Accucraft UK Ltd

Welcome to our April update.  We are pleased to say that we have a definite delivery date for the GWR Moguls and can also bring you news of a raft of new items in ‘The Clearing House’, good news if you are a fan of American 3′ gauge lines!  We’d also like to remind you that April is the month of the National Garden Railway Show in Peterborough, full details below.  We look forward to seeing you there and hope to have one or two surprises on our stand.

Gauge 1, 1:32 scale GWR Moguls in full production

We can confirm that we will be delivering these models on the first week or so of May.  If you haven’t ordered one, we advise that you do so soon!  Although we are shipping stock in addition to that which has been pre-ordered some liveries are being rapidly hoovered up and may not be available.

The National Garden Railway Show

It’s D&RGW month at ‘The Clearing House’!

We have some choice items available for sale, in fact you could obtain an instant collection form what we are offering, not one but two ‘San Juan’ Jackson & Sharp coach sets, some rare and beautiful locomotives and a heap of assorted rolling stock, we even have a cute little speeder and trailer in stock!

Live Steam

Accucraft live steam 1:20.3 D&RG 4-4-0 ‘Col. Boone’, a rare and superb example of the classic American 3′ gauge 4-4-0, now extremely hard to obtain – £2500.00

Accucraft live steam D&RGW C-16 2-8-0, nice, well cared for example – £1850.00

Accucraft Live Steam D&RGW C-21 2-8-0, RC fitted, comes with original boxes – £2950.00

Electric

Accucraft 1:20.3 scale RGS C-19 2-8-0 – RC fitted with batteries – £1950.00

A bit of a rarity!  An Aristocraft/Sancheng G Scale (Gauge 1) Speeder and trailer (powered) in brass.  Only a limited number of these were made, in its original box – £350.00

Rolling Stock

Accucraft 1:20.3 scale RGS C-19 2-8-0 – RC fitted with batteries – £1950.00

Complete set (four car set + additional car, five in total) Accucraft ‘San Juan’ J&S coaches, made in  brass, green livery with their original boxes – £2000.00

Nine D&RGW freight cars and a caboose including a four car boxcar set. two livestock cars, a gondola and tanker – £95.00 each (+ shipping) or £900.00 for the set (all with their original boxes).

Set of six Accucraft US Iron Mountain coal cars (all boxed) – £240.00

After something of a drought for Gauge 1 followers we have bumper good news for you!  We have received our stock of Mk1 coaches and the 14 ton oil tankers as well as four production samples of the new 43XX, delivery of which is expected in April.  We will be attending the Midlands Garden Rail Show this coming weekend and will have examples of all these with us. We look forward to seeing you there.

Production samples of the GWR 43XX 2-6-0

We think you will agree that the factory has done a wonderful job of capturing the clean lines of Holcroft’s mogul.  The model is built to1:32 scale for 45mm gauge track, gas-fired with a single flue boiler.  Built to a similar formula as our very successful 61XX 2-6-2T, the chassis is constructed from stainless steel, the wheels are un-insulated. The boiler is copper, the cab and bodywork are constructed from etched brass. The gas tank is in a water bath in the tender.  The model will run round 4′ 6″ radius curves and is happy on code 332 or code 250 tracks, however, we do not recommend running through LGB code 332 pointwork.

At last!  The Mk1 coaches have arrived!

Much delayed because of Covid-19 and the subsequent rise in shipping costs, we can report that the Mk1 coaches have finally arrived, including the long anticipated RMB buffet cars.  Dealers now have their stock of these lovely Gauge 1 coaches but be advised, the maroon ones are nearly all sold out!  At the same time we also took delivery of the black 14 ton oil tankers and, again, these are rapidly selling out – don’t forget that the silver G1MRA 75th Anniversary tankers are still available (direct from G1MRA).

The Midlands Garden Railway Show

Welcome to our January update.  We have to start with an apology for the fact that the office has been unavoidably closed since Christmas due to illness.  We hope that normal service will be resumed shortly.  We are sorry if your ‘phone messages went unanswered for a while but we have been doing our best to monitor and respond to emails.  Unfortunately the Covid situation in China is also affecting our productivity and some project delivery dates have been pushed further back in consequence. This bulletin should provide a reasonably accurate timescale for the arrival of the next UK and US projects.

1:32 Scale Mk1 coaches and 14T Oil Tankers

The buffet cars, SKs and BSKs have been slightly delayed by poor sea conditions but we expect to be sending them out at the end of this month.  Please note, that in light of supply problems in obtaining Kadee couplings, the batch will be fitted with the Accucraft knuckle coupler.  The problem which afflicted these couplers in the last batch has been addressed by shortening and softening the corridor connections which were responsible for pushing the coaches apart.  The Accucraft knuckle coupler is fully compatible with Kadee couplings.  They are accompanied by the black oil tank wagons, most of which are now pre-sold.

1:32 Scale GWR 43XX 2-6-0s

Although we had hoped to see the 43XXs this month, the batch has been further delayed. The good news is that many of them are now complete and in the paint shop and we have been promised delivery in March.

1:13.7 Scale (7/8ths”) Kerr Stuart ‘Sirdar’ 0-4-0T

We should have a sample for the National Garden Railway Show in April followed by delivery of the batch in May or June.

1:20.3 Scale 13T Shay

These terrific little engines should be rolling of the production line in July.  Make sure you have pre-ordered yours since demand is already proving high!

A further run of the Argyle Locomotive Works NA Class 2-6-2T

Exciting news!  Argyle have commissioned a further run of the very popular Puffing Billy Railway NA Class 2-6-2Ts.  These are bound to be popular and further details of pricing and availability will appear here soon.  Meanwhile we are taking expressions of interest, red, green and black liveries will be available.

Midlands Garden Rail Show – 11th & 12th March

We will, as ever, be attending the Midlands Garden Rail Show at the Fosse and look forward to seeing you there.

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our customers a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.  We have enjoyed seeing many of you at various shows this year and hope to see more of you next year.  The market continues to be challenging and we apologise for the numerous delays that have affected the delivery of our projects and fervently hope that the situation begins to stabilise in 2023.  Last orders for Christmas will be on Friday 16th December and the office will be closed from Friday 23rd December until Tuesday 3rd January 2023.

Last call for the Peckett kits!

If you, like us, have enjoyed Phil Parker’s construction series in Garden Rail magazine and feel inspired to assemble one of these lovely little locomotives you need to be prompt.  We only have a handful of kits and ready to run examples left in stock and the maroon ones are now completely sold out.

G1MRA 75th Anniversary tank wagons

The Gauge 1 Model Railway Association still have a few of these celebratory wagons available for those who might be considering one for Christmas or as a Christmas present for someone – don’t miss out!

The Clearing House

The past year has been a sobering one, we have been asked to handle several estate sales on behalf of the families of deceased modellers.  We have also been somewhat alarmed and disappointed to discover that many of these people have been offered woefully low prices by third parties who clearly think they can make a quick buck from grieving partners and families.  We aim to sell collections at sensible, realistic prices based on their worth and take a modest commission for doing so.  We don’t promise a quick return but we do aim to realise value for money for both vendors and purchasers.  Most of these models have come from the collections of long-standing and trusted customers.  If you have a collection looking for a new home, please consider talking to us.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of new additions to The Clearing House this month.

Sorry about the somewhat late delivery of this newsletter, we have been awaiting news from the factory.  The good news is that the Gauge 1 rolling stock is now on its way  We have also been offered another collection of Aster locomotives to sell with unbeatable provenance and already half has been sold, the balance is listed at the bottom of this bulletin.  We are also listing some ‘open box’ and offer items from our own gauge 1 stock.

GWR 43XX 2-6-0 Moguls

After a seemingly endless gestation period we are pleased to be able to report that the GWR Moguls are nearly finished and we anticipate shipping them in December for delivery in the New Year. We are also happy to report that we have been able to hold the UK RRPs to those originally advertised, £2500.00 and £2595.00, although we may have to apply a small shipping surcharge depending on the rates current at the time.

BR Mk1 RMB Coaches + SK and BSK variants

The Mk1 coaches are now on their way, make sure you have a pre-order placed since they will be a one-off production run with some more SKs and BSKs to mop up residual demand. Delivery will also be in the first week or two of the New Year. The UK RRP will be £295.00.

1:32 Scale oil tankers in black

Coming with the Mk1s is another run of the Gauge 1 oil tankers, this time in black and white! The following versions will be available, UK RRP £95.00: R32-3A Plain Black R32-3E Esso R32-3F Shell-BP

Gauge 1 Specials

These are the last few Adams Radial Tanks, there may be only one of each livery left.

S32-15A – L&SWR Adams green, fully lined, No. 488 £1,995.00
S32-15C – SR lined Maunsell green, No. 0846 (Open Box) £1,895.00
S32-15D – SR plain black, ‘sunshine’ lettering, No. 3488 £1,995.00
S32-15F – BR black, early emblem, No. 30583 £1,995.00
S32-15G – BR black, late crest, No. 30583 £1,995.00
S32-15H – L&SWR Drummond green, fully lined (Drummond boiler), No. 486 £1,995.00

Kerr Stuart ‘Victory’ 0-6-0Ts

S32-14A GWR Green (Swindon safety valve bonnet) £1,195.00
S32-14B Black (Swindon safety valve bonnet) £1,195.00

‘Open Box’ and second-hand Gauge 1 locomotives for sale

A rare and unusual collector’s item, a Gauge 1 GWR ‘King’ 4-6-0 No. 6028 ‘King George VI’ by Stewart Reidpath Models of Herne Bay, Kent, more usually associated with early OO gauge models. The locomotive was made as a presentation model (unpowered) and is supplied with a wooden base and plexiglass case – £1500.00

Live Steam

Aster Berkshire 2-8-4 converted to Southern Pacific form, No. 3509, fitted with a Coffin pre-heater, a rare model of a rare prototype (there were only 10 SP examples).  The model is in  great condition, RC fitted and comes with a wooden carry case – £4750.00

Aster-Accucraft 9F 2-10-0, No. 92059 in BR black, late crest.  Now hard to come by, this version has the BR1C tender.  Excellent condition, little used, as new with wooden carry case – £4250.00

Aster-Accucraft 5MT 4-6-0, No. 73096 in lined BR green, late crest.  The latest rendering of this popular model with the BR1C tender.  Mint condition, little used – £3750.00

Aster-Accucraft Great Northern Heavy Mikado 2-8-2 No. 3202, new and unused in its original box – £3950.00

Aster-Accucraft Union Pacific Light Mikado 2-8-2 No. 2840, new and unused with its original box – £3500.00

Accucraft SP Daylight 4-8-4 GS4 #4449 live steam, butane-fired, flanged drivers.  Beautiful, well cared-for model – SOLD

Aster-Accucraft LNER/BR B1 4-6-0 BR Apple Green, No. 61306 ‘Mayflower’ RTR – £3600.00
Finescale Brass GWR A30 Autocoach in BR carmine – SOLD
Accucraft AL97-035K SP P-8 Class 4-6-2 #2467, Butane Fired (Kit) – £3450.00 (UK RRP £3995.00)
J&M/Accucraft LSWR All third, BR Green – £500.00 (UK RRP £850.00)

In addition to the above we have the following to sell, all from the estate of a renowned model engineer:

Aster Swiss four-cylinder compound A3/5 4-6-0 – black                            £3400.00

Aster LNER A3 Flying Scotsman 4-6-2 – LNER apple green                       £4000.00

Aster British Railways 5MT 4-6-0 – green                                                    £3750.00

Aster BR38 4-6-0 – black (working steam turbine)                                      £3750.00

Aster Rebuilt Merchant Navy Clan Line 4-6-2 – BR green (turbine)           SOLD

Aster BOB Winston Churchill 4-6-2 – BR green                                           £4000.00

Aster SNCF 232 U1 4-6-4 – Green                                                                 SOLD

Aster KPEV Glaskasten 0-4-0T Green                                                          £2250.00

Aster AD 60 Garratt Beyer 4-8-4+4-8-4 – black                                            £8500.00

Aster C& O Allegheny 2-6-6-6 – black (working steam turbine)                 £12,500.00

Aster UP Challenger 4-6-6-4 – black (working steam turbine)                     £10,000.00

Aster Nickel Plate Berkshire 2-8-4 – black (working steam turbine)           £8000.00

Maerklin DB Class V100 – red                                                                         £350.00

Bowande 14XX 0-4-2T – GWR green                                                           £1450.00

Aster Great Northern Railway S2 4-8-4 – green (working steam turbine)  £6500.00

Aster GWR Castle Class Kingswear Castle 4-6-0 – GWR green                 SOLD

Aster S2/6 4-4-4 – red + nine Maerklin bogie coaches                               SOLD

Hello!  Welcome to our October news update.  We are delighted to bring you news of not one, but two, new 1:32 scale locomotives for production in 2023!  However, they are closely related.  In other news we are putting out a last call for Cranmore Pecketts and reviewing the G1MRA Bicester Show.

New for 2023!  GNR C1 and LB&SCR H2 Atlantics.

The Great Northern Railway C1 Atlantic 4-4-2s were developed from the smaller boilers C2 Atlantics, the ‘Klondykes’, and built at Doncaster between 1902 and 1908.  The class was immediately successful, hauling heavy East Coast express trains but was subjected to various experiments by both its designer, H.A.Ivatt and his successor, Nigel Gresley, including the replacement of slide valves with piston valves, four cylinder simple and compound types and even the trial-fitting of a booster.  The class were equipped or retro-fitted with super-heated boilers, many by the LNER after the grouping, and lasted a long time in both front line and secondary service, seventeen of the class making it onto British Railways’ books at the Nationalisation.  One example, No. 251, the doyen of the class, was preserved and is now part of the National Collection.

The story of the London, Brighton & South Coast Atlantics is intertwined with that of the GNR C1s.  The Brighton’s CME was Douglas Marsh who had worked under Henry Ivatt at the Great Northern.  A motive power shortage on the LB&SCR led Marsh to ask Ivatt for a set of C1 drawings, a request that was readily granted, from which he developed the H1 Class Atlantics.  Marsh’s successor, Lawson Billinton went on to build a further six Atlantics, classified H2, to a slightly revised design and it was these locomotives that survived long enough to last into BR ownership, No. 32424 Beachy Head becoming something of a celebrity on railtours until its withdrawal in 1958.  The loss of all the Brighton Atlantics was mourned by Southern enthusiasts and the survival of a pair of GNR C1 boilers proved to be the spur to get a replica built at the Bluebell Railway, a locomotive now nearing completion.

Full specifications for the model will be issued shortly as well as estimated retail prices and delivery dates.  As ever, grateful thanks to David Fletcher for the drawings.

Last call for the Cranmore Peckett 0-4-0ST

There are now only a handful of these lovely little locomotives left at the factory (in kit form) so, if you require one, don’t hesitate.  Those not ordered as kits will be made up as RTR examples and shipped with the forthcoming 43XXs.  We are sure many of you have been enjoying Phil Parker’s build series in Garden Rail magazine and hope that this gives you the confidence to try a kit.

G1MRA 75th Anniversary Show at Bicester

We are sure that those of you who attended the Gauge 1 Model Railway Association’s show at Bicester over the first weekend of the month were wowed by the variety of exhibits on offer.  We’d like to wish G1MRA a Happy Birthday and thank their hard-working committee for organising such a terrific event.  To celebrate the anniversary we displayed a small cross-section of some of the two dozen British and American outline 1:32 scale locomotives that Accucraft has produced over the last twenty-five years or so.

At the show, Graham Langer, Managing Director of Accucraft UK Ltd, had the pleasure of handing over a cheque for £4000 to Steve Davies, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust. The funds were raised from sales of Accucraft’s popular 1:32 scale model of No. 60163 Tornado and is in addition to the £10,000 already raised for the Trust from sales of the model and will be put towards the locomotive’s current overhaul.

Steve Davies was formerly the Director of the National Railway Museum and the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, Graham Langer is also a Trustee and Director of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and has been involved with the organisation for nearly twenty years. The Trust is currently building a new LNER P2 2-8-2 based on Gresley’s Cock o’ the North, named Prince of Wales, which is expected to be completed during 2024 in Darlington.

Welcome to our September update.  Firstly, we’d like to apologise for further delays to the delivery of stock.  A combination of lockdowns in China and shipping issues continue to dog the progress of our projects and we thank you for your collective patience – as soon as we have definite news of arrival dates we will publish them here.  Secondly, we are afraid to say that the recent falls in the value of Sterling will have an impact on future retail prices and although the current batch of ‘Lawleys’ will be sent out in the third week of September at their RRP of £2995.00 the next batch is likely to carry a UK RRP of £3250.00.  Finally the office will be closed for the Llanfair Show and annual holidays from 2nd September until 20th September, email will be monitored but the ‘phone will remain unanswered.

‘Lawley’ images

With the first batch of ‘Lawleys’ now complete, we can share some factory images of the three liveries.

Another new dealer joins the Accucraft ‘family’!

We’d like to welcome Footplate Models of Kidderminster to our growing list of dealers. The shop has been established for over ten years now and continues to grow – going from strength to strength. The business is run by the father and son team of Derek and Richard – both having extensive knowledge of the hobby and the real thing!  Just down the hill from the Severn Valley Railway’s terminus, the premises is perfectly located for anyone visiting the railway.

Footplate Models
101 Comberton Hill
Kidderminster
Worcestershire
DY10 1QH

01562 750076

G1MRA 75th Anniversary Show at Bicester

With just a month to go until the Gauge Model Railway Association’s 75th Anniversary Show at Bicester Heritage the list of attractions and exhibitors continues to grow.  You can see full details and to book tickets here.  One of the highlights is the Gauge 2 layout being exhibited for the first time in public.  We will be bring some Gauge 1 stock to sell, mainly end of line items that will not be repeated.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Second-hand items

We have recently been offered several collections of both narrow gauge and Gauge 1 stock, among which are many sought-after locomotives and items of rolling stock, particularly older Aster models.  If you have specific needs or gaps in your collection that need filling, please let us know and we will prioritise your bids.

With only a week to go before the Llanfair Garden Railway Show and the associated gala on the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway we thought it might be timely to announce that we will be bringing a large number of items for sale.  Apart from ‘Open Box’ examples of recent production items (mainly for exhibition display or photographic purposes) we will also be carrying items of second-hand locomotives and rolling stock that we are selling, some of them rare and hard to obtain.  Here are a few tasters!

Welcome to our August update.  We have some good news for the Gauge 1 fraternity this month, ahead of their upcoming 75th Anniversary show in October as well as some welcome photographs of the ‘Lawleys’ in production.

New 1:32 Scale 14T oil tankers

We were delighted to have been asked by the Gauge 1 Model Railway Association to produce a commemorative vehicle for the association’s 75th Anniversary and are pleased to back this up by supporting their ever-expanding plans for a show at Bicester Heritage over the first weekend in October.  The new versions of these popular wagons will be available this summer at a projected UK RRP of £85.00.

The G1MRA tanker will be built in strictly limited numbers and demand is expected to be high. Priced at £85.00 they represent excellent value for money and can either be delivered or picked up at Bicester in October. Please follow this link to register your interest.

We will also be releasing the tank wagons in liveried black for the first time, Esso and Shell/BP, we will also be producing plain black versions.  Make sure you place your reservation with your local dealer – this will be a strictly limited run.

‘Lawleys’ in production

We were very pleased with the reception that the engineering sample of this locomotive was given at the National Garden Railway Show in June and running trials in North Wales have shown it to be a smooth and capable engine to drive.  Here are some photos from the factory to whet your appetite.  Please note that there are only a few in the initial UK shipment that are not spoken for, so order yours now to avoid a delay of several months before the next batch.

Llanfair Garden Railway Show – 3rd & 4th September

We will be attending this show as usual but this year we will be bringing a selection of narrow gauge ‘end of line’ items to clear the decks a bit.  There will be some terrific bargains to be had (both locomotives and rolling stock) so make sure you come by our stand.

Welcome to the Accucraft UK July update, it was good to catch up with so many of you at the National Garden Railway Show in Peterborough.  This month we are delighted to be able to report significant progress on production of both the 1:19 scale ‘Lawleys’ and the 1:32 scale GWR 43XX with estimated delivery dates of late August and late September respectively so get your wallets out!  We can also report further developments with the forthcoming Shay.

1:19 Scale ‘Lawley’ 4-4-0

They say a picture is worth a thousand words……

We only have a limited number of unallocated ‘Lawleys’ in the first batch so don’t hesitate if you’d like one!

1:32 Scale GWR 43XX 2-6-0

The factory is making good progress on assembling the batch of GWR Moguls with most of the brasswork done and machined components being finished.

1:20.3 Scale 13T Shay

We are pleased to be able to offer the cute little 13T Shay with a further livery variation, adding the planished iron boiler to the two other options.  Planished or ‘Russian’ iron was popular among 19th Century locomotive builders, particularly in the USA.  The name is applied to sheet iron with a very highly polished or glazed surface. It is used for protecting the lagging of engines and boilers and for other uses where a non-corroding black iron of finished surface is desired.

These sheets are made by piling together about fifty pickled sheets of soft steel with powdered charcoal sprinkled between adjacent sheets. The pile is wrapped in old sheets, wired and heated in a furnace to a cherry-red heat for about six hours. Upon cooling, each sheet is swept free of loose charcoal and is then sprayed with steam to form a thin oxide. Again the sheets are piled together, heated and then placed on the hammer table, several in a bundle, and pounded with a steam hammer. This brings about a grinding action which grinds the carbon and oxide on the surface down to a highly polished coating.

The 13-2 Class A straight boiler Shay locomotive was one of Lima’s industrial success stories, with virtually identical examples built for US and international industry and plantations lines. Orders were built for New York, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington State, Minnesota and Hawaii. In addition, exports were built for Queensland Australia, Japan, Puerto Rico and more. Despite its small stature, the design was built for a wide variety of gauges including 50cm, 24”, 30” 36”, 42” and standard gauge. The 13-2 Class A is a 2 cylinder, 13 Ton conventional straight boiler design, and differs from other 13 Ton ‘T’ boiler and tapered boiler designs.  Today there is only one known survivor of this design of 13-2 Class A, as built for Queensland, Australia which is now preserved at the Nambour Museum in beautifully restored, non-operational condition.

At long last, a gorgeous little Shay that is gauge-adjustable!  Perfect for the 16mm brigade!

The model will be gauge-adjustable for 32mm and 45mm and will come with two types of stack as typically supplied by Lima when built.  Supplied in either black or green and now planished (Russian) iron, UK RRP £2145.00 RTR, £1995.00 Kit, available direct from Accucraft UK, due for release Q4 2022.  Our thanks to David Fletcher for the superb illustrations.

Specifications:

1:20.3 Scale – 45 mm Gauge/32mm Gauge (adjustable)
Brass, Copper & Stainless Steel Construction
48 in. (1.2 M) Mini. Radius
Length: 16.8 in. (427 mm)
Width: 4.5 in. (116 mm)
Height: 6.6 in. (168 mm)

Features:

Butane fired
Two truck, two cylinders
Simulated Stephenson valve gear,
Two Safety valves
Lubricator
Water level gauge
Blowdown valve
Hand operated pump in bunker
Superheater