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Class 14

Class 15 BTH

Class 16

Class 17 Clayton

Class 20 EE Type 1

Class 21

Class 22

Class 23 'Baby Deltic'

Class 24 Derby Type 2

Class 25 Derby Type 2

Class 26

Class 27

Class 28

Class 29

Class 30 Brush Type 2

Class 31 Brush Type 2

Class 33 BRCW Type 3

Class 35 'Hymek'

Class 37 EE Type 3

Class 40 EE Type 4

Class 41 'Warship'

Class 42 'Warship'

Class 43 'Warship'

Class 44 'Peak'

Class 45

Class 46

Class 47 Brush Type 4

Class 48 Brush Type 4

Class 50 EE Type 5

Class 52 'Western'

Class 53 'Falcon'

Class 55 'Deltic'

Class 56

Class 57

Class 58

Class 59

Class 60

Class 66

Class 67

Class 68

Class 70

Bachmann Class 55

The English Electric 'Deltic' is one of those iconic locomotives. The class of 22 were built at the Vulcan Foundry between 1961 and 1962 for use on high speed express trains on the East Coast Main Line. The name 'Deltic' came from the twin Napier 'Deltic' engines fitted to the locomotives. The introduction of 'Deltics' on the Eastern Region produced a step change in performance and timings. The class was split between three depots and carried distinctive names, some reflecting their home depot connections. The Finsbury Park allocation carried names of famous Derby Winners from Epsom racecourse. The Gateshead allocation carried names of that regions army regiments whilst the Haymarket allocation carried the names of various Scottish regiments. The class was eventually replaced by HST's and displaced to secondary services before finally being withdrawn by 1982. Fortunately, six have been preserved.

This class was an obvious candidate for the model manufacturers and Hornby-Dublo was the first to market a model. It featured a die cast body that was obviously too short. Lima had a go and produced a reasonable model, for its time. Bachmann decided to produce their version in about 2005 and it is this version I currently have. Hornby re-introduced the Lima version as part of their 'Railroad' range in 2012. The latest manufacturer to join the fray is the Dublin based Accurascale. Let's see what the Irish make of it, although their CAD renderings look excellent.

The Bachmann model is a vast improvement over previous offerings, but is still not right. The obvious problem is the front windscreens, they're too small. Maybe not helped by the moulded frame on the glazing? The side hatches are represented by black printed lines rather than any sort of moulded relief. The buffers are poor, but can be replaced and the body sits too high on the chassis. The last point however, is really one of compromise. On the prototype, the tops of the wheels sit within the body. If Bachmann were to accurately reproduce this, the model could not run on 'train set' curves. Despite the errors on the body (why can't Bachmann produce decent diesel locomotives?), the chassis is excellent producing a smooth powerful performance. The model also has working directional lights and working cab lights.

The model is offered as DCC Ready, DCC Fitted and DCC Sound. I bought the two tone green with small yellow panels version as D9007 'Pinza' (the 1953 Derby winner). Obviously wanting to reproduce the highly characteristic sound of these loco's, I thought hard about which version to install. Bachmann's own version didn't sound right, too thin and non of the thrumming sound of the engines. The Howe's version didn't quite sound right either, so I opted for Olivia's Sound. Unfortunately, this doesn't sound anything like a 'Deltic' either and is disappointing. I think the problem in each case is not so much the sound files, but the loudspeakers. The 'Deltics' are very bassy and this is something a little speaker can't reproduce very well. However, Legomanbiffo has since joined the party and I may have the chip re-blown with his version as well as replacing the loudspeaker with something a bit more modern and up to the job.

MTK produced a white metal kit.