Modelling the Class 370 APT-P

370001 & 370004 in July 1980

370001 - Testing, Testing!

370001 was first recorded in August 1977, lurking around the RTC in Derby, comprised of three cars: DTS 48101, TS 48206, and TBF 48601. Of note is that the destination windows featured black lettering on a white background, possibly as a stick-on vinyl for display, as opposed to the black blinds with white lettering later fitted to passenger-carrying units. Contemporary accounts suggest they emerged from Litchurch Lane fully fitted out with seating, and were possibly still in this condition at the first press event for the APT (albeit static) in June 1978. For this event, the rake was displayed with power car 49003, which at that time had the APT logo on both sides, and was named "City of Derby" at the event. By late 1978 the three cars had been kitted out with test equipment, despite not yet having turned a wheel - instrument racks, mess and workshop facilities, and even an auxiliary diesel generator in the brake van to power all of the above.

BR's intention had been to complete testing and have all trailer rakes trains extended to full length and in public service by the end of 1980, which would have seen 001's test gear removed, standard seating fitted, and the set extended to its full 6-car length. However this plan was overtaken by events, and 370001 remained a testbed throughout its working life. It was never more than three vehicles long, and never carried fare-paying passengers.

370001 was paired with 370002 and power car 49003 in April 1979 and became the first APT set to operate under its own power. Later that year, with (most likely) power cars 49001 and 49002 in the rake, the set broke the British rail speed record, hitting 162.2 mph. The record stood for 24 years, and is still the fastest a British train has operated on conventional, non-purpose-built, high-speed tracks.

In July 1980, after the initial testing phase was complete, 370001 was commandeered to participate in trials of the then-new Brecknell-Willis High Speed pantograph. A prototype pantograph was fitted to power car 49001, with two-car 370004 at the other end, for further high-speed trials.

Once initial testing was over the unit returned to Derby where it lost test car 48206 and was reduced to just two vehicles. The black cab window mask was applied in 1981 and the rake was next seen at Old Oak Common open day, along with 370007. Apparently having never been rebuilt to full passenger carrying standards, it was called upon for further testing in later years, and photos suggest it sported a variety of internal layouts over time. In 1984 the non-articulated APT-U Development Coach 48204 was coupled between the unit's two articulated cars and the adjacent power car. For this purpose, fixed bar couplings were fitted to TBF 48601 and power car 49005 to allow the Development Coach to be marshalled between them. No other APT vehicles were modified to work with the Development Coach.

For the Development Train tests, the unit was based at Crewe when operating on the WCML, and 370001 gained some of the local livery embellishments such as a red stripe around the nose. Once APT-U trials came to an end, 370001 returned to Derby, where it was broken up in 1987 (with the non-articulated car surviving until October 1989).

The starting point for this model was Hornby set R3873, the five-car, yellow-fronted 2020 release (370003 + 49003 + 370004). In addition I required a TS car and two of the 48204 APT Development Coach models - you'll see why below!

A Tale of Two Test Cars: 48206 (1978-1981) and 48204 (1984-1986)

The first stage of the project was to create test car 48206, with its internal equipment racking and so on. The vehicle was originally constructed with its full complement of seats, but these were removed sometime in late 1978 or early 1979 for its role as a test car. Externally 48206 was unchanged - internally, however, it featured equipment racks at the inner end nearest the TBF car, with some seating and a workshop area at the outer end.

Here we must immediately digress and move forward several years to 1984 when a different test car was created from TS 48204. This vehicle had previously operated in 370003 as a regular TS but was modified to be non-articulated, and ran between 370001's TBF and the adjacent power car. It too was fitted out with equipment racks at one end, with regular seating retained at the other. Hornby produces this "Development Coach" as part of its 7-car sets, and also as a separate vehicle.

BUT what's very useful about the model is that while it contains a pretty good likeness of the 1984 equipment racks at one end, it also contains a pretty good likeness of 48206's 1980 equipment racks at the other! I expect this helpful error occurred when Hornby's researchers found images of both vehicles' interiors, which are admittedly very similar, didn't realise that two separate vehicles had existed at different times, and concluded that they were different ends of the same coach.

As a consequence, the construction of 48206 also allows the creation of a more accurate model of the 1984 non-articulated test car, 48204.

So the first step is to dismantle everything, and, since APT vehicles are always the same way around in a half-rake, make a point of labelling the relevant ends of the test cars - in both cases the end adjacent to the TBF car was where the equipment racks were housed, which in reality minimised the amount of cabling needed from the generator set in the brake van area. Worth noting that because the two cars were marshalled at opposite ends of 001's TBF at different times, their interiors are effectively the opposite way around to each other, relative to the orientation of the unit.

The interior mouldings of the Development Coach and the TS vehicle were cut in half and swapped around to form the basis of the new interiors for both vehicles. Some additional adjustments of the mouldings were required to get the various sections to fit into their new locations, owing to the differences between the regular and modified vehicles' bogie pivots etc.

Photos of 1984 test car 48204 suggest that the full complement of seating was retained in the other half when converted, however it's a different story for the 1980 test car, 48206, with only a handful of seats retained at the other end of the vehicle. To recreate this, the surplus seating was cut away, and a new plasticard floor added.

One minor detail that no-one else will ever see: 48206 did not have standard APT tables - it had wooden ones with angled corners - so a quick snip or two with the side cutters did the trick.

Forward again to 48204 - a few seconds of footage from a documentary reveals the layout at the right-hand side of the equipment banks (in 1986) where an angled wall leads from the end of the racks to the end wall, with a narrow doorway in it for access through to the TBF car. This was recreated in plasticard along with another angled wall at the other end, with a doorway arch leading through to the saloon.

Across from the seats in 48206 was a long workbench. In reality it appears to have been made from several kitchen units and a long worktop, but plasticard sufficed for this recreation.

The silver of the equipment racks in both cars was painted out with blue and various small items, crudely representing test equipment, were added to the empty shelves and upper rack spaces. I don't have a 3D printer, so for now some impressionist blobs will do.

Comparisons of the two interiors:

370001 - TBF and DTS

The interiors are not quite as involved as 48206 - the driving trailer and trailer brake vehicles have less in the way of equipment racks (but for these the second Development Coach was needed), and more in the way of a whole lot of empty space. The TBF (blue mouldings) was gutted, leaving no seats in place, and on the real train the floor was laid with functional vinyl tiles. Plain plasticard replaces the seating area on the model. The DTS is a little more complicated, as a handful of seats were retained to the rear of the mid-saloon bulkhead. The forward saloon area was cleared and re-floored for test equipment, while the remainder of the rear saloon retained carpets but lost the seating.

One curious feature of the retained seating in the DTS were the original APT tables with raised edges, which I believe were designed to hold meal trays, but which made them somewhat impractical for anything else. These didn't seem to make it into the in-service units, so for the mad fun of it, I cut some slivers of plasticard to represent this design. There are only four tables in the DTS, so why not?

The equipment rack in the TBF (which was apparently for pantograph monitoring) was formed of two racks and a desk a little bit longer than those in the test car. The configuration of the desk is different to the sections available in the Development Coach interior, however rather than try to carve the exact arrangement of verticals, I hacked together two sections of "regular" desk to give a reasonable overall impression.

An interior layout diagram of the DTS shows a further desk-and-rack set-up (for C-APT testing - the cab signalling system used by the APT), but to date I've found no photos that show this set up in place. On the assumption that the rack was installed at some point, a further set of racks from the extra Development Coach were used to represent this.

In addition to the C-APT electronics racks, the DTS retained a handful of seats as a mess area for on-train personnel. In one corner was a literal kitchen sink! This was fabricated for the model from the side window of an unpainted Hornby Class 37 body and inserted into the counter-top of a plasticard worktop and cupboards. Similar workshop units complemented this in the TBF, created based on the interior layout diagrams and a glimpse in the corner of one photo!

To power all the test equipment on board 370001, a diesel alternator set was installed in the van compartment of TBF 48601. To provide an air supply to cool the engine, the two destination windows fitted to the van were removed (including the frames) and vents added behind them. For the model, the exterior window frames were then removed, and a slight chamfer added to represent the resulting inset. Some crude bits of plasticard were fashioned to create the insides of the vents as seen "through the hole" from the outside. Additionally panels were mocked up to look like the shape of the generator itself, such that it might just be glimpsed through the windows.

The diesel set, of course, had an exhaust, and this can be seen sticking through the roof of 48601 in many photos. After studying as many of these as I could find, the "correct" position for the engine's exhaust port was marked out on the roof, and then very slowly and carefully drilled out by hand. Once through, a length of ballpoint-pen ink-tube was chopped off, which was exactly the right size for the hole, then carefully shaped at the exposed end into a weird shallow "v" which can just be discerned in many photos of the real thing.

48101: Nose Surgery

Several details on Hornby's model don't match with the condition of the APTs as built.

First of all, the raised surround to the horn grille was carved off and sanded flatter. On the real trains, these mouldings sat flush with the nose cone, and only over time became slightly raised as the two pieces flexed with use. Much later some were replaced by rivetted-on grilles, or plated over.

Secondly, the rain strip under the windscreen was a feature that wasn't added until around 1981 in most cases - none of the units had them fitted while wearing full yellow ends. So that was also carved off.

One curious detail on the Hornby cab front is the recess into which the windscreen frame is set - no such recess exists on the real train, and it's particularly noticeable on the model at the top corners of the windscreen. This was treated with a bit of filler to smooth out the feature a little.

Paintwork

At this stage of its career, 370001 had its destination blinds wound to blank, so the insides of the DTS windows were painted dark grey.

The black window frames on the Hornby model are a little too bold, these were repainted a little thinner.

One thing that most will probably not too concerned about is the colour of the red stripe on Hornby's model. It's actually a little too red for the correct shade, "Rail Red", which is quite an orangey red. You can, of course, choose to ignore this, or you can do what I did and carefully mask / repaint all the red on all the bodies.

On the left, Rail Red. On the right, Not Rail Red.

All three vehicles of 370001 showing the modified interiors, with 370004 waiting patiently behind, plus the corrected Development Coach for a few years down the line.

370004 - The Lost Unit

370004 had an odd history - being probably the most photographed APT, but also the first to be taken out of use. When it first emerged from Derby it was a four car trailer rake, comprising the DTS and TBF you'd expect, 48104 and 48604, plus two other trailers, one of which was a buffet car. I have speculated that these are TRSB 48402 and TF 48502 based on the vehicle allocations recorded in publications from the time, but so far I don't have photographic evidence that confirms this. Nevertheless, aside from commissioning runs with prototype HST power cars, as far as I can tell, 370004 never ran in this condition as an APT set with another unit.

By the time it was paired with four-car 370003 in 1979, it had been reduced to the minimum formation of DTS and TBF, and the two intermediate trailers were never seen again...

With 003, it could be found primarily on the southern WCML from the end of 1979 through to mid-1980, principally operating driver training and familiarisation runs. Initially the set ran with power car 49003, however by early 1980 the power car had been swapped to 49001. The pair continued to operate until June 1980, and made a somewhat work-stained appearance in May at the Rainhill 150 celebrations, with 004 leading and 56077 shoving at the back. Thus 370004 very likely became the most photographed APT unit!

At the end of June or early July 1980 370004 and 49001 were commandeered to participate in trials of one of the first Brecknell-Willis high speed pantographs. For this, the unit was paired with three car test rake 370001, while their erstwhile partners disappeared back to Derby for rebuilding and (theoretically) extending to full-length rakes.

Two 004s in one shot... 40004 passes 370004 (and 370001) lurking in North Union Sidings at Preston in probably November 1980. I had a better side view of the APT from this occasion once upon a time, but naturally used it in some school project that I never got back... Lesson learned!

The pair ran in this formation (with and without the new pantograph) until at least the end of 1980 (and maybe as late as early 1981), but after that both sets returned to Derby. 370001 was ultimately reduced to two cars, while 370004 was never seen on the main line again. DTS 48104 did receive a black mask by 1982 - maybe not an APT logo, though - but apparently never got to show it off in public.

Instead 370004 languished at Derby for the next few years, slowly being cannibalised for parts. The nose cone was an early casualty, possibly being donated to 370002, which in turn had donated its original nose to 370005. Some photographic evidence suggests that DTS 48104 and TBF 48604 were marshalled either end of a formation of intermediate trailers during this period (possibly those from 005), presumably to make shunting of the articulated vehicles easier on site.

Alas, 370004 was not to make a return, and both vehicles were broken up at Derby in 1987.

As far as I can tell, 004's interior was not modified in any significant way, which means that interior detailing was limited to painting the seats into less garish colours. For the exterior, the same front-end modifications as 001 were carried out - removal of the rain strip, filing down of the horn grille frame, filling in the recesses in the windscreen corners, and reducing the size of the black window surrounds.

Painting

370004 had a couple of distinctive features up on the roof. Firstly, the lift-out panel above the auxiliary diesel set in the DTS appeared to be unpainted. It's unclear from photos whether it had any major detail differences to the standard panel, so I've assumed it was the same. To that end, the area of the panel was masked off and given a vaguely dirty-metal finish.

The TBF had a similarly darkened area to the rear, over the van. This required a little more surgery, as the moulded longitudinal ribs extended into the area of the panel. These were carefully carved off before the area was masked and painted a similar dirty-grey colour. Photos are again not very clear as to the detail of this area, so the remainder of the moulding has been left as-is.

Pantograph Testing - Power Car 49001

It's much harder to trace the full histories of the power cars, because, being in the middle of sets, they're pretty hard to identify in photos, and got swapped around fairly frequently.

When first outshopped in 1977, 49001 carried two different shades of grey: the dark band was lighter and bluer-looking; the pale grey was much more desaturated and not the familiar creamy colour. Though repainted by October 1977, the livery would persist on all the Hornby models produced during the period!

49001 initially operated in 1979 between 370001 and 370002, along with 49002, but by early 1980 it could be found between 370003 and 370004. When tests were requested for the then-new Brecknell-Willis High Speed pantograph in mid-1980, the first two operational APT pairs were split and reformed. 370001, with its test equipment, was commandeered along with 370004 and power car 49001, which was fitted with a prototype of the new pantograph plus cameras and other roof mounted monitoring equipment. I have read that the APT team were somewhat reluctant to participate in the trials as they had their own issues to deal with at the time!

By 1981 49001 was back at Derby for overhaul, but the next clear record of it in operation is not until 1984, when it was formed with 49003 in the set used for the resumption of public operations. It seems to have been one of three power cars in a pool dedicated to the passenger operation, also including 49003 and 49006. Towards the end of 1984 it was replaced by 49006 and may not have run again.

Moved to Booths for scrapping in 1986, it was cut up there in the glare of the media spotlight.

The starting point for the model was power car 49003, supplied with the Hornby 5-car set. Numbers and printed nameplate were removed, and a rail red stripe added. As supplied, the model comes with an original two-stage Stone-Faiveley pantograph, so this was removed. A spare Hornby Brecknell-Willis pantograph was obtained painted dark blue to match the prototype. Of note for rivet counters like myself, 49001 appears to have been the only power car to run with a Brecknell-Willis pantograph while retaining its white cantrail stripe.

As I was scouring photos of 49001's roof area, trying to identify the exact locations for mounting the cameras and other features, I spotted something I'd not noticed before. As can be seen on the Hornby model, there's a kink in the bus-bar, with one insulator mounted on an additional plate, next to a tall bar. This appears to be the pantograph isolating switch, presumably to allow the pantograph on the power car to be completely isolated from the power supply coming from the adjacent power car. However - it appears that the addition of this switch was an early modification to the fleet. In mid 1980, 49001 had not yet been so fitted, and thus the bus-bar ran directly between the "regular" insulators either side of where the switching insulator was installed. Some carving and sanding of the roof, plus replacement of the kinked section of bus-bar mimics this on the model.

Lights! Cameras! Action!

49001 was fitted with what I'm calling four "cameras", front and back of the pantograph. These were mounted on twin brackets and appeared to be in some sort of cradle, and able to be angled. There isn't a huge amount of detail available from photos, but in 4mm scale, there's not a huge amount of detail possible, so I interpreted as best I could. In addition, at the outer end of the roof, flanking the "knuckle" end cameras, were two electrical boxes. These were mounted on the roof via side brackets, but the boxes themselves were at a slight angle.

The result shows the pantograph end with cameras and boxes fitted, and isolation switch removed. The tilt mechanism channels at both ends were also blackened as per the prototype.

With the external modifications complete, the units were reassembled and weathered. Numerous photos of the real formation were studied for the weathering, and I went for a slightly-exaggerated version of the worst bits of all of them, to give the workhorse-like appearance that this set had during this period. This included a number of "paint scratches" that could be seen on the prototype.

For an electric train, the APT had a surprising number of diesel engines on board - all APT-P driving vehicles had auxiliary generators behind the cabs, the exhausts from which would leave stains down the yellow ends and along the roof. 48104 in the foreground was often fairly grubby up top. 48101 behind tended to have a little less dirt on the yellow, however 001's TBF vehicle also had a generator to power the test equipment in the set - 48601's roof (at the back) was nearly always smudged with smuts.

The end result

Since beginning the APT formations page project, and really delving into which units did what and when, I had an urge to model 370001 "correctly", with all its internal modifications and unique features. While doing a model of 001 and 002 together in their original form was considered, it was the dirt-covered pairing with 004 that really inspired, with all the roof-mounted clutter on the power car. Added bonus - I saw this set failed at Preston back in November 1980!

After the pantograph trials, both sets returned (probably in early 1981) to Derby, but by this time, BR's APT plans were going somewhat awry. The plans to rebuild and extend the sets to full length never came to be. Instead, 001 lost 48206 and was shortened to two cars, now with a black mask. The DTS and TBF vehicles were not rebuilt to carry passengers, though some additional seats were added to the DTS for later testing roles. Eventually the set was paired with the "new" non-articulated 1984 test car, 48204, only this time the car was marshalled between the TBF and adjacent power car for obvious reasons. The set was scrapped at Derby in 1987. 004 suffered a less glamorous fate - while it was repainted with a black mask, it apparently never returned to use, and instead the two vehicles spent several years marshalled either end of a full-length trailer rake at the Derby APT centre, gradually being cannibalised for parts before being cut up in 1986.

So in this model I've attempted to recreate the "glory days" of the two sets, when going flat out to test the limits of power collection was all the rage.

370005 & 370006 in July 1980

370005 - Chairman Hua and the Carnforth derailment

Trailer Rake 5 (aka 370005) had an interesting early history. Before it was formed up into a full-length rake, and perhaps before it was even commissioned, four cars were purloined from the APT test yard at Derby and tripped over to the Railway Technical Centre. There, around 31st October 1979, they were given the once-over by the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Hua Guofeng (successor to the infamous Chairman Mao), who was on a state visit at the time. Whether his exposure to the APT inspired the Chinese high speed rail developments 40 years later is still hotly debated...

Around this time, 005's DTS 48105 was subject to some livery experiments. While orange cantrail stripes were not ubiquitous by this date, it appears that the trend towards the orange stripe was gathering pace. While all the other APT units featured a white cantrail stripe at the top edge of the dark grey band, 370005 was given an orange one, which was affixed slightly higher, a few inches above the dark grey. It was also discontinuous, being broken at the divide between each colour band at the cab ends. The scheme appears not to have found favour - by the time the unit was operational the standard white cantrail (on the sides) had been applied, with orange only around the yellow ends and red stripes.

This was not the only livery modification trialled. Units 001 to 004 had all emerged and operated without any 1st class yellow or buffet red stripes on the respective vehicles, which was perhaps the original intention (and arguably unnecessary for a fully-reserved-seating passenger operation, as passengers just would board by coach letter). However it looks like BR had second thoughts, because as well as the cantrail, 48105 was also given a red buffet car band above four of the passenger windows. Again this was painted out on the DTS before entering operational service, but units 005 to 007 all entered traffic with these bands applied to the appropriate vehicles.

Photos of unit 005 being commissioned have so far escaped my research, and so the first time the unit is seen is on 18th April 1980, operating with power car 49006, and paired with 370001 on the rear. The occasion was a VIP run from Glasgow, but all did not go to plan. As the train was passing Yealand, north of Carnforth, the rear axle of the bogie between the TS and TRSB cars came apart at high speed. The APT-P Chief Design Engineer, David Boocock, was riding on the train, became aware of the problem, and operated the communication cord. Fortunately the train came to a stand in line with the track, with no passenger or staff injuries and little other damage to train or tracks. Naturally all the P-trains were immediately withdrawn for axle checks.

Interestingly, this run is currently the only one I have been able to identify which features a full-length unit with a full yellow end. At the time of writing, I've not seen any evidence of a full 12+2 APT in this condition - and certainly this never happened with vehicles without their class and buffet bands!

A few months later 370005 was back in traffic, now with a black mask, and paired with similarly-attired full-length 370006. Together with power cars 49002 and 49004, they formed the first identified operation of a full 12+2 APT-P set, recorded around 28th July 1980.

As a full length unit, 370005 seems to have been relatively short-lived. The latest instance I've found of it running in this condition is in December 1980, after which it seems to vanish until November 1982, when it reappears as a two car rake. Possibly at the same time, or perhaps a little later, it was part of a three-way TBF-swap, receiving 48606 from 006, while its original brake vehicle 48105 ended up in 370002.

It remained in this form for the rest of its operational life. Sometime in early 1983 it lost its original nose cone, and received one from 370002 - the old unit number remained clearly visible under "370005". Notable highlights included the 1983 very high speed, 150mph-plus, pantograph test runs, paired with two-car 370006 and two power cars - rumour has it that this test train could easily have broken another UK rail speed record, however engineers were concerned that the resulting overhead wire uplift might be sufficient to strike overbridges on the northern WCML. Sadly the APT did not get a chance to break its own record.

The unit appears to have been the spare short-end for APT's 1984 return to passenger service, but does not seem to have been called up for use, aside from early trials before the service recommenced. Its last appearance was at Wolverton Works open day in August 1985, after which it was dumped at Crewe ETD as a spares donor. Moved to Derby in 1987 it was cut up with 001 later that year, in the same yard that this story began eight years earlier.

370006 - from star to survivor

Like 005, there is little evidence of commissioning runs for 370006. Photos of the rake with a full yellow end are currently confined to the test yard at Derby, and its first appearance on the main line (at least as currently available on the internet) is as a full length 12+2 set, with a black mask, paired with 005 in July 1980. As the first full 12+2 APT-P, it was used extensively for testing (as well as publicity filming) over the next 18 months, and was also seen paired with full-length 007 and two-car 001.

006's star turn came on 7th December 1981, when it became the first unit to carry fare-paying, non-BR-staff passengers, as BR launched the APT into some very bad weather indeed. Paired with two-car 002 (which was not accessible to passengers) the set formed the inaugural service from Glasgow to London and back. The excesses of the travelling press and the efficiency of the tilt system have been widely reported elsewhere. Of course, four days later, freezing conditions saw even more bad news for the APT, and perhaps marked the beginning of the end, as 006 and 002 failed with frozen air lines.

006 remained as a full length unit throughout 1982, operating numerous test runs, before being dragged from Glasgow to Derby on 16/17th March 1983 via the S&C. There it was reduced to two cars - reappearing in May 1983 possibly with original TBF 48606, but certainly shortly thereafter gaining 48602 in the three-way TBF-swap mentioned above.

With AC EMUs, convention had it that the unit number was denoted by the motor brake vehicle of a set. Thus if a set had say a driving trailer swap, the unit number carried by that driving trailer would be changed to that of the motor brake. While APT trailer rakes didn't have a motor brake, it appears that, very briefly in June and July 1983, the conventions was applied via the trailer brake, as 48106's unit number (now paired with TBF 48602) was changed to 370002. A handful of photos show a crudely painted "2" on the rake's nose end, with a clearly visible "6" underneath! At the same time, the original APT logo on 48106's nose was replaced with an all-black, infilled version, seemingly made from standard Rail Alphabet lettering and logos. By August, the unit number on 48106 was once again 370006 - looks like the APT got its own convention of the unit number following that of the DTS - no other APT units went through this confusion!

In two car form, 006 went on to operate test trains throughout 1983, including the very high speed pantograph test runs with two-car 005. However in early 1984 it was paired with 007 in preparation for the resumption of public services. Just ahead of this, it was one of three units sent to Heaton for high-speed propelling and coasting tests on the East Coast Main Line in July and the first few days of August 1984. The DTS was shorn of its nose cone and coupled to pairs of Class 37s which would propel it and another rake (003 or 007 were both used for the outer end of the set) up to around 100mph before releasing and coasting.

Immediately after these unusual operations, 006 re-entered public service (albeit locked out of use), on 4th August 1984, again paired with full-length, passenger-carrying 007. It continued in service until around the end of December 1984 when it was replaced by three-car 003. Disappearing for a while, it was moved to Crewe ETD for storage by the end of 1985.

370006 at the rear, departing Preston on 22nd August 1984.

In April 1986 006 was returned to use paired with the test unit combo of 370001, the non-articulated test car 48204, and power car 49005, operating on test trains for some time, and gaining the Crewe ETD red stripe around the nose. By August 1986 it was paired with 370003 and power cars 49002 and 49006, in which formation it was withdrawn and stored. Of course, the rest is history, as this final pairing survived into preservation at Crewe Heritage Centre.

Modelling the longest set

The starting point for both units was a Hornby 2020 R3874 7-car set with the black mask, with a full complement of trailer car packs (TS and TUs from the 2020 batch, and TRSB/TFs from the 2023 release).

Naturally the first step for all 12 trailer cars is to dismantle!

External modifications

Having committed to repainting all the red stripes on 001 and 004, the same had to follow for 005 and 006. After removing the running numbers from the stripes with a gentle application of T-Cut, the Hornby red was carefully masked and then overpainted with Rail Red.

Both TBF cars had differently-coloured roof panels over the MA-set area adjacent to the power cars. This area is slightly longer than shown on the model, so once again, some of the moulded ribs on the roof were carefully cut away before masking and painting. The colours used are an approximate best guess, based on the handful of photos available.

In 1980, both units' noses had yet to be fitted with a rain strip below the windscreen, so this was removed and the nose filed flat. As with 001 and 004, the raised moulding around the horn grille was also filed back flush, as per the prototype.

Up on the roof, 48105's diesel alternator roof panels were, like 48104's, unpainted, or maybe bare metal, or something; whatever the case, it hadn't been finished to match the rest of the bodywork and stripes. Here two shades of grey approximate for the finish visible in some photos.

Shaping the masks

As detailed in the main "Faces and Formations" page, the black masks applied to the various DTS vehicles varied in size and shape across the fleet. 005 and 006 had the two lowest-topped masks, and both featured distinctive lower-edge shapes.

To adjust the Hornby masks, first up, a gentle application of T-Cut was made to soften/remove the edges of the mask above and below the windows as appropriate. This exposed the underlying warning yellow where necessary (such as above the windscreens) and also removed any obvious paint-edges when over-painting the black later.

Masking was then applied and shaped as closely as possible to that of the prototypes, using reference photos from various angles. With a little bit of careful hand-shaping where the masking was too crude, the slight lower-corner "droops" are captured reasonably well, and the subtle top-edge difference between 005 (left) and 006 (right) can just about be discerned!

Buffet car adjustments

While the intermediate trailer underframe equipment was more or less identical across all four vehicle types, there was a slight difference on the underframe equipment of the buffet cars. This took the form of a small opening to the left of the central grille. It's hard to discern the nature of this opening in photos - the surviving buffet car has a plain plate in the gap; some 1980s photos seem to show a grille - others not. For the purposes of these models, a grille has been assumed.

X marks the spot. The opening was drilled out, then filed to shape.

Spare grille sections from a Class 87 body were cut to shape and inserted, then painted with Executive Light Grey, which is a close approximation of the APT light grey colour.

Interior details

Unlike 370001 above, there aren't a lot of major changes to do to the structure of the interiors of the passenger vehicles, however the raw blue and red seat mouldings are somewhat garish through the windows, even without the internal lights on, so some effort was expended toning these down a bit!

Though whether this counts as "toning down" may be a matter of opinion! The second class and unclassified vehicles were given a spray of a "tan" colour before being overpainted with dark red (standing in for the red tartan of the original), cream for the bulkheads, a darker brown to represent arm-rests, and black to make the shadows between seats.

In first class, the mouldings were sprayed with grey primer, then the seats painted dark blue and black, with bright blue tables and cream bulkheads.

Finally for the saloons, antimacassars were added in white to the first and unclassified seating. The eagle-eyed observer will note that there are twice as many interiors here as needed for 370005 and 370006 - this was a production line also covering 370002 and 370007 (to follow)!

The multi-coloured buffet-shops

(Bad pun on contemporary kids' TV!)

One feature of the prototypes that is often overlooked was the experimental colour variety applied to all six buffet cars. So far, five different colours have been identified, and tentatively associated with particular buffet cars! This was done with reference to the very few interior photos available, where at least the unit could be identified, thus giving a good idea of which buffet car was pictured. Even then, some have had to be cross-referenced, and some personal anecdotes found online suggest things might not be as currently assumed.

Here are the current educated-guesses:

at the back is 48401, from 370005, in bright orange;
next dark red 48404, originally in 370002, if notes by yours-truly, age 8, are accurate, and later reformed in 3-car 370003 (preserved at Crewe);
then the mysterious green buffet car - I've speculated it was 48402, formed in 370004 during commissioning and before the set was paired with 370003;
next, a bright red 48406 from 370007;
and finally, for now, a pale brown 48403 from 370006.

A lot of these shades are similar, and with the vagaries of colour reproduction (and regular use of flash), it's hard to be confident, purely on colour in the available photos. So in addition, patterns on the wood veneer, and the alignment of the carpet wall and ceiling covering have been compared to cross-reference photos and match up vehicles.

Although the buffet counter is moulded, it's not quite accurate in terms of its cut-outs and width, nevertheless, it is close enough. What's missing from the model is the display unit on the rear wall behind the counter. These would be ideal for a 3D print, but in the absense of a printer, for now some plasticard representations were constructed to represent the shelving.

Not the best "wood effect" paint job, but they'll do for now!

The Power Cars: Sc 49002 - first, last, and fastest!

49002 was, as you might expect, the second power car completed, but also the first to be outshopped in the "correct" APT livery. It was initially tested, with and without 49001, in the company of the prototype HST power cars and various test cars - usually Test Service Car 8, and Test Car 5.

Following the APT's "first run" in April 1979, which featured the named power car, 49003, between 370001 and 370002, unbranded 49001 and 49002 were substituted, and this set became the main test train for the next few months. As such, 49002 is very likely to have been one of the two power cars powering the record-breaking set that hit 162.2mph on 20th December 1979.

At some point in late 1979 or early 1980, 49002 received the BR arrow and APT logo on opposite sides, and also had the pantograph isolating switch added to the roof equipment. Which is fortunate, as that means it doesn't need to be carved off the model like 49001 earlier! In this form it appeared as part of this probably-first 14-car set, in July 1980.

A year and a half later, it had the distinction of being one of the two power cars (with 49003) to work the first public service in December 1981. From then until 1983 it was in general use, but around that time became one of the two power cars (with 49005) mostly dedicated to the Crewe-based test trains. In summer 1983 it was used for very high-speed pantograph and overhead line testing, exceeding 150 mph on a number of occasions.

This continued to be the case until the end of operations in 1986, and consequently 49002 found itself as part of the last operational unit, thus surviving into preservation. It is currently at Crewe Heritage Centre and is still formed in the middle of the two surviving trailer rakes.

The Power Cars: SC 49004 - the lost power car

The fourth power car first appears on test sometime around September 1978, in the currently available photographic record, again with TSC8, TC5 and a prototype HST; in early 1979 it was still on test, but by then was paired with 49003. Its first appearance (so far found) in an APT rake is indeed this July 1979 full-length formation. Several journey logs made on BR-staff test runs with this 12+2 show that this combo persisted through to at least the end of November 1980.

But that is where the records of 49004 in operation in APT sets currently end, a mere five months after they started! While a 14-car set continued on test into 1981 (with 370007 replacing 370005 on at least some occasions), at present there is no information about which power cars featured after the end of 1980.

By April 1982, however, 49004 was in Derby works, bogie-less, and up on jacks, missing some roof panels and its pantograph, as if undergoing an overhaul. However it was still in the exact same spot in June 1983. By the start of 1984 it was once again on bogies in the works, though apparently incomplete ... and by the middle of the year had been parked outside, missing some roof equipment. A close inspection of the bogies reveal them to be on the "wrong ends" - the one with the pantograph stabilisation beam attachment was at the non-pantograph end, and vice versa. In fact, I have a suspicion that the bogies were from the tilt-test vehicle "Trestrol", and not production power bogies at all. In any case, the 49004 remained in the same spot for around three years, with paint gradually peeling, until at least April 1986. The most recent image of 49004 is of a very stripped bodyshell, by that point on accommodation bogies, on the scrap lines in October 1986.

So it seems that 49004, like its number-sake trailer-rake 370004, became an early source of spares, and may have only run in APT formations for around a year, if that. It certainly never received a Brecknell-Willis High Speed pantograph (sorry Hornby - again), and almost certainly never ran again after the end of 1981 / early 1982.

Power car cosmetics

With the pantographs removed and body parts separated, the first modification was to paint the insides of the four corner shafts black.

The bogie openings were also painted black, as per the prototype - a subtle change that makes quite a difference when put on the track.

While the black paint was out the lower grilles were darkened, and using a bit of panel lining, the hatches were highlighted.

Numbers applied! Following the prototype at this time, there was some variation on the spelling of "Sc"! 49004 had all caps on one side, and regular upper-lower on the other, while 49002 was double-regular. The incidence of "SC" vs "Sc" on the power cars varied over time - definitely a case of "choose your date and look for photos".

A tiny detail for obsessives - the lower edge of the trusses that run down the power car ends should be finished in the lower bodyside colour; I've touched them in using Executive Light Grey, which is a near match. I also painted in some of the gauges and fire handles with spots of white or grey, and touched in some warning yellow to the square recesses on each side that straddle the upper and lower mouldings (seen unpainted on the right of the photo above).

Up on the roof

As supplied, Hornby's "black mask" power cars come with Brecknell-Willis HS pantographs, but (not counting the 1980 B-W pantograph test train) these did not appear until 1982, after which they were progressively fitted to the operational fleet. So for 1980 these are replaced with the original two-stage Stone-Faiveley pantographs.

The frames have been over-painted in Silver Grey, with some darker details around the pantograph head and upper suspension unit. The stabilisation frames have also been touched in with "dark iron", Rail Grey, and "hull red" for the insulators.

Similar paint touch-ups for the roof-mounted equipment. As supplied, the main circuit breaker switch arm is moulded in the open position - which means this power car ain't goin' anywhere. Although not yet modified, these will be snipped off at some future point, and replaced with a bit of plastic strip such that they are closed, and thus providing power.

The Contact-Wire Strikes Back? Return of the Faiv'ley? I'll get me coat.

The Trailers - removing the windows

Ahead of applying a coat of varnish, most of the glazing was removed by applying a gentle pressure from the outside, while slipping a small flat screwdriver blade under from the inside. Working gently along the strip, prising the glued areas apart minimises the number of snapped strips.

This leaves just the cab windows, which were masked rather than removed, after trouble refitting them on the previous set.

The Invisible Stripe

Before entering traffic, and possibly even before being commissioned or tested, 48105 was the recipient of a livery experiment or two, as mentioned above. One of these was the application of a red 'catering' stripe above four of its saloon windows, presumably to try out the style subsequently adopted for the red and yellow stripes on the relevant trailer cars. Naturally, before 48105 entered traffic, the stripe was gone - it wasn't a buffet car after all!

A close inspection of clear photos of 48105 in service shows that the stripe was painted out - in fact, by 1987, just prior to scrapping, some of the overpainted dark grey had flaked off, revealing the buffet red stripe once again.

So, for those with obsessive tendencies...

A simple mask along the four windows on both sides, and a quick brush of Executive Dark Grey - similar enough not to notice at first glance, but just different enough to pick out if you know what you're looking for.

Finishing touches

As with the power cars, all trailer cars received their numbers. Both 005 and 006 had one vehicle in their intermediate trailers with matching last digits - only three instances of this occurred across the fleet:

TS 48202 in 370002
TF 48505 in 370005
TU 48306 in 370006

Although these units were essentially brand new, and did not need much in the way of weathering, the underframe hatches were picked out with a bit of panel lining, just to add a touch of definition (before and after, above). This worked on most vehicles, but a couple of the types had shallower mould lines on one side than the other, which left the lining struggling to 'creep' along all the cracks.

Having repainted the noses, new APT logo decals were required. Initially some commercially available waterslide transfers were applied, but these were slightly compressed vertically, and didn't quite look right.

Instead some home-made waterslide decals were made, albeit not as subtle as the commercial versions in terms of carrier film!

The result is a little bolder-looking, but the proportions seem to be more in keeping. At this time 370006 had the standard logo, but in later life this was replaced with what appears to have been a "home made" APT logo, crafted from a black BR logo and standard black Rail Alphabet letters, overlapping slightly - and now also created as a decal (not otherwise available)!

Also visible above (right hand image) are the slats for the horn grilles. On 370005 these are unpainted, while on 370006 they have been blackened with a very fine-tipped brush. The reason for this difference is that 370005, along with 370007, had their horn grille moulds mounted the opposite way up to the remainder of the fleet. On 370006 the slats are horizontal, and look directly into the nose when viewed from the front - you can see the horns behind them. However the flipped slats point downwards, and from the front you're looking at what should be the 'bottom' of the slats - yellow-painted fibreglass. This gave 005 and 007 a different appearance from the front in original condition, anf after some experimentation, the best way to depict this in model form, short of somehow cutting the slats through properly, was to paint the "regular" slats, and not paint the flipped ones. Of course, it now looks like I forgot to do 005.

As with the power cars, the insides of the bogie insets were painted black, and with that it was about time to reassemble everything.

Reassembly

Photos of this pair in July 1980 show the units definitely have a fairly glossy shine to them, so my aim was to match that, without turning them into gaudy shelf ornaments.

Several light coats of acrylic gloss were applied until a suitable shine was achieved, without ending up with a mirror reflection.

Once dry, the glazing strips were put back. When the glazing is removed, the existing glue usually pulls off a bit of paint from the insides - putting the same strips back in the same place means that any glue/paint remnants on the strip go back into the "holes" they left in the paintwork. This in turn means there's more likelihood of achieving a good fit, keeping the glazing fairly flush.

With the glazing installed, the respective interior mouldings were put back into the lower bodyshells, with wiring pushed through for the lighting. This was snipped during disassembly, and at present isn't going to be reconnected. A future project will see this reinstated.

Weathering

Possibly the lightest weathering ever! Using photos of the original as a reference, all the bogies were dry-brushed with a very light dusting of Gun Metal to give a slightly metallic, solid-looking shine, followed by the tiniest amount of Brake Dust on the bottoms of the primary suspension on each wheel. Matt black was then added to the air suspension bags, as they're not very metallic in real life.

Frame Dirt was used to apply some very subtle streaks to the turn-unders at the base of both power cars, again using photos of the original as a reference.

The end result

The final task of reassembly was to clip the upper and lower halves of each vehicle back together.

And after that, time to get some track out!

Hornby's tilt mechanism only works on 1st radius curves, so I had to cheat and cant the track at about 15 degrees.