Dapol announce new production run of 00 gauge O & K JHA Hoppers and new 0 Gauge HBA and HEA wagons.

Contributed by: Graham Muspratt

10 Jun 2021 00:00am

Dapol have announced a new production run of 00 gauge O & K JHA Hoppers and new 0 Gauge HBA and HEA wagons.
00 Gauge O & K JHA Hoppers

The O & K JHA hoppers were built by Orenstein & Koppel to coincide with the introduction of the Class 59s in the UK for aggregate haulage by Foster Yeoman. They remain in service to date with Mendip Rail Ltd. A rake of these wagons consist of two outer waggons and a number of inner wagons. The notable feature is that the two outer (End) wagons have screw link couplings and buffers on the outer most edge of the train, whilst the connection between inner (middle) wagons is a buckeye style coupling allowing closer coupling and hence an overall reduction in length of the train which was considered an important design aim.
The Dapol model of the O & K JHA Hopper will feature:
Inner and outer versions of the hopper will be produced
a. Inner wagons without buffers and buckeye couplings
b. Outer wagons with Lamp, Sprung Buffers and Standard OO model coupling with NEM pocket at one end, other end without buffers and fitted with buckeye couplings.
Diecast chassis, Sprung Buffers on outer most wagon end, Close coupling mechanism fitted to both type and capable of operating on minimum of 438mm radius.
Dapol will produce the Foster Yeoman livery with 4 different middle wagons and 6 end wagons:
4F-050-107 O & K JHA (middle hopper) Foster Yeoman 19322 Early
4F-050-108 O & K JHA (middle hopper) Foster Yeoman 19325 Early
4F-050-109 O & K JHA (middle hopper) Foster Yeoman 19330 Early
4F-050-110 O & K JHA (middle hopper) Foster Yeoman 19354 Late
4F-050-111 O & K JHA (middle hopper) Foster Yeoman 19375 Late
4F-050-112 O & K JHA (middle hopper) Foster Yeoman 19391 Late
4F-050-005 O & K JHA (end hopper) Foster Yeoman 19302 Early
4F-050-006 O & K JHA (end hopper) Foster Yeoman 19307 Early
4F-050-007 O & K JHA (end hopper) Foster Yeoman 19317 Late
4F-050-008 O & K JHA (end hopper) Foster Yeoman 19319 Late
You can pre-order the Dapol O & K JHA Hoppers here>>>
Due Q1 2022

New 0 Gauge HBA and HEA wagons

The HAA wagon successfully filled the role of delivering coal to power stations. A new design of wagon was also required for other coal traffic, to replace the large fleet of mineral wagons and hoppers. In 1975 the prototype 32.5 ton HBA (360000) was unveiled at Shildon Works. It was fitted with manually operating discharge doors. The hopper body was painted initially in Bauxite.
An order for 2000 wagons to be built at Shildon was placed. Two small changes to the design were made. The ladders fitted at each end were altered from being centrally mounted to being offset to the left. Bruninghaus springs were fitted to later builds, allowing the maximum speed to be increased from 45mph to 60. This modification must have proven successful as a plan was put in place to retrofit the earlier wagons to the same standard. The TOPS code of HEA was introduced to distinguish these, with the last 80 or so completed by mid-1985.
The HBAs and HEAs usage was widespread across the country and could be seen in use in mixed and short block trains, delivering household coal to terminals in urban areas. By the latter half of the 1980s, the traffic that the HBA/HEAs were designed for was declining. New roles for the fleet of wagons had to be found and an early example was carrying rock salt, while another was scrap metal. Another alternative role that commenced at about the same time was the use of HEAs as barrier wagons for nuclear flask trains.
Initially the Hopper bodies were painted BR Bauxite/Brown. This was changed in 1979 with the livery being updated, the top half of the hopper was Railfreight red and the lower half in grey. The re-livery programme was never completed and a few (rather rusty) bauxite wagons could still be seen in the early 2000s.The privatisation of Railfreight saw new liveries appearing on the HEA fleet, including Transrail grey, Mainline blue, and EWS maroon. Many HEA wagons were converted for other uses and the conversion process increased in pace and therefore number of HEAs declined steadily throughout the 1990s.
The Dapol O Gauge HEA & HBA models will feature: Die-cast compensated chassis, finely profiled wheels and axles with brass bearing pockets, highly detailed injection moulded hopper body with many separately added fine details, Sprung metal buffers and Sprung metal coupling hook and Instanter coupling.
Dapol will produce 8 versions of the HBA & HEA wagons:
7F-047-001 HEA Coal Hopper Railfreight Red / Grey 360104
7F-047-002 HEA Coal Hopper Railfreight Red / Grey 360000
7F-047-003 HBA Coal Hopper Freight Brown 360114
7F-047-004 HEA Coal Hopper EWS Maroon 360354
7F-047-005 HEA Coal Hopper Freight Brown 360292
7F-047-006 HEA Coal Hopper Mainline Blue 360620
7F-047-007 HEA Coal Hopper Transrail Blue 360208
7F-047-008 HBA Coal Hopper Freight Brown 360626
You can pre-order the Dapol O & K JHA Hoppers here>>>
Due Q1/Q2 2022

Note images for illustrative purposes only.
Subject to alteration.
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