Class 91 Stormtroopers

by Phil Cooper

Just recently I’ve taken a fancy to the Class 91 aka “225” so I’ve been searching for deals on eBay where I picked up two  4-car sets each comprising a power car, a DVT (Driving Van Trailer) which is not powered and 2 coaches. I got one for £55 and I lashed out £70 on the other-both within my £70 tolerance from NannyBarb. I didn’t even have to ask the seller NOT to send an invoice! A new power car from Hornby will cost £217.99 and that’s just the power car so good value from eBay because my sets run very, very well.

eBay have quite a number of these used “91” sets for sale at very competitive prices. New 91s are £200+ plus but second hand are anything between £30 and £80. So far I’ve had each of mine towing 8 carriages and the DVT at the back without any problems. I’ve just seen that Hornby have a Class91 DVT (remember, not powered)  for sale at £84.99. Another bonus in the older second hand 91s is that they were built in Britain-very important for many people. I think the new Hornby models are built in China-also very important for many people.

Before I take you to the photos I reckon British Rail should institute legal proceedings against the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas because he has brazenly copied the design of the 91 for his Star Wars stormtroopers. It could be worth millions.

Cough up the cash MR Lucas!

An interesting feature of the Class 91 is that you get 2 locomotives for the price of 1.

I admit the back side isn’t pretty but who’s is?

I like the real thing and the model. To find out more information about the Class 91 I raided Wikipedia once again.

The British Rail Class 91 is a high-speed locomotive. The electric locomotive, which produces power of 4,830 kW (6,480 hp), was ordered as a component of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. The Class 91s were given the auxiliary name of InterCity 225 to indicate their envisaged top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph); they were also referred to as Electras by British Rail during their development and throughout the electrification of the East Coast Main Line. The other end of the InterCity 225 train set is formed of a Mark 4 Driving Van Trailer, built with a similar body shell to the Class 91 locomotives.

The locomotive body shells are of all-steel construction. Unusually, the motors are body mounted and drive bogie-mounted gearboxes via cardan shafts. This reduces the unsprung mass and hence track wear at high speeds. I have no idea what that last sentence means!

Here’s some more from Wikipedia:

A Class 91, 91010 (now 91110), holds the British locomotive speed record at 161.7 mph (260.2 km/h), set on 17 September 1989,^[16] just south of Little Bytham on a test run down Stoke Bank with the DVT leading. Although Class 370s, Class 373s and Class 374s have run faster, all are EMUs which means that the Electra is officially the fastest locomotive in Britain.

Another loco (91031, now 91131), hauling five Mk4s and a DVT on a test run, ran between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley in 3 hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds on 26 September 1991. This is still the current record. The set covered the route in an average speed of 112.5 mph (181.1 km/h) and reached the full 140 mph (225 km/h) several times during the run. So, it’s pretty quick.

I have just experienced a day of Hell with my layout. I’m sure I’m not alone with this experience. The day started badly when I watched, or tried to watch Ryan Goslng’s latest film, “The Gray Man”. Just over 2 hours of nonsense. Pass it by! So, already in a bad mood I entered the Trains room to cheer myself with the trains. But everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I’m sure I’m not the only model railway devotee (I can’t call myself a modeller) to have suffered this sort of day. It started with my fleet of Class 37s which I struggled to get onto the track. My eyesight is getting very poor, and I have to use a torch to get one of these bulls onto the track. BUT I could not find the torch which was last seen in Harrison’s hands! So it could be anywhere now. I’m beginning to think he does these tricks to send me to an early grave.  (Editor Comments: Here we go - the stroke) Ignore the editor (old age is causing this cruel eyesight problem and some others too!!!!!!!)

So unable to get the 37 on the track I pulled out another loco, a Virgin Pendolino. Why do I sometimes get confused and call it “Virgin Peccadillo” (Editor Comments: THAT is definitely the stroke). Good grief man I’m creating a literary work of genius here. I’ll resume. So, with the Virgin Peccadillo, oops, Pendolino, on track it decided not to move. Yes, the track was a bit mucky from my attempts to re-route the track taking in the new bigger R609 curves. So I got my bottle of Isopropyl which I use with jewellery cleaning cloths to clean the track-both available from Amazon and much better and cheaper than “Track Magic” and better for the track than track rubbers.

So after getting the cloths ready I placed the bottle on the floor which, of course, I kicked over leaving another smelly stain on the carpet. Now, I must be honest here and tell you that NannyBarb is repeatedly telling me to keep the floor clear of “stuff” so maybe I’ll start listening to her now.  Then again…….

Anyway, the Isopropyl worked its magic and after a good 45-minute rub the track was ready and all I had to do is get the locomotives and coaches out. I was specifically looking for my Flying Scotsman to run on the outer DCC-powered track, but I couldn’t find it. Yes, it was last seen in Harrisons’ hands. I know what my problem is. I don’t keep track of my trains and accessories. I have 3 units of 4 large drawers each to hold my “stuff” and when I’ve had a locomotive out to play with, sorry, I mean develop I don’t record which drawer it goes into after development. I have a full inventory of my locos on my laptop, but I must keep track of when I change drawers.

My train room is like a minefield. I’m not the tidiest person so I have “stuff” all over the floor. When NannyBarb moans at me I explain that the layout is a work in progress. But it is a mess! I must sort it out ASAP.

Now then, I know you’ve speedread through my nonsense to get to the reader’s photos. I wonder if I could persuade any readers’ wives to submit any photos. Oh yes, that caught your interest, didn’t it. Well, sorry no sticky stuff on this blog however you may wish to have a look at my other blog, www.modeltrainwidows.com/phil.

Caught you! It didn’t work, did it. Those of you who fell for my trick should be ashamed of yourselves.

So, let’s get to the photos and first up we have one of our regulars, David Styles, who never fails to amaze me with his glorious layout. I’m sure most of you would love to have created this fantastic layout. Harrison would love it too.

Wonderful

I think you’ll agree that David and Nigel are very talented. It takes a lot of different skills to build layouts like these. And a lot of patience!

But we’ve got 2 more genii (I looked it up). A warm welcome to, firstly, Alistair Ritchie.

I’m going to be controversial here (Ed Comments: Again!) because, it looks to me that Alistair hasn’t (yet) weathered his layout. Maybe he will, I don’t know. But I prefer no weathering. My grandson, Harrison, doesn’t like it either and he’s usually right about almost everything! However, Alistair has got an excellent background photo which fits the layout perfectly. Right that bit of controversy out of the way let’s move on to Ian Mundy and his layout which features a lot of BR Blue which I love.

For me (it’s my blog!) this is an acceptable level of weathering. I know of some modellers that use graffiti on their accessories which I really don’t like. And I’m no fan of Banksy but I do think he is very talented.

Now, I want to recognise the passing of Bernard Cribbens. He had a few associations with railways, real and model. He was one of the stars of “The Railway Children” which is an ideal excuse to put up a photo of, yes, you guessed it, one of his co-stars, the delectable Jenny Agutter.

(Ed Comments: No, not that one, this one)

If you want to see more, a lot more, of Jenny dig out a DVD of her film “Walkabout”

I thought Bernard Cribbins’ finest film where he played Irish criminal, “Nervous O’Toole” was “The Wrong Arm of The Law” I’ve got it on DVD and watch it regularly. It is brilliant although another great British comedy actor, Lionel Jeffries almost steals the show from Bernard and Peter Sellers. Another great performance in that film is from Tutte Lemkow as Siggy Schmoltz the bomb-maker from Hamburg. It is a great British film comedy. Watch it. Bernard also starred in another great British film, “The Railway Children”

Bernard, was also, famously miniaturised (I’ve checked the speelign) to advertise Hornby Railways.

A man of great talents, he also drove Mallard!

And NannyBarb has just reminded me that he also appeared alongside John Cleese in an episode of Fawlty Towers where he played spoon salesman Mr Hutchinson who is mistaken by Basil Fawlty for a hotel inspector. It is classic farce.

And let’s not forget his “musical career” with such classics as “Hole I The Ground” and “Right Said Fred” which obviously influenced these buffooniums

RIP Bernard Cribbens (1928-2022)

Finally, while some governments dither and delay in taking action to help with the cost-of-living crisis, Spain is storming ahead. Having already halved the cost of public transport nationwide, slashed VAT and cut tax on fuel, the Spanish government now says it is going to be making a huge number of short- and medium-distance train journeys totally free.

The scheme was announced yesterday (July 12) by Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, who said that all Cercanías (commuter train), Rodalies (commuter routes in Catalonia) and Media Distancia routes (mid-distance regional lines, covering journeys of less than 300km) run by the national rail operator Renfe will be free of charge from September 1 to December 31 2022.

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The views and opinions expressed within the content are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Trackside Signs or its affiliates.