Class 74s Get the EFE Rail Treatment

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Ahead of its Spring 2025 British Railway Announcements, Bachmann Europe Plc today revealed that it has commissioned a OO Scale model of the Class 74 Electro-Diesel Locomotive for its EFE Rail range.

The Class 74 Electro-Diesel Locomotives (known as ‘HB’s before the introduction of the Total Operations Processing System (TOPS)) began life as Class 71 Electric Locomotives (originally ‘HA’s) of which a fleet of 24 locomotives was built by British Railway’s Doncaster Works between 1958 and 1960. The original locomotives were used on the electrified lines of the Southern Region and were ordered for mixed traffic and could be found hauling high profile services like the ‘Night Ferry’ and ‘Golden Arrow’. Collecting power from third rail via collector shoes fitted to the bogies, the Class 71s also had roof-mounted pantographs to work in yards where overhead lines had been installed instead of using third rail – removing the danger of the live rail to workers operating nearby.

The EFE Rail Class 74s were first revealed in our video with Hornby Magazine.

As more Electric Multiple Units (EMUs) arrived the Class 71s were displaced from their passenger duties and soon, the Class 73 Electro-Diesels – which could work ‘off-grid’ on non-electrified lines or if the electric supply was interrupted, during engineering works for example – took much of their freight work too, and by the mid-1960s, ten of the 24 locomotives had been placed in store.

Inspired by the success of the Class 73s, a plan was devised to rebuild the stored Class 71s and so they were taken to Crewe Works where they would be converted to create the Class 74s. Like the Class 73s, these new locomotives were fitted with a diesel engine allowing them to work away from electrified lines. They retained their bogie pickups to collect power from third rails, however the pantographs were removed. At each end, buckeye couplings, buffing plates and high-level control and brake pipes were fitted to facilitate working with other stock fitted with electro-pneumatic brakes. Returning to service between November 1967 and May 1968, all ten Class 74s entered traffic in BR Blue livery with full yellow ends and were numbered E6101 – E6110, becoming Nos. 74001 – 74010 when they were renumbered under TOPS.

Being able to work on non-electrified lines, including those around harbours and within goods yards, one of the main duties envisaged for the Class 74s was working the boat trains to Southampton and Weymouth which had previously necessitated locomotive changes at Eastleigh and Bournemouth respectively to work the final part of the journey. In practice however, the reliability of the diesel engines meant that the Class 74s were often swapped for Class 33s at Bournemouth for the final leg to Weymouth, although those working to Southampton generally persevered as this involved running on only a short section on non-electrified line where the diesel engine would be called upon.

In addition to their work on the boat trains, the Class 74s were employed as mixed traffic locomotives and saw regular use on passenger trains until 1973/1974 when more 4-REP EMUs were introduced to work Waterloo to Weymouth services. They also regularly hauled night mail and newspaper trains, and were sometimes called upon for other passenger, parcels and freight workings.

As none of the real locomotives survive today, the new EFE Rail Class 74 has been painstakingly researched using original plans, drawings and photographs to produce this high fidelity model. The highly detailed, injection moulded bodyshell is adorned with a wealth of separate components, including etched metal grilles, metal handrails, lamp irons, windscreen wipers and cab-end jumper cables. Sprung buffers are fitted and a full set of bufferbeam pipework is included with every model. Detailing continues inside the cab where seats, control desks, controls and dials are all depicted and decorated authentically.

Almost a decade after they entered traffic, the entire fleet of ten locomotives had been withdrawn as the curtain fell on Class 74 workings in December 1977. Their demise can be attributed to the poor reliability of the diesel engine and electrical systems and whilst the latter could have been upgraded, like the Class 71s from which they were converted much of their work no longer existed as boat trains had reduced in number and those that remained were now worked by multiple units, and freight and parcels traffic had also reduced. All ten locomotives were scrapped, the last No. 74005 being cut in January 1981.

Powered by a high-quality coreless motor, drive is provided to both bogies and every axle, and electrical collection comes from every wheel. DCC provision comes by way of a 21 pin decoder socket whilst there is space for a speaker to be fitted. Cab lighting is available to both analogue and DCC users, along with illuminated blinds at each end, for which a selection of interchangeable route blinds are provided. The lighting features can be switched on/off via DCC, whilst analogue users can use the chassis-mounted switches to turn the cab lights on/off, and a second switch allows the illuminated blinds to be turned off at the trailing end.

With the models about to go into production, livery samples for the initial line-up of EFE Rail Class 74s will be unveiled in the Spring 2025 British Railway Announcements which premieres on the Bachmann Europe YouTube Channel at 0930 on Wednesday 5th February, ahead of the finished models arriving in mid-2025.

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