GER/LNER/BR N7
Oxford Rail N7
OR76N7001 OR76N7001XS OR76N7002 OR76N7002XS OR76N7003 OR76N7003XS
The N7 announced last year is very close to release and Oxford had an advanced EP on the stand to have a look at. As such it has some issues eg the coupling rods have been put on upside down (Oxford are aware), but on the whole it looks very promising. The weight of the loco is striking, most of the superstructure being cast metal, so I think there’s unlikely to be many traction issues. The rear pony truck appears rigid, the wheelset having a good amount of lateral movement and a small amount of vertical movement. Decorated samples are due very soon, and the detail on the EP looked a good cross section of quality and finesse. It was certainly standing up well to be handled frequently at the show.
Oxford Rail N7
OR76N7001 OR76N7001XS OR76N7002 OR76N7002XS OR76N7003 OR76N7003XS
Oxford Rail N7 OR76N7001
Also on show were the early tooling shots of the round top version, again with corrections anticipated, there should be three washout plugs each side whereas the EP has two.
Oxford Rail N7 Round Top Boiler
Oxford Rail N7 Round Top Boiler
5 Plank Wagon
Oxford Rail 5 Plank Open
OR76MW5001 OR76MW5002
OR76MW5003 OR76MW5004
These are images of the first shots of the new 5 plank wagon, tooling appears crisp and no unusual features on first inspection like their 7 plank open with its repair patch on the end corner strapping.
Oxford Rail 5 Plank Open
OR76MW5001 OR76MW5002
OR76MW5003 OR76MW5004
The chassis looks like the existing under frame from the 7 plank series, and the EP has the same buffers as the 7 plank so a representation of RCH types but a bit on the undernourished side. You can see the two types on the images above, note the second image shows the end door buffer type, an incorrect housing for a non drop end wagon. The 35T GLW A and B tanks announced last year are still work in progress, no EP was available to view and livery details are still being resolved. No prototype detail or EP’s were available for the new tool 12T tank wagons announced at the show, and the various PO livery 7 plank wagons continue to sell well, as have the six wheel brake vans.
Oxford Rail MK3a 1st Open
OR763FO001B
The BR Mk3 coaches were on display in the blue grey livery. First blue/grey paint samples were on show and corrections are being fed back to the manufacturing team, in particular the white line around the vestibule area.
Oxford Rail BR MK3
18 Inch Howitzer Rail Gun
Oxford Rail Howitzer Rail Gun
OR76BOOM01 OR76BOOM01XS OR76BOOM02
Occasionally a model company releases something that initially looks like a bonkers idea, and this 18 inch Howitzer almost certainly falls into that category. The three pictures here are of the 3D Print to give people an idea of the prototype, and final model so excuse the rough contours and detailing of this print. However once past the WTF! reaction, its quite a cool idea and model. It will appeal across a section of the modelling community who like odd stuff, the physical size of it in 4mm scale is a massive piece of equipment. Oxford with their military vehicle range will have a natural crossover in the collectors market for this model. It’s likely that military modellers will find this of interest for dioramas, wargamers may well be attracted to it too, and it will also be available with sound as part of a set including a War Department livery Dean Goods.
Oxford Rail Howitzer Rail Gun
OR76BOOM01 OR76BOOM01XS OR76BOOM02
Oxford Rail Howitzer Rail Gun
OR76BOOM01 OR76BOOM01XS OR76BOOM02
And probably the thing that will sell this item the most is the price. Around £50 for a complete Rail Gun, that price point will surely attract the ‘buy it because I like it’ rather than use it modeller. With an example covering the first world war to the late 1950’s they’ve chosen well for the popular era’s too. It seemed to be attracting a good deal of interest from the stand visitors and feed back from the retail trade had been positive. One to watch …
Finally a couple of pictures of a new Dean Goods Livery, and in black, it certainly has a charm to it.
Oxford Rail Dean Goods
OR76DG006 OR76DG006XS
Oxford Rail Dean Goods
OR76DG006 OR76DG006XS
Albion Yard 
Reblogged this on sed30's Blog.
Excellent – these are great photographs. The N7 looks really good, and I think you are the first to post photos of the new 5 plank wagon. If you are on RMweb, you should post your photos there on the Oxford Rail thread, under N7, 5 plank wagon, and the rail gun threads (there are separate threads on each). If you don’t, O can post links later today.
You’re more than welcome to post links John, I forgot to take an underside shot of the N7 though, doh!
Oh, that is very kind of you. I’ve just put links to your site on RMweb, under the Oxford Rail N7 and 5 plank wagon threads, and under the Hornby LNER J36 and LNER Toad brake van threads. Here is the link to the OR LNER N7 comment (post 308), so you can see how I’ve done it:
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/119213-oxford-n7/page-13
All the credit is to you for your wonderful photos, and I hope I’ve reflected that properly. You are fortunate to have been at the Toy Fair and in a position to take such good photos! I for one am very grateful to you.
You are also the first to post a photo of the left hand side of the N7 – many thanks!
A pity they chose to do the big gun, I’ve already got one with it’s ammo wagon and “Dinosaur” Diesel shunter. Since these guns spent their first year in France and most of the interwar period in store and most of WW2 in tunnels near Dover they are somewhat difficult to justify. What we need is a picture of one actually travelling around to see what the train consisted of. One of the smaller guns would have been more useful as many were mounted on modified well wagons which could have had a second life without the gun. Out of hundreds of PO wagon pictures I only found one 5 plank which actually matches the Oxford model. Not a good choice but if they get the tank wagon correct there are dozens of liveries possible although some of the ones they HAVE chosen don’t look to be authentic.
The guns an excellent choice I think Adrian, whilst it has no appeal for me I think it will do well. Seeing the 3D print it has an X factor in the size and shape and quirkiness of the subject choice. It’ll cross over into the die cast collector market, war gamers and military modellers too, particularly at the price. If it keeps the company going with increased sales, what’s not to like?
PS And Bachmann have been producing what looks to be an almost identical 5 Plank for some years so that is a bit of a waste of expensive tooling when you can buy them on Ebay about the same price, or you soon will be able to !!
The tooling on this one does look pretty good, I think if it repeats Bachmanns product it’s not that much of an issue, B and H go head to head on 20T brakes for example. Personally I’d have preferred an LMS variant of five plank, but they’ll undoubtedly put plenty of PO liveries on this, which as we know, sell. I too am interested in the new tank wagon tooling, but the only info at the moment is the artist impressions. Brgds
Only N7/2 and N7/3 had pony trucks, the earlier builds had radial axles so looks like that’s correct 🙂
Thanks Richard, I suspect we’ll see the same chassis used for both variants, no indication was given to the contrary. Brgds
Not sure how visible the difference is – only reason I know is because I’m (trying to…) build a part 3 kit and it has a pony truck and someone on RMWeb had a query about the SEFinecast kit which is the radial truck type and was wondering how it assembled as the axle mount was a slot in the frames.
Me either re the visibility, I’ve got a few pics of the N7’s in various books and nothing jumps out at me.
Hope they put the coupling rods on the correct way up on the real thing………apoligies for being a nerd.
I’m amazed Oxford can do the gun for the price, is it a running model or just a static item without proper wheels?? The octagonal barrel looks weird but avoids the complex CAD work for 3D and will be round when tooled. Having done research into these railguns years ago, are Oxford aware of the differences in the 3 types of barrel. The photos on this page seem to indicate NO, and the barrel chosen is the wrong one.
….It IS is a great shame the 5 plank duplicates Bachmann when modellers have been crying out for a pre-group PO wagon design which would have lasted almost till the time the post-group wagons were scrapped but taken correct liveries back to at least 1907. Particularly so, when I have little doubt Oxford will use incorrect pre-group liveries just as they have on their later wagons.
The gun will be a functioning model, in that it will be a useable piece of rolling stock. Bogies I believe are potentially going to be articulated to get it round model railway curves, and I think the barrel will elevate, and a DCC sound version will be available in a set including the Dean Goods. No mention was made of barrel differences/variants. The price seems very reasonable, but in line with their other products which are generally cheaper for similar equivalents in other ranges. The five plank looked almost ready for release and undoubtedly will carry liveries it never wore, but no difference there to the other major manufacturers in getting the most from one set of tooling.
I’ve only had the Adams Radial briefly, and I’ve a Janus currently in the workshop, neither have me particularly enthused, the N7 however, so far, looks to be very promising.
What look very much like pictures of production samples of the railgun have now appeared and indeed both versions have the wrong barrel as anticipated from the 3D prints. Once again the researchers and designers at Oxford have dropped the ball by failing to do their job properly.