Three Cheers

Yes, three cheers indeed because this is the first posting that I have made in quite some time now but I fully intend posting more during the coming year!

Three cheers, too, for the trio of new locomotives that have recently been added to our growing fleet.

The three are as follows:

HELJAN CLASS 17 Nº D8529 - CATALOGUE Nº: 17021

We do, of course, already have D8568 'Ribble Cement' and have had her for some time now. It was, also, always my intention to have just this one Class 17 since the prototypes were such a disaster. 

However, the loco does look quite splendid in the BR Blue livery so that, when I saw this one for sale, second-hand, at a recent model railway exhibition, I just could not resist her.

As with the other three new locos, she needs to be fitted with a sound decoder and we will doubtless get her weathered, in time, but if she performs as well as D8568 she will probably become a firm favourite on the layout, on both goods trains and on light passenger duties.

The loco is seen here with a Queen Mary Brake Van in tow, which we also acquired at the same exhibition. This one is by Bachmann, Catalogue Nº: 33-827C, and with the Running Nº: 54292.

HELJAN CLASS 52 Nº D1067 'WESTERN DRUID' - CATALOGUE Nº: 5202

We also picked this locomotive up, second-hand, at a different model railway exhibition and is a class of locomotive that we had always intended to add to our fleet. 

I am very much anti Western Region due to the manner in which they treated my beloved Somerset & Dorset Railway - Sabotaged and Defeated most definitely.

However, I do love the fleet of diesel hydraulic locomotives and already have Classes 22, 35 and 42 doing sterling service on the layout. So it made sense to add a Western. 

They are certainly iconic locos and our model will, of course be fitted with a sound decoder and weathered in due course. Then she will be put to use hauling a variety of services, from express passenger trains to heavy duty goods.

 BACHMANN CLASS 44 Nº D1 'SCAFELL PIKE' - CATALOGUE Nº: 32-650

Last, but certainly not least, in our newly-acquired threesome is this Bachmann Class 44. We already have 45053, in BR Blue, but it is nice to have a Class 44 as well, especially 'Scafell Pike'. I don't think Bachmann have ever produced this loco in blue but that is not a problem since we have quite a few diesels in BR green, which does make a nice change. This loco will probably be used mostly on goods trains but might be seen hauling the occasional passenger service.

She is seen in this photo at the head of a rake of Bachmann TTA Tank Wagons, which are another fairly recent acquisition. All of these have been nicely weathered, too, and look great when coupled to the Peak.