The Engine Shed Easter Egg: Cross Country Trains Mk.3SD coaches.

Cross Country Set XC01 prepares to leave platform 2 at Totnes. © Colin Marsden

Good afternoon to you all and welcome to this special ‘Easter Egg’ edition of Engine Shed.

The imminent arrival of the GWR and Cross Country Trains’ Sliding Door Mark 3 coaches with retailers marks the culmination of a design project that, for the Hornby team, began way back in April 2018 with a visit to Wabtec’s Doncaster works, so that we could understand and establish how the modifications to the existing Mark 3 vehicles were being undertaken. With nearly 200 vehicles being refurbished, for three different Train Operating Companies, research and design has been a complicated affair, but one that has been greatly helped by the assistance of not only Wabtec, but by the engineering and marketing teams from GWR, ScotRail and Cross Country Trains.

The artwork for all three operators’ coaches was completed in May 2019, based on the train diagrams and the current vehicle numbers that were in service at that point in time, however since then there has been some variance in the diagrams, with coaches being swapped between sets as the TOC’s operating requirements have changed. With the Cross Country Trains’ final approval samples having arrived with us just prior to the Coronavirus lockdown, the Engine Shed team thought that now would be a good time to share these latest images with our readership and to clarify which coach numbers were allocated to each set at the time that the artwork was signed off for production at the end of May last year.

Cross Country Trains’ usual 2+7 formation was TFD (Coach A) + TCC (Coach B) + TS (Coach C) + TS (Coach D) + TS (Coach E) + TSD (Coach F) + TGS (Coach G), but with an option of an eighth TSD(V) coach on the diagram specifications, which was only due to operate on sets XC04 and XC05 in place of the TSD in those formations (the difference being that the disabled toilet manufacturer differed). 

The first rake into service with Cross Country was XC03, a 2+7 formation consisting of TFD 41195, TCC 45003, TS 42370, TS 42378, TS 42036, TSD 42376 and TGS 44052 and this was chosen as one of the sets that we would feature, along with XC01, which was comprised of TFD 41193, TCC 45001, TS 42342, TS 42097, TS 42377, TSD 42366 and TGS 44021. Cross Country Trains had already provided the team with livery diagrams for the coaches, but as a final check we decided to ask Colin Marsden, editor of Modern Locomotives Illustrated, to photograph the sets for us, which he captured at Totnes Station.

As a traditional operator of HSTs, Cross Country Trains consider that there is no such thing as a TSL within the formation, as they have always had a toilet on board as a tradition within the TS designation code. ScotRail, however, have a TS vehicle in their formations without a toilet (the space being used to convey bicycles instead), so they needed to be able to designate the TS vehicles with toilets as a separate identity, creating the TSL designation.

Unlike GWR, Cross Country do not have fixed HST pairings, which means that any of their ten HST Power Cars; 43207, 43285, 43301, 43303, 43304, 43321, 43357, 43366, 43378 or 43384 can work together, on any sets, which makes selecting motive power easier for the railway modeller.

R3808 Cross Country Trains Class 43 HST Train Pack contains Power Cars 43285 and 43304.

It was always envisaged by the TOCs, particularly ScotRail and Cross Country Trains, that until full squadron service of the Mk3SD fleet was completed, there would likely be some mix and match elements in the composition of sets and in the event, this has proved to be correct, with all three TOCs having changed vehicle numbers within their sets over the last twelve months. While this has worked against us in some instances when it comes to creating sets that continue in service unchanged, it does illustrate what a fast moving, fluid world train diagramming is and how it can give the modeller some licence in creating train sets.

 Guide to abbreviations used:

That concludes this special edition of the Engine Shed. The next regular edition will be with you on the 24th April, where we hope to be in a position to update you with progress on further new tool items from the 2020 range, as well as unveiling additional livery artwork and decoration samples.

In the meantime, to prevent any chance of boredom during this period of isolation, we’ve created the Hornby Kids’ Zone to keep your young railway enthusiasts (and some older enthusiasts as well, if some of the entries are anything to go by) out of mischief. More colouring sheets have recently been added and there will be more activities coming online soon! We’ve already seen some wonderful livery submissions and while certain individuals may have felt the need to fib about their age to enter, we really do not mind how old you are! 

If you have any feedback from this Easter edition of the blog, please do pass your comments on to us through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or via our Official Forum.

Happy Easter to you all, stay safe and healthy.

The Engine Shed team

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