OnTracks - British Army Ferry Wagon - due September this year Options

[Doug]

Photos of the pre-production version of the British Army Ferry Wagon produced by OnTracks have been made available.

The wagon is being developed for OnTracks by Electrotren and will include all the features and high specification details you would expect from a modern railway wagon.

OnTracks have commissioned a limited production of 500 pieces of this model, which all come fitted with Hornby couplings for UK customers (these can be replaced by any European coupling system via the NEM coupling pockets).

The model is delicately weathered showing its normal state in use.



OnTracks have produced the model with 'Chalk Markings' directing the shunters where the van is destined for. On one side of the wagon these include well known British depots, on the reverse side European locations of the British Army in Germany and the Low Countries.



The model is the first of a range of British Army models OnTracks are developing based on research undertaken at the Royal Logistic Corps Museum.



The model can be ordered via this link immediately and from selected retail outlets from October onwards. http://www.ontracks.co.uk/index.php?page=p...fromSearch=true

[Brian Considine]

I'm assuming that its an HO model ?

[7113]

I'm assuming that its an HO model ?

Coming, as it does, from the Electrotren stable I would say that's a safe bet.

Regards

[David Todd]

Nice looking bit of kit, will have to do a bit of history research.......

[Dave Gould]

Shame we can't have it in N, as well.

Dave

[henry hill]

nice .would fit into my layout nicely

H

[spurno]

i wish they would do it in N as it's got Longmoor on the side which is where my late father in law was stationed driving trains.it would have been a fitting tribute as he modelled N as well.

[Chris T]

Well, this a fine model of a DB wagon, and one which clearly was used by the British Army as the picture of the prototype shows. But it is not a ferry wagon. It was not built to the BR loading gauge, so it could never have worked to Britain, and could never have visited the military terminals in Britain shown as chalk markings on one side of the wagon.

The DB, and the DRG before them, did build and operate wagons capable of operating via the train ferry through to Britain. They were naturally narrower, and with a lower roof in the case of the vans. To compensate for the reduced capacity this meant, they were built longer than the standard DB covered van. They were, uniquely for Germany, fitted with two sliding doors per side. All these features made them quite distinctive vehicles and there is no way that, even through half-closed eyes, the product illustrated could be ever be felt to represent a ferry wagon. A very pleasing HO model of the DB ferry van (a Gbmhs 51) is made by Bachman Liliput. I do not know if any of these were put in a pool reserved solely for military traffic, but I have never heard of it. Perhaps the BAOR did have a pool of standard DB wagons for operation within Germany.

It's ironic that Electrotren in its former days did produce some decent models of correct train ferry wagons, generally as commissions from the operator Transfesa which was a major customer of the train ferry up to the 1990's.

Chris

[john woodall]

this maybe of assistance in showing what chris is saying.

http://www.hs-merseburg.de/~nosske/EpocheII/fg/e2f_gwfb.html

Cheers

John

[Brian Considine]

I did wonder about it's suitability, thanks to Chris for confirming my suspicions.