Bachmann have revealed decorated samples for their newly tooled range of Class 69 diesel locomotives in OO Gauge!
As the Class 69s were rebuilt from Class 56s, which themselves had various build differences, the cab ends of our models can depict locomotives with either an aluminium nose – which exhibits a gentle curve underneath the windows – or a steel nose with its flat top. There are also different side window arrangements, depending on whether the donor locomotive was Romanian or Doncaster/Crewe built. The different cab combinations are all adorned with metal windscreen wipers and separately fitted handrails along both sides of the driver’s doors.
The interiors of the cabs have been decorated with a similarly high level of detail, with the chairs and desks fully painted and warning signs and information panels printed along the walls. The machine room interiors are also fully decorated despite only being visible through the bodyside grilles, with each pipe, cable, dial and fan having been faithfully picked out. The decorations in both rooms are complemented by separately controllable interior lighting when used on DCC.
There are sprung buffers on the bufferbeam, whilst under the solebar, the bogies will have full-relief detail and feature a wealth of separately fitted components including the brakes, suspension equipment and securing chains.
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Product Features
Five pole, twin shaft motor with two flywheels providing drive to both bogies
All axle drive with electrical pickup from all wheels and separate metal bearings fitted to each axle
Close coupling mechanism fitted at each end, each of which is fitted with coupling pockets to NEM362 standards
Directional lighting, switchable on/off at either end on DCC or Analogue control
Plux22 DCC decoder interface – recommended Decoder Item No. 36-570B
Each model supplied with a full set of decorated, model-specific bufferbeam pipework and accessory parts, including etched nameplates where applicable
Prototype Information
The Class 69s were designed by GB Railfreight, who had a requirement for additional locomotives with similar capabilities to their existing Class 66s. They were converted from older Class 56 locomotives which had originally been constructed by British Rail Engineering Limited in Crewe and Doncaster, along with Electroputere in Romania. The conversion included the installation of new equipment and systems, including the same type of EMD 710 diesel engine that was used on the Class 66. The first ten Class 69 locomotives were in service by the start of 2024, with further locomotives still to be completed.