Bachmann have announced a new special edition of their forthcoming OO Gauge Class 69 - complete in the GBRf/ Andy's Man Club black livery!

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. 

The Class 69 locomotive debuted in its striking black livery at the end of April 2025, complete with Andy’s Man Club branding and contact details along with the hashtag #itsokaytotalk and today, Bachmann confirmed that a model of No. 69013 will be produced as part of the Bachmann Branchline OO Scale range with delivery expected in late-2026. Bachmann will be donating proceeds from every sale and being the 13th member of the Class 69 fleet, the company aims to raise £13,000 to help Andy’s Man Club get men talking all over the UK.

The Class 69 Diesel Locomotive was conceived by rail freight operator GB Railfreight (GBRf) to meet their growing locomotive needs. With a requirement for locomotives similar in performance to their fleet of Class 66s, but being unable to purchase new Class 66s, GBRf turned to redundant Class 56s which could be converted into new locos with similar capabilities. As part of the conversion new equipment and systems were installed, including EMD 710 diesel engines, the same as those used in Class 66s. The pool of Class 56s to be converted included examples built at BREL Crewe, BREL Doncaster and Electroputere in Romania, with the conversion work undertaken in Stoke-On-Trent by the American company Progress Rail. 

GBRf formally announced the project in Spring 2019 and the first locomotive, No. 69001, commenced running trials at the Severn Valley Railway in February 2021. The type received approval by the Office of Rail and Road in May 2021, allowing the new locomotives to be pressed into service.

The initial order was for ten locomotives with an option for a further six, and by the start of 2024, the first ten locos – Nos. 69001-69010 – had entered service. Each locomotive has been painted by Arlington Fleet Services in Eastleigh and the liveries applied to the Class 69s range from GBRf’s ‘standard’ orange and blue scheme, and variations on it, to retro-BR liveries including BR Blue, BR Large Logo Blue, BR Green and RTC Red & Blue. Several of the Class are named including the first locomotive, No. 69001, which entered traffic in GBRf orange and blue adorned with UK and US flags and named ‘Mayflower’, symbolising the American input into the rebuilding of this British-designed locomotive. 

By mid-2025 the full fleet of 16 locomotives had entered traffic, including No. 69013 which emerged from Arlington Fleet Service in April 2025 in a bold black livery in support of Andy’s Man Club.