Badgers Break Cover! Check Out Class 89 Decorated Samples And Update
Great news! We've received decorated samples of our exciting new Class 89 special edition locomotive produced in association with our friends Rails Of Sheffield!
Yesterday we previewed the beautiful GNER blue Badger on our social media channels and promised a full update on one of our most hotly anticipated projects to date.
Now we can bring you up to speed with the progress of the project and reveal the one off loco in its as delivered Intercity Executive livery and of course the Intercity Swallow from its BR days and as it is currently in preservation.
As you can see, it has progressed very well since the announcement last summer, with the tooling samples and now these decorated samples looking very well indeed. Our factory has done a truly fabulous job in tooling this marvel of Brush Engineering in miniature, with the complex shape around the face of the locomotive being spot on and matching perfectly with our scan and drawings.
Utilising the same DCC operated pantograph mechanism as our much loved Class 92, the 89 has tried and tested technology throughout meaning we have been able to develop this locomotive at a much quicker pace than our Dyson, which once again is the benefit of now having several cutting edge locomotives under our belts.
The locomotive is an excellent performer too, with excellent smooth running characteristics, weighty chassis meaning excellent haulage capacity, and of course, our industry leading specification of Powerbank capacitors, helical gearing and multiple lighting configurations means it will be a talking point on any layout.
Sound will be of course provided via ESU Loksound 5 DCC decoders with a full custom sound file. It will also make use of our much loved Accurathrash sound set up with large speaker and smaller sugar cube speaker for maximum sound performance.
We are anxiously awaiting completion of the repairs of the real locomotive at Brush Loughborough before recording the loco sound in the coming weeks. You can bet that the sound file on this locomotive is going to sound awesome!
With China now returning to normal after their change on COVID policy in early 2023 production is gearing up but has been slightly delayed due to the shutdown of factories earlier this year. We will now see delivery in Q4 2023 instead of Q3 2023 as mentioned when first announced but as you can see, the slight delay will be well worth it.
Make sure you get your order in via Rails of Sheffield, or direct via our website by clicking the link below. With production about to commence we are about to confirm production numbers with the factory so expect these to sell out quickly in the coming weeks. Don't miss out!