ACCURASCALE, MK2C, TSO COACH
Running Number 5554
REGIONAL RAILWAYS LIVERY
OO Gauge
Accurascale Catalogue Number: ACC2700
ACCURASCALE ANTICIPATE DELIVERY DUE IN QUARTER 1 OF 2024
You'll love '2C' it in OO/4M from Accurascale
A perfect complement to Accurascale Mark 2b range which is currently in production, Accurascale kick off the 2c range with 10 differently numbered coaches in the iconic BR Blue/Grey livery. The Mark 2c was quite varied, with Tourist Second Open (TSO), Corridor First (FK), Open First (FO), Brake Corridor First (BFK) and Brake Open Second (BSO) formats. In the 1980s four further types were introduced, SK and SO (declassified from first class), Corridor Composite (converted from FK for Scottish Region services) and a mini buffet with trolley space, known as TSO(T).
Common Features:
• Highly-detailed OO Gauge / 1:76.2 Scale Models on 16.5mm track
• Extremely fine exterior rivet detail on roof and coach ends
• Separately-applied etched metal and high-fidelity plastic parts, including handrails, brake/steam heat pipes, ETH cabling and sockets, footsteps, dummy drophead knuckle coupler, and roof vents
• Prism Free Glazing
• Pre-painted etched metal water filler covers provided for customer to install
• Fully-detailed underframe with numerous separate parts, pipe runs and accurate differences between versions
• The most accurate B4 bogies ever produced, with provision for re-gauging to EM or P4 (18.83mm) gauges
• Blackened RP25.110 profile wheel-sets with 14.4mm back-to-back measurements, and 26mm over pinpoints
• Different buffers for retracted and non-retracted positions
• Accurate interiors with characteristic 'winged' headrests, separate metal interior handrails on the brake and corridor vehicles and fully-detailed guard's compartment
• Correct height NEM standard coupling sockets with mini tension lock couplers and kinematic close-coupling
• Easy conversion to Kadee-compatiable knuckle couplers
• Full lighting package, including
o magnet 'wand' controlled interior lighting
o 'Stay-Alive' capacitor in all coaches
• Minimum Radius 438mm (2nd Radius Set-track)
• Coach Length: 269mm
Accurascale today announces the late-style Mk.2c variant with their characteristic small 'air con'-style toilet windows. These coaches, never before made in OO/4mm, follow on from their highly anticipated Mark 2b coaches, currently in production and due this summer. These variants are already announced in their sister brand Irish Railway Models’ (IRM) range, but are now exclusively revealed in the Accurascale range for the first time.
Prototype History
Initially considered a follow on order of the Mk.2b and classified as such, the 250 Mk.2c vehicles built at Litchurch Lane, Derby, during 1969-70 were quickly redesignated as a sub type in their own right. Three of the configurations, Tourist Second Open (TSO), Corridor First (FK) and Brake Corridor First (BFK), were operationally identical to their predecessors, while the Brake Open Second (BSO) variant returned to the fleet having been skipped for the Mk.2b order. A fifth type, an Open First (FO), completed the range, and was introduced to supplement and replace ageing Mk.1s usually partnered with catering vehicles.
The Mk.2b was expected to be retro-fitted with air-conditioning when it became available, a modification that never took place, and following builds were to be installed with this feature from new. However continuing delays sourcing the equipment resulted in the Mk.2c being another stop gap with the intention – yet again – of fitting it in due course. To make this conversion easier the design was modified, which notably included removable roof access panels and lowered interior ceilings to accommodate the ventilation ducting. The alterations were in vain as the kit was never installed.
As well as the roof panel, the dome vents of the earlier Mk.2, Mk.2a and Mk.2b were replaced with three different types throughout the build, with the FK receiving both ‘GM’ and Roe-Vac TW50 vents, the former being similar to that found on the cab roof of a Class 37, amongst other locomotive types. The FO and BSO were both fitted with the Roe-Vac type, while the BFK and TSO were initially installed with the comically large ‘G’ vent as well as the ‘GM’ and Roe-Vac.
The final spotting feature only applied to the final 150 vehicles built, which were fitted with a smaller, squarer toilet window not dissimilar to that found on later air-conditioned stock. This variant is described by us as the primary spotting feature to distinguish Phase I from Phase II vehicles. There was also a separate rectangular vent positioned above at the right hand end only, and in the same corner on the non-toilet side. Many of these were later plated over as corrosion issues plagued the fleet. All five types were fitted with the smaller window in varying numbers, with all BSO and FO coaches being so equipped.
While the Mk.2b had been primarily allocated to the Western Region, all but 30 BSO in the Mk.2c order were put into service on the London Midland, being immediately associated with pairs of double-headed Class 50 locomotives on the accelerated WCML Anglo-Scottish timetable, as well as electric-hauled Euston-Liverpool/Manchester services. The remainder went to the WR and were partnered with other Mk.2 variants on Paddington-Bristol, South Wales and West of England trains. All were delivered in blue/grey and the second half of the build were the first to wear the famous Inter-City branding from new.
The introduction of the air-conditioned Mk.2d, Mk.2e and Mk.2f along with HSTs on the WR in the middle of the 1970s saw most of the Mk.2c cascaded to secondary Inter-City and inter-regional services, although brake vehicles in particular seemed to find themselves regularly rostered in formations of air-con stock. In 1977, eight TSOs were sold to Israel Railways, while a further seven FO/TSO were acquired by Northern Ireland Railways in the 1980s to supplement the operator’s existing Mk.2b/c ‘Enterprise’ fleet, three examples being rebuilt as 80 Class DEMU cars as replacements for bomb-damaged vehicles.
