With the recent announcement of the Brush Type Twos – Class 30s and Class 31s – in OO scale from Bachmann Branchline, the Bachmann Collectors Club has taken full advantage of this tooling to produce No. 31190 ‘Gryphon’ in the popular West Coast Railways Maroon livery.
Depicting a Refurbished Class 31/1, this locomotive has had its Mirrlees engine replaced with an English Electric 12SVT and the Branchline model faithfully recreates this, with the correct roof exhaust ports and 12SVT engine block detail visible through the bodyside windows.
With high fidelity mouldings, numerous separately fitted parts and countless tooling variations to capture the minutiae of the real locomotives throughout their lives, our new Class 31 is brought to life with an exquisite livery application using true-to-prototype colours, fonts and logos. Along with an unprecedented array of lighting features, our Dual Fitted speaker system is fitted to all models – bringing to life our SOUND FITTED models. For the ultimate experience, choose one of our SOUND FITTED DELUXE models with their motorised radiator fan, authentic tinted windscreen glazing and, for the first time ever, DCC-uncoupling – thanks to the Bachmann Auto-release Coupling System!
- Bachmann Branchline OO Scale
- Era 9
- Pristine West Coast Railways Company Maroon livery
- Running No. 31190
- Named ‘Gryphon’
- Etched Nameplates Included
- Equipped with a Plux22 DCC Decoder Socket – recommended Decoder item No. 36-570B
- Length 228mm
DETAIL VARIATIONS SPECIFIC TO THIS MODEL
- Refurbished Body
- Gangway Doors Plated
- Plated Headcode Panels fitted with Marker Lights
- Windscreen Washer Jets with Covers
- Bufferbeam Cowling Removed
- Original Windscreen
- Original Main Fan Grilles with Horizontal Fins
- English Electric Engine Exhaust Ports
- English Electric Engine Block Detail
- Plated Boiler Port
- Plated Water Filler Hatch
- Plated Bodyside Steps
- Battery Boxes with Additional Safety Clips
- NRN Radio Pods
- High Intensity Headlights
BACHMANN BRANCHLINE CLASS 30/31 SPECIFICATION
MECHANISM:
- Five pole, twin shaft motor with two flywheels providing drive to both bogies
- All axle drive
- Electrical pickup from all outer wheels on each bogie
- Separate metal bearings fitted to each axle
- Diecast metal chassis block and bogie towers
- Diecast metal gearboxes, with gearing arranged for prototypical running speeds and haulage capabilities
- 5mm (OO gauge) wheels to NEM310 & NEM311 standards with authentic profile and detailing
- Detachable coupling pockets to NEM362 standards fitted to each bogie
- Auto-Release Couplings fitted at both ends – DCC operated, hands-free uncoupling with the press of a function button (SOUND FITTED DELUXE models only)
- Designed to operate on curves of second radius (438mm) or greater
DETAILING:
- Bogies constructed from multiple components featuring full relief detail
- Rotating radiator fan, driven by an independent motor and gearbox, operated as part of the sound project on DCC and Analogue control (SOUND FITTED DELUXE models only)
- Tinted windscreen glazing (Driver and Second Man windscreens only as per the prototype, SOUND FITTED DELUXE models only)
- Separately applied metal detail parts, including grab handles, windscreen wipers and etched fan grilles
- Sprung metal buffers
- Each model supplied with a full set of decorated, model-specific bufferbeam pipework and accessory parts including three-piece, body-mounted snow ploughs
LIGHTING:
- Directional lighting, including illuminated headcode panels and high intensity headlights where applicable, switchable on/off at either end on DCC or Analogue control
- Cab lighting*, assigned to two DCC functions for separate switching of each
- Separately switched Engine Room lighting*
- Single or win red tail lights (*when used on DCC)
- Authentic light colours and temperatures selected for each model based on era and application
DCC:
- Plux22 DCC decoder interface
SOUND:
- Two quality speakers employed for optimum sound reproduction, fitted to every model as standard
- Zimo MS450P22 DCC Sound Decoder fitted to SOUND FITTED and SOUND FITTED DELUXE versions
- Two sound projects to accurately capture the sounds of Class 30 (Mirrlees Engine) and Class 31 (English Electric Engine)
- Sound files for each project produced specifically for the Bachmann Branchline Class 30/31 using recordings from real locomotives and archive audio
- SOUND FITTED and SOUND FITTED DELUXE models operate on DCC and Analogue control as supplied. On Analogue, an authentic engine start up sequence and running sounds are produced when power is applied
LIVERY APPLICATION:
- Authentic liveries applied to all models
- Multiple paint applications employed on each model using BR and corporate specification colours
- Logos, numerals and text added as appropriate using multi-stage tampo printing using authentic typefaces, logos and colours
- In addition, where applicable Etched Nameplates and Plaques are also provided
CLASS 31 No. 31190 BRIEF HISTORY
Like all 263 Class 31 locomotives, No. 31190 was built at Brush Traction in Loughborough, entering traffic in May 1960 as number D5613. As with many of its classmates, No. D5613 was initially deployed to the Eastern Region and allocated to Finsbury Park which saw it working out of Kings Cross.
In 1974 the locomotive was renumbered to 31190 with the implementation of the Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) and was classified as a Class 31/1 – a ‘standard’ Class 31. No. 31190 has carried a number of different liveries during its varied history, starting with BR Green and then BR Blue. Following refurbishment in 1987 the locomotive emerged in Railfreight Red Stripe livery and was later repainted into Engineer’s ‘Dutch’ Grey & Yellow.
Passing into EWS ownership at Privatisation in 1996, the locomotive was sold to the spot-hire company Fragonset and it returned to traffic in 2000 after another repaint, this time into Fragonset’s black and maroon livery and named ‘Gryphon’ – continuing the company’s theme of naming their locomotives after creatures from Greek mythology.
Winter 2002/2003 saw No. 31190 gain another new livery when it was leased to Railtrack, receiving the company’s striking vibrant blue and green colour scheme, before joining the West Coast Railways Company fleet in 2005 which prompted another repaint, this time into their Maroon livery, whilst still retaining its ‘Gryphon’ nameplates.
No. 31190 subsequently lost its nameplates and was repainted into retro BR Green livery, complete with its original number D5613, continuing to be used for spot-hire, in particular hauling Network Rail trains. Finally withdrawn from service in 2015, the locomotive was saved for preservation, first going to the Weardale Railway, where it received its latest livery (BR Experimental Golden Ochre), before moving to its current home in April 2021, the Plym Valley Railway.
