09 November 2015
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Oxford Diecast has gathered together five previously released and no longer available single vehicles in a wonderful five piece set.
Oxford Diecast has gathered together five previously released vehicles into one excellent five piece set.
British Railways was formed in 1948 from the nationalisation of the Big Four regional companies: Great Western Railway (GWR), London Midland and Scottish (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Southern Railway (SR). The identity changed to British Rail from 1965, so this set of vehicles will be perfect for use with layouts set in the 1950s or the first half of the '60s.
While many mourned the loss of the romance associated with the individual identities of the regions and the rivalry between them in some cases (particularly on the London to Scotland routes between the LMS and the LNER), there was no doubt that something needed to happen to make them profitable again. Not wanting to get into the early 1960s Beeching argument here, I shall now concentrate on the models in hand!
To be honest, there are literally dozens of vehicles that could have been deemed suitable for the set but it makes perfect sense that Oxford Diecast should delve into its back catalogue here.
Going from left to right on the image above, we begin with the Austin K8 Three-Way, introduced in 1948, so coinciding nicely with the formation of the new nationalised railway. Previously released as 76AK016, the K8 is a natural choice for inclusion in the set as it was regularly seen in this British Railways livery at the time.
Next up is the Bedford CA Crew Bus, previously released as 76CA018. The pretty lines of the popular CA lend themselves well to the classic British Railways livery and the inclusion of a crew bus, rather than a van version, adds to the appeal of this set in my mind.
The Land Rover Series II Hard Back is one of my favourite Oxford Castings (of which there are many on that list I might add!) and is a reproduction of 76LAN2001, so it was the first release at this scale. Welcome back!
The Ford Anglia looks fabulous in this livery too. Originally available as 76ANG037, this is a very welcome re-run and is perfect for the set as there were so many of these around back in the day.
Finally, we get to the lovely old Commer Q25. Like the Land Rover, this model was the first release of the casting at this scale, 76CM001, so it is great to have it back on sale again for those that missed it first time around.
All five models are wonderfully reproduced and the finish throughout is excellent, with lovely crisp tampo printing, nicely picked out chrome detailing and good paint coverage for both main colours, which both look tonally spot on too. Overall, this set represents truly excellent value and is sure to be on the wish lists of many Oxford Diecast fans and OO gauge railway modellers this Christmas ... and well beyond too!