Bachmann Class 812 and Oxford Wagon Trio - Reviews

A solid set of UK items here, a steam loco and a trio of wagons.

So, let's get started!

First today, from Bachmann "Branch-Line", we have a Caledonian Railway 0-6-0, specifically a Class 812.

General 812 History: Designed by John Macintosh, who was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Caledonian from 1895 to 1914, all were built between 1899 and 1900. The first was numbered 812, hence the "Class 812". The first locos were built as mixed traffic locos (passenger and freight) and were equipped with passenger train specific equipment. They were also painted in the CR's stunning blue livery. Aside from occasional passenger trains, they pulled mostly coal and other mineral trains around Scotland. Eventually the CR came under London, Midland, and Scottish ownership in 1923, and the 812's were painted in the LMS black freight livery. Along with the LNER, GWR, and SR, the LMS was nationalized in 1948, which resulted in some of the 812's serving a third owner, British Railways. The first withdrawal for the class came in 1946, and the last was retired in 1963 - an over 60 year working life for some; not bad! All were scrapped, save one - the 828, which was one of the mixed traffic locos, and received the blue livery. It still has the blue livery, and resides on the Strathspey Railway, where it continues to operate, over 120 years after it was built!

Model Specific History: 828 was built at the Caledonian's St. Rollox works in 1899 and worked for the railroad up to and through the LMS takeover in 1923. After nationalization, it labored for British Railways until its retirement, sometime in the late 50's or early 60's. It was preserved by the Caledonian Railway 828 Trust, and eventually was moved to the Strathspey, where it was restored to operation in the early 90's, and where it continues to work. It occasionally travels to other preserved railways for special events.

Extra Info: the Bachmann 812 Class is/was exclusive to Rails of Sheffield, and was part of an effort involving the 828 Trust, RoS, and Bachmann to call attention to the beautiful 828 and drum up support for its continued operation. Several liveries were manufactured by Bachmann, but I of course wanted the blue 828 - which I missed out on, but was able to get from RoS later as a "Used, Like New" loco.

My first and only used loco so far, I absolutely could not turn down the chance to grab one!

Anyway, on with the review!

Info on the box.

Lots of extra details provided.

And the loco.

The inside cylinders, a detail not often seen on models (for locos that have them).

Now, you may be wondering "what are inside cylinders?". This is a great question, and one it took me years to understand. It's a fairly in depth explanation, so I'll put it at the bottom of the review.

Now, these do not move or operate in any way, which would be pointless as you couldn't see them, and it's be incredibly complicated for a manufacturer to model functional inside cylinders on such a small model (and thus expensive).

The tender.

And the incredibly detailed cab. Note the circuit board in the firebox - this is part of the very realistic "firebox flicker" flame effect that can be activated by your DCC controller.

Ratings~

Overall Build Quality

⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Paint and Lettering

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fine Details

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ease of Operation

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sounds

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good - Everything! It looks absolutely fantastic, and it operates perfectly. Truly a stunning model!

Bad - as is common with Bachmann Branch-Line DCC/Sound models, it had no guide for the CV codes. It provides a list of the DCC control buttons, such as 4 is the whistle, but if you want to adjust start/stop speed or various sounds, it's up to you to figure out the CV codes.

Verdict - I wanted one of these badly when they came out, but they were sold out instantly. I scoured RoS often and eventually this one popped up, and I grabbed it. And I'm very happy I did! Out of my several UK locos, it's the best, in both appearance and operation. I 100% recommend it!

Our next review subject is a little different - first off, it was a three-pack. Second, they are weathered... a first for me.

From Oxford, we have this.

Which contained these.

These are weathered from the factory, which is something I hadn't had before and wasn't too sure about.

But, I was pleasantly surprised! They really look nice and realistic. I'm not sure if any US manufacturers offer this? I know you can get it done, but as an "aftermarket" option.

Verdict - these are really nice looking, and they handle fine. A tiny bit light and flimsy, but not enough to cause problems.

Now, back to the cylinder question.

As I said, 828 here has inside cylinders, which means the steam cylinders that drive the loco are under the boiler between the frame rails. You'll notice that the only connection rod visible it the main one connecting the drivers. The cylinders are connected directly to an axle, rather than a crank pin on a wheel.

This is most common on older UK locos, as they have a restrictive loading gauge that didn't allow for large outside cylinders, and the thought at the time was to put them under the boiler. Advances in design and construction techniques eventually phased this setup out.

N&W 611 here has normal outside cylinders, where the rods, pins, and cylinders are visible.

This is a major improvement over inside cylinders - easier to maintain the cylinders and connecting rods, and they can use bigger cylinders. Also, inside cylinders were prone to overheating and getting dust and debris in them.

Some locos were equipped with inside and outside cylinders, not a very common thing in the US, but fairly common in Europe and the UK, where loading gauge restricts size. For example, instead of 2 large cylinders like 611, a UK loco may have 2 average size outside cylinders, and one or two similar or smaller insides.

That wraps up this round - thanks for looking!