Newsdesk: Bananas about buses

In a busy month for news, Rapido Trains weighed in with an announcement of a second run of its popular West Midlands Fleetline bus, and revealed CADs for what will be an important model of the Leyland National Mk.1 bus. Accurascale drives Southern Railway and BR modellers bananas with its latest ‘OO’ gauge freight stock announcement.

Southern Railway banana vans

DIAGRAM D1478 and D1479 banana vans are added to the growing and increasingly diverse collection of ‘OO’ gauge Accurascale wagons.

They were specifically designed to convey bananas from import docks to ripening facilities and distribution points in the hinterland in the best possible condition. It was lucrative business for all of the railway companies, justifying the construction of vehicles capable of transporting them safely in all conditions, which meant they were fitted with heating, insulated and in some cases, ventilated too (the featured Southern Railway vans did not have ventilation).

The Southern Railway (SR) constructed its banana vans in 1935 to supplement a fleet of pre-group vehicles when Fyffes moved its import base to Southampton Docks two years earlier. Two hundred vans were constructed to Diagram D1478 which were supplemented with an additional 125 vehicles which had a different van body (Diagram D1479). The second batch differed because it was based on an existing van design which was

modified and fitted to the same 10ft underframes as the first batch.

The vans were inherited by

British Railways after Nationalisation which makes them of interest to the D&E modeller, with their use continuing through the transition era. Improvements were made to the vans to meet changes in banana traffic, including the fitting of additional insulation and removal of steam heating equipment. Wagons were finished in BR bauxite livery instead of the stone white colour applied by the SR, and many were embellished with company logos and traffic-specific markings.

The few surviving vans fell out of use in the late 1960s, being allocated to departmental use and eventually TOPS coded RBV. Their use was primarily as ‘fitted heads’ (brake force) for iron ore and aggregate traffic in South Wales until their final withdrawal alongside similar vans in 1978.

Brand-new models

Pre-production models for both diagrams of the SR banana van were revealed at the 2022 Great Electric

Train Show by Accurascale. Tooling encompasses both body types including features for early and late condition

vans. We can expect to see the three different types of wheel used under the vans to be modelled, including split-spoke, three-hole disc and spoked wheels fitted to non-magnetic 26mm long pinpoint axles.

The common underframe is composed of cast metal for weight and incorporating a lot of detail including planking detail and framing on the underside of the floor. Axleguards, axle boxes, brake equipment and buffers are represented as small injection moulded details. The bodies will be decorated with small details too including separate lamp irons, grab rails and other fittings.

Twelve wagon packs, covering the wagons from introduction to departmental use, will cater for the needs of both SR and BR modellers. They are priced at £84.95 and will be available from late 2023. Pre-ordering is available at

with discounts for orders of two or more packs.

www.accurascale.co.uk

Two body styles covering both diagrams of SR banana vans have been tooled by Accurascale and this picture of pre-production samples shows the differences in profile, detail and width between the two types.

Banana vans constructed by the Southern Railway have relevance for D&E era models with their continued use into the steam to diesel transition era and subsequent use as departmental vehicles.

A cast metal underframe is incorporated in the design, fitted out with smaller plastic mouldings for the axleguards and brake fittings.

↑ First impressions of the forthcoming Leyland National bus from Rapido Trains. The full size buses celebrate the 50th anniversary of their introduction in 1972.

↑ Detailing of the model will follow the same format as the Fleetline bus, with fully detailed interior, flush glazing and a finely tooled bodyshell.

The later Diagram D1479 van which has a more usual body profile for a SR van. Both shared common underframes with eight-shoe brakes.

The Diagram D1478 van, of which 200 were constructed, are available in five of the 12 packs of wagons, together with a couple of mixed packs.

→ Widely used and longlived, the Leyland National is an icon of the 1970s and 1980s transport scene, making the model an important one for D&E modellers.