The doorbell rang while I was hosting friends for the first operating session on my new 7mm GWR model railway. It was the courier delivering a lovely Dapol model of a GWR streamlined railcar.
According to Dapol, the prototypes – which became known as Flying Bananas for their shape, chocolate and cream paint scheme, and top speed of 80 mph – were built in the 1930s and ran into the early 1960s. This makes the model at least a quarter-century too new for my circa 1905 layout. But I bought this primarily for three reasons:
1 – It’s cool. I mean… look at it!
2 – It’s a complete train in a box, which will make it easy to take to events like The Great British Train Show.
3 – There was a sale.
The model came factory-fitted with DCC and sound. I did have to do some tweaking (which involved polling the experts online about setting up Zimo decoders) but I now have it running well. It’s a lot of fun watching it glide up up and down the track in Bydemill.
The model comes with controllable interior lighting and with those big windows it really needs passengers and crew. Fortunately, the model is designed with easy access to the interior so fitting them should be fairly straight forward. I’ve placed an order for suitable figures (not Minions, although I was tempted) and am looking forward to painting and installing them, then giving this model a modest application of weathering.
Given that the next GBTS is not until 2026, I might even have it ready by then.
The Model Railway Show 