Oxford Rail Mk3a carriages

[centenary]

How good are these Oxford Rail Mark 3a carriages, BR blue grey and Inter City liveried? Good runners and budget stock, are these 'RailRoad' quality or better? Any thoughts gratefully received!

[Bigmet]

It's fair to say there has been reasonable criticism: bodies not well attached, coupler mechanism weak, paint boundary masking sometimes poor, for example. I think you need to get your hands on an example and give it a good look over. (I have a quantity of Oxford locos and wagons which I am pleased with both as models and value for money, so no bias against this brand, before or after it went into Hornby ownership.)

[centenary]

It's fair to say there has been reasonable criticism: bodies not well attached, coupler mechanism weak, paint boundary masking sometimes poor, for example. I think you need to get your hands on an example and give it a good look over. (I have a quantity of Oxford locos and wagons which I am pleased with both as models and value for money, so no bias against this brand, before or after it went into Hornby ownership.)

Although a new model shop has recently opened near me, they dont have a comprehensive railway stock as they're mainly RC and, there isnt another within an hour's drive.

When you say weak coupler mechanism, do you mean the tension locks? They'd be straight in the bin and replaced with some Hunt couplings. Or do you mean there's a problem with the NEM pocket itself?

Thanks.

[Metadyneman]

I have recently acquired a rake of 6 of these in Scotrail livery (blue stripe inter-city livery). The NEM coupling mechanism and its associated spring is held in by the tiniest of screws which in turn is held in place (badly) by the seating unit. The seating unit is not attached very well to the chassis at either end so the screw holding the coupling mechanism is prone to pinging out when the seating unit is moved, rendering the whole kinematic mechanism useless this is especially so when removing the body from the chassis. I have effected a modification to all of my coaches now by adding an extra screw in between the toilets of the seating units and replacing the flimsy screw holding the sprung mechanism in place with a more substantial one. This has strengthened the whole mechanism and it is much sturdier now. So far I have not had any problems I use Hunt couplings with the coaches which are specially designed for the Oxford rail coaches with small side prongs protruding beyond the magnet to stop the kinematic nem pocket from stretching out and making the gap huge between each coach. Doing that little bit of work has rendered these coaches very useful indeed and I've now made up a Glasgow Edinburgh push pull set similar to the one which has been recreated on our real railways currently. In addition to this I have also fitted lights to the coaches as the Oxford Rail bogies are already fitted with electrically conductive wheels & bogies.
As for the finish, the inter City grey is the wrong shade but I can live with that. I can't speak for the blue/grey version as I don't have any.
Hope this helps

[Bigmet]

Always good to see an owner's experience and reasoned appraisal, very useful post.

[centenary]

Thanks both. Seems like an option to pass up on.

[Metadyneman]

Always good to see an owner's experience and reasoned appraisal, very useful post.

Thank you squire!

[Metadyneman]

Thanks both. Seems like an option to pass up on.

I would say they are good coaches other than the bits I have described. You can pick them up for a reasonable price secondhand, but you run the risk of the couplings not being all in one piece (unless specific questions are asked before purchase or it is already in the sales description). For me that is not an issue as my repair method works well. The other thing I forgot to mention was that on older examples, the footsteps under the doors (which are a separate item from the main moulding) are prone to falling off. I think they used a bit more (and stronger) glue on later examples after complaints from the many!
The reason I bought mine is because no one else (apart from Lima which fetch stupid money on theifbay) has brought out Mk3s in Scotrail blue stripe livery and i wanted to make up a Glasgow-Edinburgh push pull. (don't ask me why... I live in Sussex, it just looks a nice train!! )

[Metadyneman]

This appears to have been moved to the wrong category.... Oxford Rail is part of the Hornby family!

[Bigmet]

... Oxford Rail is part of the Hornby family!

Initially it wasn't, but now it is: except in price, and I do wonder how long this will last? Even Mr Cola in his most wildly upbeat moments cannot fail to see that selling Oxford's substantially more accurate recently tooled open wagons at £10 a throw, when Hornby's dated tooling equivalents which are 'dimensionally challenged' at or near £20, rather begs some questions.

[Metadyneman]

... Oxford Rail is part of the Hornby family!

Initially it wasn't, but now it is: except in price, and I do wonder how long this will last? Even Mr Cola in his most wildly upbeat moments cannot fail to see that selling Oxford's substantially more accurate recently tooled open wagons at £10 a throw, when Hornby's dated tooling equivalents which are 'dimensionally challenged' at or near £20, rather begs some questions.

My note was aimed at admin to be honest. if you look at the Hornby heading, in the sub heading it includes Oxford Rail in the list of manufacturers under the Hornby family. Just me being a bit pernickety really