PCV Gets the EFE Rail Treatment
Ahead of the Autumn British Railway Announcements, Bachmann Europe Plc today (Tuesday 6th August 2024) unveiled brand new models of the NAA Propelling Control Vehicle (PCV) in OO Scale as part of its EFE Rail range.
The first PCVs were built in 1993 as British Rail sought to improve efficiencies on mail trains, removing the requirement for multiple locomotives to service mail trains at Royal Mail hubs, in particular the planned Railnet Hub terminal at Willesden. Made by converting redundant driving cars from Class 307 EMUs, which had originally been considered for conversion to dedicated parcels multiple units, two prototypes were converted by the Railway Technical Centre at Derby. Following extensive trials, a further 41 production PCVs were outshopped by Hunslet-Barclay between 1994 and 1996.
The EFE Rail PCV models were announced in a launch video produced in collaboration with Hornby Magazine.
Conversion work included the refurbishment of the cab, removal of the passenger saloon interiors and plating of the bodysides, with two roller shutter doors on each side to allow mail and parcels to be loaded and unloaded. RCH push-pull equipment was fitted and the PCVs entered traffic working with GUVs and BGs and hauled by locomotives such as Class 47s and Class 90s. Once a terminal was reached, the driver could control the locomotive from the PCV cab to release the train from a siding or buffer stop. The entire fleet was allocated to Rail Express Systems and passed into EWS ownership in 1996 before the vehicles were effectively made redundant at the end of 2003 with the end of EWS-operated Royal Mail services.
The EFE Rail model replicates the PCV in 4mm scale, creating the perfect partner to the Rail Express Systems models already produced in OO by Bachmann Branchline. The detailed bodyshell features separate jumper cables and windscreen wipers at the cab end, plus handrails, lamp brackets and ETH connections which are also added individually. The B5 bogies include brake and suspension components, and a speedometer is fitted to the cab-end bogie, complete with representations of the cable that connected it to the solebar. Below the solebar, underframe components like the battery boxes and brake gear have been added separately.
The PCV boasts operational lighting, including directional lights at the cab end which can be switched between day and night mode using the switches mounted within the underframe. When used on DCC, lighting is controlled via a Next18 DCC Decoder – the socket for which is accessed by first removing the body – and DCC users can enjoy the addition of a cab light as well as controlling the directional lights and their day/night modes via dedicated functions. Power collection comes from electrical pickups provided to every wheel and couplings are of the tension lock variety, fitted into NEM pockets which are attached to chassis-mounted close coupling mechanisms. Brake pipes and dummy buckeye couplings are supplied for optional fitting to each bufferbeam.
Four versions of the PCV were featured in the video launch for the model which was produced in collaboration with Hornby Magazine and full item details will be revealed in the Autumn British Railway Announcements. The premiere for Bachmann’s Autumn British Railway Announcements video takes place on the Bachmann Europe YouTube channel at 0930 BST on 7th August 2024.
