◆GAUGE ‘OO9’ ◆MODEL Bachmann Narrow Gauge 392 ‐029 Baguley ‐Drewry 70hp diesel locomotive, BIS white ◆PRICE £119.95
◆AVAILABILITY Bachmann stockists Web www.bachmann.co.uk
Built originally for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), to work 2ft 6in gauge lines within various Royal Navy armaments depots, the Baguley-Drewry 70hp diesels were constructed in the early 1980s and continued in MoD use into the early 2000s, with examples finding alternative careers in industry and preservation.
Bachmann’s ‘OO9’ gauge re ‐creation has been in the pipeline for several years, but a range of livery options is now available, including this characterful version in British Industrial Sands white, complete with the comical camel logos on the cab sides.
At less than 60mm in length and 18mm wide, this is a very cute little diesel, with all four wheels virtually hidden behind the outer chassis frames. Even so, a set of brake gear and sanding pipes are installed. The slimline look of the real locomotives has been captured faithfully, with the generous cab windows affording a view of the driver’s and secondman’s seats, along with a control column and console.
Like the real thing, the bodywork is fairly spartan, but the panel and door seams, rivet heads and radiator grille are crisply rendered, as are the moulded handrails (there are no fine wire or etched detail fittings). The windscreen wipers are separate parts, as are the headlamp units mounted under the cab roof, although they’re not illuminated. The air filter assembly is supplied as a customer-fit part, with mounting holes provided. So too is a choice of bufferbeam weights, one set of which fit around the supplied couplers, while the other (more authentic) versions require the NEM-compliant couplers to be removed.
Livery application is flawless, with clean demarcation between the colour elements, including the ‘wasp’ stripes. The printed
Baguley-Drewry branding on the nose end convincingly mimics a metal plate and a fuel gauge is neatly printed on one side, showing a three-quarter
