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Given the reliability of Bachmann 9Fs and the tired motor in our original Hornby tender drive Silver seal 9F (which has been running over 40 years), another Bachmann 9F was obtained when the opportunity arose. Whilst it was delivered in pristine condition with an early crest, it was weathered and changed to late crest before being put into service. A picture of the new locomotive is below. 
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After many years of waiting, Bachamann's long anticipated 94xx was released earlier this year. Banbury Connections was fortunate enough to acquire one in BR Later Crest Livery from Woodpecker. The locomotive has proven a versatile member of the fleet capable of hauling the heavy empty stock workings between Marylebone and the carriage sidings. The flickering smoke box is also a nice feature. A photograph of the original kit built 94xx (left) next to the new Bachmann 94xx is below.  After many years, a pair of Southern CCT vans have been re-liveried in BR Southern Region livery. Unfortunately, the individual lettering was difficult to apply!  One of the vans at Bristol Midland station. Following the sad demise of our original Wrenn West Country 'Barnstaple', which may or may not be repairable, new motive power was sought. With current prices on Battle or Britain's and West Country's rather high and the greater reliability and haulage capability of Heljan Class 33's, Banbury Connections acquired its fourth Class 33, this one from Woodpecker, which has been allocated to services between Gosport and Birmingham (where there is a locomotive change). It appears that dieselisation is the way of the future!  The new Class 33 at the Southern end of Snow Hill. The new 8F has been deployed on Great Central freight traffic.  Following recent poor running by our Wrenn Cardiff Castle, a decision was made to acquire a replacement Castle for semi-fast duties between Marylebone and Wolverhampton Low-Level. Accordingly, a new Hornby Penrice Castle was acquired from Woodpecker Model Railways. Since being pressed into service, the locomotive has performed its role magnificently with both smooth operation and good adhesion.  Penrice Castle, currently on platform 7 at Snow Hill, is leading the semi-fast from Wolverhampton to London. Following the recent bargains on Hornby J50's, a second example of the class has been pressed into service and assigned to the London Marylebone carriage sidings.The carriage sidings have seen a significant increase in traffic since improvements were made to its throat earlier this year.  Good prices on shunter's trucks and a kind donation from the Bally Bungle Model Railway resulted in the recent deployment of two new shunter's trucks on Banbury Connections. The trucks, which are located at Chester General and Sheffield Victoria, were carefully relabeled to reflect their new assignments. Photographs are below.  Sheffield Victoria's Shunter's Truck. The labels are easier to read in the pictures than in real life!  Chester General's Shunter's Truck Following a wheel change to the ex-SR Q1, operators have noticed slight inconsistencies in the locomotives motion. As it was likely that the problem was caused by poor quartering, the driving wheels were removed for adjustment. Unfortunately, when the locomotive was put back together, it decided to short out. This was rectified by modifying the wiring between the wheels and motor. Since then, the Q1 was put back into service and has successfully hauled a return Southern Region goods working.  The Q1 stands ready at Gosport. Following many months out of steam, major repairs have been made to the Hornby ex-SR M7's rear pony truck and electrical pickups. This has resulted in the locomotive returning to service on the Banbury Connections' Southern Region local train between Gosport and Winchester Chesil. Return of the Hornby M7 is welcomed following a shortage of reliable Southern Region tank locomotives where the local service was down to two engines (the Hornby Dublo R1 and Bachmann E4). Projected work on the R1 should lead to further improvements in the near future. A photograph and video of the locomotive running round at Winchester Chesil is found below. The random dialogue and overdone pommy accent represents the head ganger's attempt at humour by imitating modeller's that take their toy trains too seriously! It refers to the train led by a Class 33 which really does change locomotives twice on its way from Birkenhead.  |
BRED (Banbury Connections Rolling Stock and Engineering Department)The rolling stock update is produced by BRED and looks at changes and repairs of notable interest to the Banbury Connections fleet. Some past projects can be found under the resources section of the website. If you are curious about the performance of a particular locomotive feel free to contact us and I will endeavour to provide a fair assessment of any models we own. Archives
April 2022
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