I’ve got to admit I’m no great fan of Edward Thompson. This mostly stems from his acts of vandalism to Gresley’s original pacific “Great Northern” and to the wonderful P2 2-8-2 express passenger engines which he rebuilt as class A2/2.

Thompson did redeem himself with one engine, the B1, and there is already and example of this on the Rede Valley line. At the moment its my only engine in post war apple green and sporting a post 1946 running number. The model is an old Bachmann engine, and it isn’t actually in traffic as its still waiting a DCC chip. There lies the problem, the B1 is one of Bachmann’s split frame designs and not DCC ready, and indeed is a huge pain to convert, requiring the entire chassis to be taken apart. Combine this with the fact that the split frame B1s are notoriously unreliable runners, then its no surprise Bachmann have decided to address the issue.

Bachmann have announced and are now releasing revised models of B1, V2 and A4 all with new chassis and all DCC ready. All these engines were common on the Waverley, and though B1 was rare north of Newcastle, V2 and A4 were standard engines on ECML services to Edinburgh. Lots of excuses for all 3 engine types on the Rede Valley. I’ve already got two Bachmann V2 and one A4, but more will be needed, especially BR liveried examples, which so far are absent.

However Hornby in the spirit of unnecessary duplication when the could have been making me some nice ex NER and NBR 0-6-0s (don’t get me started) also announced a B1, so now there  is a quandary of which to buy.
The Hornby model is a beauty, with all new mouldings and totally up to the standard we have come to expect from Matgate of late, while the Bachmann engine is externally the same engine that has been previously available and uses Replica Railways moulds that have now been around for 20 years or so. The Bachmann engine is selling for around £72, while the Hornby example is some £20 more expensive, so is it worth the extra?

The main visible difference between the engines is the way the tender is coupled. Hornby have gone for a permanently attached tender which is a really good close fit to the engine,and DCC cable to the tender fitted socket well hidden. The Bachmann version retains the original coupling with the DCC socet housed in the engine body. This will I expect make DCC fitting, particularly if I go for a sound chip just a little more challenging in the Bachmann engine.

Model Rail have reviewed both models extensively this month and report that the new Bachmann chassis is excellent, producing near silent running ( a key factor if you want to fit sound) and great slow speed control. They do report the engine having difficulty with a load of 8 coaches, and this is worrying as its a standard train length on the Rede Valley. The review however suggest the Hornby engine is no more powerful. I do take some heart from Roger Siviter’s excellent book “Waverley; Portrait of a Famous Route” which I was browsing this morning for B1 pictures. It illustrates a lovely shot of a B1 in 1965 on a 2 coach local!

At the moment the Hornby LNER example is attracting my attention, mostly because it is finished in LNER black rather than apple green. Even though “Roebuck” was shedded at New England it is named after a deer commonly found in the borders, so it would be very much at home running over Rede Head Viaduct on my layout.

Roger’s book also has an interesting shot that might lead to a renumbering of a Bachmann apple green engine: “Sir Alexander Erskine-Hill” leaving Carlisle in apple green with LNER still on the tender but carrying its BR number 61221. This will look graet as I extend my fleet into the BR transition period alongside an A2 with British Railways lettering on its apple green tender.

The full range of models available is shown in the table below, with both manufacturers releasing LNER, early and late BR versions:

_{Prices charged by OnTracks may vary. All prices correct at time of posting.}

I’d really appreciate views from others on the two models, comments below are most welcome.

Following the comment below, Tony has sent through two rather nice photos of the Hornby version. I think this demonstrates just how good the close coupling looks.