Paul Willis encouraged me to post here about this wagon when I was in contact with him just over a month ago, but I'm only getting the time to do so now!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
For those of you who may not be familiar with us, Accurascale is a new entrant into the British-outline RTR market. The project is led by a team of four, including yours truly, and we also operate the Irish Railway Models brand.
Accurascale's first product is the BR 24.5t HOP24/HUO hopper, specifically the revised 1/148 pattern with roller bearing axles and long brake lever with offset V-hanger, as these accounted for the vast majority of the fleet.
We wanted to make it as simple as possible to convert these wagons to either P4 or EM and have been consulting with both Scalefour and the EM Gauge Society over several months. When the first EPs arrived, we sent one to Mike Ainsworth for appraisal and I believe his findings will make their way into the next edition of Scalefour News. However, in short, regauging is merely a case of popping out the OO gauge wheelsets and inserting P4 versions (I believe Mike used Gibsons). The one minor issue he encountered has been rectified with a minor re-tool of the brake shoes on the chassis mould.
We'll be making the HUOs available in both pre-TOPS and TOPS liveries, with pre-TOPS versions scheduled to arrive in May. Details of the TOPS versions will be announced shortly.
The wagons will be sold in packs of three and we are offering five packs as part of the main pre-TOPS run (a sixth pack has been jointly commissioned by Locomotion and Rails, and is available directly from those outlets). The packs are broken down by route markings (or lack thereof):
Pack A:
B333635 (route info blanked out)
B335009 (route info blanked out)
B335539N (route info blanked out)
Pack B:
B333897 (“LOAD ONLY TO STELLA NORTH OR SOUTH DUNSTON OR BLYTH POWER STATIONS”)
B334155 (“LOAD ONLY TO STELLA NORTH OR SOUTH DUNSTON OR BLYTH POWER STATIONS”)
B334160 (“LOAD ONLY TO STELLA NORTH OR SOUTH DUNSTON OR BLYTH POWER STATIONS”)
Pack C:
B334429 (route info blanked out)
B334438 ("LOAD ONLY TO KINCARDINE POWER STATION SC REGION")
B334548 ("LOAD ONLY TO KINCARDINE POWER STATION SC REGION")
Pack D:
B334949 (route info blanked out)
B335039 (route info blanked out)
B335703 (route info blanked out)
Pack E:
B336817 ("LOAD ONLY TO THORPE MARSH POWER STATION (YORKS) N.E.R.")
B336937 ("LOAD ONLY TO THORPE MARSH POWER STATION (YORKS) N.E.R.")
B337128N ("LOAD ONLY TO THORPE MARSH POWER STATION (YORKS) N.E.R.")
Each pack is available to purchase directly from Accurascale for £59.95 + P&P. We offer free shipping to the UK and Ireland for orders over £100. Additionally, we are offering a bundle comprising of packs A, B, C, D and E which can be purchased for £275.
Packs can be purchased online (https://accurascale.co.uk/product-category/wagons/) or from our stand at any of the exhibitions we'll be attending from the second half of 2018.
Finally, here are some photos of the first decoration samples, which arrived from the factory this week:
![Image](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/822/41011192862_e90ce05435_z.jpg)
![Image](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/811/41011193542_d1e6164176_z.jpg)
![Image](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/892/39244301140_bb1fab7038_z.jpg)
![Image](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/808/41011196872_a0688c2db7_z.jpg)
![Image](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/870/39244302550_cba2b374d9_z.jpg)