Hunslet WD 'Austerity' 0-6-0T from Accurascale

[Bigmet]

https://youtu.be/btAINXWBRAI

I think this may prove popular despite the two previous versions:
Dapol/Hornby from about 1980, good for its day,decidely dated now in appeance, no decoder socket, but it does run well.
DJM largely good exterior appearance, poor reputation for running capability.

Accurascale have clearly tooled up for the many variations applied to these locos over the years...

[Dad-1]

Doubt I'll buy one, but interested and I would say by todays general pricing
quite competitive. My old Hornby one still working well enough, but somehow
lacking, I suppose at around 40 can now be done much better.
Waiting to see one 'In the flesh''

Geoff T.

[aleopardstail]

technically slightly later than my modelled period (not that this alone would stop me), however basically won't have a suitable shunting yard, at best a station with a few sidings. Think this really needs more of a freight scene.

that said, does look a lovely model

[mahoganydog]

About time we had a proper version of this class.

The DJM/EFE version is spectacularly awful. I hope Accurascale don't 'do a Rapido' and go down the proven unreliable chassis designs route to save a few pennies.

[Bigmet]

... I hope Accurascale don't 'do a Rapido' and go down the proven unreliable chassis designs route to save a few pennies.

Doubt there's any risk of another 'race to the bottom' of the sort that Hornby and Lima foisted on us; simply too much competition. For a start the Dapol/Hornby J94 has a competent drive line design, mine has all the plating worn off the tyres and still performs as well as the more modern designs such as Bach's 56xx, 57xx and 3F mechanisms, Hornby's J50, Planet industrial's 'Victory'. (Five of those six mechanisms acccount for all the seven 0-6-0T locos I now have in operation.

Concerning Rapido, my sole loco model is the Stirling single, and that is a delight in every respect; the J52 they have underway will be my next. Can you be more specific in what exactly has caused your dislike of their design? I promise you if I find their J52 in any way sub-standard it will be returned at high speed: my current J52 is the tolerable Hornby body on the Bach 57xx mechanism, which is fine in performance, it's the body that isn't all it could be...

For me there's a two way race to supply the next 0-6-0T's: the other is Accurascale with the GER designs of the J67/J68/J69 group. It will be a J69 for me, the most frequent of this design group to regularly appear in the KX inner suburban area. Just one more 0-6-0T on my list thereafter, the Park design for the NLR, which trundled freight around all over London for near eighty years: some brand will surely pick that up, especially as one enjoyed a trip to the country at the end, allocated to the Cromford and High Peak?

[mahoganydog]

Can you be more specific in what exactly has caused your dislike of their design?

Well, I have five of their Hunslet 15". Poor is my opinion of the mechanism because you cannot maintain it correctly. It's really badly designed. Oh, they run OK but the wheel plating has gone through after only three hours use. They're split chassis and no real engineer will tell you to run a bearing without lubrication. My Dapol Hawthorns are already giving trouble on perfectly clean track too.

Their other pickup choice made me facepalm. Plungers. Airfix did that. When Dapol got hold of the tooling the first thing they did was switch to wipers. There's a video on utube off Rapido's 15xx being dismantled. After seeing that no way in hell will I buy one of their locos again. They're cutting corners that shouldn't be cut.

I look forward to seeing what Accurascale does with their Austerity chassis.

[Bigmet]

...Well, I have five of their Hunslet 15". Poor is my opinion of the mechanism because you cannot maintain it correctly. It's really badly designed. Oh, they run OK but the wheel plating has gone through after only three hours use. They're split chassis and no real engineer will tell you to run a bearing without lubrication. My Dapol Hawthorns are already giving trouble on perfectly clean track too.

Their other pickup choice made me facepalm. Plungers. Airfix did that. When Dapol got hold of the tooling the first thing they did was switch to wipers. There's a video on utube off Rapido's 15xx being dismantled. After seeing that no way in hell will I buy one of their locos again. They're cutting corners that shouldn't be cut...

Thanks for that. My BR livery 'Hornbach' J52 will be the one doing all the work, while the preserved J52 from Rapido is essentially a shelf queen, so not too worried about the mechanism. I will approach carefully any future offerings which suit my interest

My own experiences of split chassis in OO are a real mixture.

The Mainline/Bachmann technique so flawed: weak constructional technique and materials choice and the barest flash of plating on the mazak which wore through very quickly, soft graphite the only useful lubricant. (Comparison to North American HO from Bachmann demonstrated that this got much heavier plating and thus operational endurance; I reckon the Bach split chassis in OO were a low cost market probe to see if they could attract custom; and that proven, decent construction technique displaced split chassis - sort of...)

Subsequent split chassis technique, mostly from Bachmann, some Hornby, Dapol (and maybe more such as Rapido etc.?) though never labelled as such, very successful in my direct experience thus far.
Bach's MU's and carriages with lighting, faultless; that's quite a chunk of their range.
Hornby's Brush 2 mechanism, I got mine cheap, mazak rotted, these are split chassis in the bogies for pick up, work very well, I believe there were more such in their range.
Dapol NBL DE type 2, likewise.

As for plunger pick ups, no model I can use has these thankfully. Pick up wipers taken overall are so much easier for adjustment and alteration and will always be my preference for pick up from driven wheels, where any imposed drag is directly overcome by the motor; but should not be used on unpowered wheels where it is a thief of traction.