and size.
A couple of very minor points aside, the overall package of box, instructions and the individually numbered models themselves is attractive for the price. Expectations for this latest set of wagons will certainly have been met for most modellers.
£ RRP
£74.95 (twin-wagon pack)