Banbury Connections couldn't resist the £109 King from Cambourne shed (aka Kernow Model Centre!) which is a superb runner and able to haul a seven coach express over the stiff grades from Wolverhampton to London without any additional weight. This was the centrepiece of a recent Western Region acquisition program comprising also a Grange and a Hall. Helmingham Hall required extra boiler and cab weight (as done with Rood Ashton and Olton Halls) to meet 5MT performance specifications. Paviland Grange exhibits better adhesion out of the box but required some minor adjustments to improve the motion.
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Due to poor performance of our original white metal Adams Radial and M7 tanks, a Bachmann E4 was recently acquired to join our Hornby M7 on local services between Gosport and Winchester Chesil.
Banbury Connections just took delivery of 9F Evening Star, the last steam locomotive ever built by British Railways. The new acquisition is a beautiful runner and will be seen in a variety of different roles from excursion and cross country passenger services to express freight.
Britain's first mainline diesel joins Banbury Connections.10000 has recently joined the Banbury Connections fleet taking over from the ageing City of Bristol on the Bristol to Manchester service. It will also see service on Bristol sleeper services to the north.
Banbury Connections recently commissioned a new Class 55 Deltic 'Meld' which will be taking services between London and Manchester. 'Meld' was chosen to replace our original Lima 'Meld' which has served a sterling 16 years in mainline service.
BRED has recently undertaken a major overhaul on Battle of Britain '222 Squadron' which is assigned to Gosport Shed. '222 Squadron' was experiencing poor running and was prone to getting dirty wheels. A new chassis was ordered and fitted to the light pacific which is now running well leading to improved operations on the Southern Region.
The replacement of the B12 with a K1 should lead to significant improvements in the performance and reliability of mixed traffic motive power on the Eastern Region.
The 61xx is known to be prone to valve gear jamming. This occurred on two separate locomotives this morning. However, repairing the problem was relatively simple and undertaken by BRED under traffic.
It has been a busy time for the Banbury Connections Rolling Stock and Engineering Department (BRED). Following the shed repairs, about 12 roofs were damaged. This has led to the write off of about 4 vehicles and significant roof repairs being made to numerous others. Nevertheless, work around the clock, in conjunction with the permanent way department, has seen the railway returning to working order .
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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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