Description
Accurascale O Gauge HOP24 / HUO 24.5t Hopper Wagon
Wagon E – British Railways – No. B333722
BR TOPS Grey Livery
ACC1044-HUO-O-E
Brand New In Original Packaging
Introduced in 12 separate batches between 1954 and 1965, a total of 5,263 of these 24.5-ton capacity hoppers were built for British Railways (BR), with 11 of the batches constructed at the company’s Shildon wagon works and one – the last – built by Pressed Steel. The wagons represented by the Accurascale model are the 1/148 (revised) and 1/154 patterns assembled at Sildon from 1958 to 1962, which totalled 3,416 wagons.
Originally designated ‘HOP24’, these hoppers were classified ‘HUO’ under BR’s Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) upon its introduction in 1973. Tasked mainly with hauling coal and coke from collieries and coke plants to power station and ports throughout Great Britain, they displaced older open wagons from such services and are regarded as precursors to modern ‘Merry-go-Round’ (MGR) coal hoppers. However, unlike MGR wagons they were not fitted with continuous vacuum or air braking, and so were required to operate with a brake van as part of the formation – sometimes with one at either end of the rake. They also found use in domestic coal traffic serving coal concentration depots, as well as carrying limestone from locations such as Wirksworth in Derbyshire. In service, they were observed operating in block trains as well as in mixed formations with 21-ton hoppers and larger mineral open wagons.
HUO hoppers were among the last unfitted wagons in regular use with BR, with workings recorded as late as 1987. Following withdrawal from mainline use, some went on to operate as internal use wagons at a number of collieries and the Coalite plant at Bolsover, where they survived in service for several more years.
The Accurascale 24.5t Hopper Wagon features:
Completely new, redrawn CAD
Compensated Axle Boxes
Die Cast Chassis for ideal weight
3 link metal coupling chain with sprung coupling hook
Profile wheels and axles with brass bearing pockets
Metal sprung buffers
Etched Steel factory fitted detailing
Extra fine factory fitted detail plastic parts
Extra fine factory fitted Pipework
Individual lettering, logos and codes from real wagons for authenticity
Very limited run of just 250 Wagons per type
Shipping Band B
