MASTERCLASS
HOW TO SPRUCE UP A ‘SPRINTER’
Aiming to recreate the early days of the Class 150s, George Dent makes a few modifications to a pair of Bachmann models.
Bachmann provides an optional coupler adaptor box with its ‘150/2’, but George scratchbuilt an equivalent for his ‘150/1’.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE DENT
I’d be curious to know how many hundreds, if not thousands of miles I’ve clocked-up on Class 150 ‘Sprinters’ during the past 40 years. Like the Class 142 ‘Pacers’, the Class 150/1 and 150/2 DMUs provided my daily transport around the North West of England from my teens until my mid-40s, as well as many rail-centred holidays around Wales and Devon.
I can even recall my first encounter with a ‘150’, on a ride from Machynlleth to Shrewsbury in 1986, on a freshly built example, with its gleaming modern interior contrasting drastically with the shabby, ageing First Generation DMUs that were soon to be replaced.
Happily, modellers in ‘N’ and ‘OO’ have been well served with quality models of the Class 150/1 and 150/2, thanks to Bachmann Europe, and I’ve been building up a modest fleet of these units recently for a new ‘OO’ layout project, set in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Indeed, I’m grateful that Bachmann has offered early BR Provincial liveries on both sub-classes in recent years.