The impressive 102T glw bogie tanks that we are launching our Project East Coast stock pack range for RailWorks with were some of the first big wagons seen on the UK rail network. Early indications are that they look just as impressive in RailWorks as they do in real life, albeit in our own gaudy version of undercoat at present.

In the mid 1960s Metro-Cammell built an experimental 92t glw class A bogie tank for Shell Mex and BP which was destined to become the forerunner to most bogie tank construction. The strength of the tank barrel meant that continuous solebars were not required and as such just short sections were provided over the bogies at each end, angling down to a full length under-frame which was also used to support the braking equipment. The wagon was fitted with air brakes and had a maximum speed 60mph. Carefully designed at 54ft 10in in length, the wagon took up the same amount of space as a pair of 2-axle wagons with the fillers and discharge points lining up with existing facilities.

The prototype was a great success and both Shell Mex and BP proceeded to buy a large fleet of the production wagons, By this time the design had been uprated to 102t glw to take advantage of rising maximum axle weights. Metro-Cammell, Powell Duffryn and Pickering were all involved in construction and naturally there are some variations between lots. By 1969 there were over 1000 wagons in service with Shell and BP.

Our model is based on an example from a relatively small lot of wagons originally built to carry diesel fuel for Shell by Metro-Cammell in 1967, but shares a common appearance with a number of lots produced for both Shell and BP.

The VDA van was a logical choice to be one of the first add-on releases as a part of Project East Coast for RailWorks as specially insulated versions had a daily duty carrying chocolate and confectionery between factories owned by the Rowntrees company in York and Newcastle.

The VDA was the penultimate design of covered van for freight use designed by British Rail, and in many respects was the last of variant of the traditional goods van. Built from 1975 - 1978 the VDA was the fourth and final design in a series of vans that had began with the COV AB (later to become VAB) constructed in 1966. The wagon has a tare of 16.25t and can carry up to 24.5t, carried on a 20' 9" wheelbase. There are three openings per side with hinged doors at the outer ends and a pair of sliding doors in the centre with the sliding doors not being able to open while the hinged doors are in use and vice-versa. The wagon was designed to be loaded by forklift and has a strengthened floor to ease loading.

Notable for use on the East Coast mainline were a considerable number of vans fitted with extra insulation to carry confectionery products for Rowntrees between their factories in Newcastle and York. The modified vans were easily recognisable as they had received white painted roofs, with at least one example being painted completely white.

The stock pack will contain the main variants of the vans as show above wearing both bauxite and Railfreight Red and Grey livery along with white roofed and the all over white example. Naturally there will be a scenario so you can play with them straight out of the box!

The first Maxi Pack add-on for RailWorks as part of Project East Coast is themed around the Motorail services that regularly plied between London and Scotland via the East Coast Main Line.

When British Rail introduced the Motorail brand in 1966 the idea of carrying passengers cars on the train with them was by no means a new one. Historically railway companies had constructed covered carriage trucks (CCT) for the transportation of (usually more wealthy) travellers coaches and later motor cars so they could use them at their destination. The GWR also ran a service carrying cars and their owners via the Severn Tunnel which continued after nationalisation until the opening of the Severn Bridge.

The key item in this Maxi Pack are the Newton Chambers built double deck car carriers. Built in 1961-2 they were a unique design and as such never really fitted in, even being given a E suffix to their numbers like pre-nationalisation rolling stock. Each vehicle could carry six cars with 4 being carried on the main deck and the remaining 2 in the well between the bogies, accessed by a hydraulic lift. The bodywork was unusual for rail vehicles being constructed of fibreglass, the ends of the vehicles were built with folding doors and loading ramps to allow vehicles to be driven through the train during loading. As non standard items of rolling stock the car carriers were remarkably long lived, with a number gaining ETH wiring and dual brakes before final withdrawl in 1987. In later years the lower well was taken out of use after a member of staff was allegedly fatally injured during loading operations. Occasionally the car carriers could be found working away from the Eastern Region.

The car carriers were paired in service with converted General Utility Vans (GUVs) with Motorail fixings to cater for larger vehicles that could not be accommodated by the car carriers. The GUV was one of the original designs of  non passenger carrying coaching stock (NPCCS) and carried on the traditions of earlier railway companies to provide a general purpose vehicle that could run in passenger trains carrying parcels, goods or road vehicles. In common with the car carriers the loading ramps could be lowered to allow vehicles to drive through the train, however a standard end loading dock could be used in the case of the GUV.

The Maxi Pack will also include additional items of rolling stock to allow the creation of prototype trains for the Project East Coast era to be formed including the car carriers.