Military Manoeuvres ... and More

For this week's blog posting I thought I would highlight a short goods train, which is also another recent addition to our fleet of locos and rolling stock.

This train began its life when I acquired the loco and wagons of the Bachmann Military Manouvres Train Set, Catalogue Nº 30-130. 

All of the items were unboxed and, whereas in the set there is the Class 03 Shunter, plus one each of a TTA Water Tank Wagon, a 5-plank Open Wagon and a Brake Van, I managed to pick up two each of the TTA and the Open Wagon.

Class 03 Shunter 'Western Waggoner' - Nº: MoD 2144

5-plank Open Wagon - Nº: MoD 4726

TTA Water Tank Wagon - Nº: MoD 4810

20 Ton Brake Van -Nº: WGM 4803

Since acquiring this set I have added two more Bachmann wagons to increase its length to seven wagons and I will probably add some more in time.

29 Ton VDA Sliding Door Box Van - Nº: WGB 4311

12 Ton Ventilated Van - Nº: ARMY 475555

The VDA is interesting in that it is, what Bachmann call, an Area Sales Representatives Exclusive Model. This means that it is a model that has been commissioned by one of Bachmann's Area Sales Representatives and produced exclusively for them and only available from Bachmann stockists within their geographical area. 

Exactly how many were commissioned is not known but it is a handsome van and an ideal addition to the Military Manoeuvres set. Its Catalogue Nº is 38-140IG. 

The ventilated van, meanwhile, is 37-806 and is widely available at the moment and I will probably add another one or two of these to the rake.

The loco has not been sound fitted, as yet, but definitely will be in due course. 

Obviously this is not a set that will see a lot of use on the railway but it is an interesting one and the loco is particularly handsome which will, no doubt, ensure that it does pop up from time to time.