Accurascale OO Scale Class 50 – 50035 ‘Ark Royal’ Run 2

Illustrating the breadth of the Accurascale Class 50 tooling suite is 50035, one of three members of the fleet to gain plated headcode panels during 1977/8 with sealed beam marker lights along with Nos. 50003 and 50007, the latter at the No.1 end only. In January 1978 the ten-year old locomotive become the first of the newly-minted ‘Warship’ class to be honoured with nameplates following the easing of the ridiculous embargo on new namings.

The Laira-allocated machine was dedicated Ark Royal after the Royal Navy’s flagship by its captain at Plymouth station, the new ’plates forcing the BR double arrows to be moved from the centre of the bodyside to the secondman’s cab side. The event also saw large replicas of the ship’s crests fitted above the nameplates. 50035 ran in this condition for several years, which included joining Old Oak Common in June 1980, before being called to Doncaster Works, emerging from the ‘Plant’ in March 1981 in large logo blue.

It later gained the black roof version of the livery before being repainted in the original Network SouthEast scheme in July 1986, although not before running several turns in undercoat grey. Its BR employment came to an end in August 1990 and it was sold to the Fifty Fund the following April, the first Class 50 to be preserved with the official handover being performed by NSE Director Chris Green at the Old Oak Common open day. It was restarted for the first time in preservation exactly two years after its retirement and now returned to large logo ran the debut train of its new career at the Severn Valley Railway in October 1996. It is now part of the 50 Alliance fleet, still based at the SVR, and wears classic 1970s BR blue.

Specification:

• Highly-detailed OO scale model, 1:76.2 scale
• Minimum Radius 438mm (2nd Radius Set-track) in OO
• Die-cast metal chassis
• RP25-110 profile OO wheels with provision for re-gauging with scale-sized wheels for P4/EM gauges – with simple ride height adjustment – and the ability to set brake blocks in line with wheels
• Separately-applied etched metal/plastic detail parts, including grab handles, steps, wipers, etc.
• Scale-width wire handrails
• Etched metal pre-painted nameplates and crests (where applicable) provided for the customer to install
• Interchangeable printed headcodes with full descriptions covering the first nine years of the class plus the preservation era
• Scale-sized and body-mounted snowploughs are provided for the customer to install which allows coupler use if you omit the centre plough, with an additional one-piece NEM-mounted option
• Full underframe tank, battery box and full-formed compressor detail with extensive pipework and other separate parts
• Fully sprung metal buffers and buffer plate, factory-fitted pipework and screw couplings (for display)
• Fully sprung buffers, super-fine pipework and screw couplings (for display)
• Kinetic NEM coupler mounts at the correct height and mini-tension-lock couplers

Deluxe Features:

• Separately powered working radiator fan with different speed settings
• PowerPack capacitor for uninterrupted power
• Custom ‘Accurathrash’  Speaker Technology including large ‘Accurathrash’ Style Bass Speaker (on DCC Sound-fitted models only)
• Hall sensor for flange squeal effect (on DCC Sound-fitted models only)

DCC Features:

• DCC-ready with PowerPack capacitor for uninterrupted power
• DCC-ready or Factory-Fitted DCC Sound options
• Provided DCC-ready [21Pin MTX Socket] or Factory-Fitted DCC Sound [ESU LokSound 5]

High-Performance Traction features:

• Five-Pole motor with two flywheels
• Helical gearbox for maximum performance and slow-speed running
• Gearing is arranged so the locomotive can achieve a minimum scale top speed of 125 mph (200 km/h)
• All-wheel drive (sprung centre axle) and all-wheel pickup

Fully detailed Lighting Pack features:

• Directional lighting, DC and DCC
• Switchable Red and white marker lights with day/night options
• Switchable Red and white marker lights with correctly configured lights for preservation-era oddballs 50008 and 50044
• Interior lighting with cast electrical compartment and engine bay detail on the metal motor enclosure
• Separately switched cab lighting and illuminated, driver’s desk, auto/off on movement