◆GAUGE ‘N’ ◆MODEL Revolution Trains Class 59/0 • 59004 Yeoman blue/silver (revised) • 59005 Aggregate Industries green/blue/silver • Class 59/2 59204 EWS red/gold ◆PRICE £154.95 (DCC-ready), £259.95 (DCC sound) ◆AVAILABILITY Revolution Trains stockists Web www.revolutiontrains.com

At the time, the arrival of the Class 59s onto the British Rail system was a seismic event, offering something so different to BR’s existing diesel traction fleet in terms of looks, technical specification and performance.

The fact that they were built in the USA and owned and operated by a private company also went against the prevailing policy of the UK’s nationalised railway.

The demand for a high-quality model representation of the Class 59 has been high but, until recently, the choice of products has been limited. Lima’s ‘OO’ model (subsequently relaunched by Hornby) was only superseded by Dapol’s superior version in late 2022, while ‘N’ gauge modellers had to wait until this year for a mainstream RTR product, with both Dapol’s and Revolution Trains’ versions arriving with stockists in April.

First to arrive at Model Rail HQ was a trio of Revolution’s Class 59s, including ‘59/0s’ 59004/5 in Yeoman and Aggregate Industries liveries, respectively, plus ‘59/2’ 59204 in EWS red/gold.

The full range provides plenty of choice across all three sub-classes, with colour schemes spanning the lifespan of the Type 5s up to the present day. There are also various retailer exclusives on offer, including a pair of National Power blue ‘59/2s’ for Rainbow Railways, GBRf’s 59003 for Rails of Sheffield and Mendip Rail’s 59002 for Kernow Model Rail Centre.