New Zealand British Rail MkII in NZ120

New Zealand British Rail MkII in NZ120

We had a request recently to create models of KiwiRail’s AKS luggage vans and AKL kitchen vans, so that’s what we’ve done, with the help of a professional CAD designer. Once I’ve got the bogies sorted (a few more test prints are required!) they’ll be added to the store - much like our other prints, they will consist of the body shell, floor and bogies.

These carriages will go perfectly with the KiwiRail AK, AKC and AKV carriages / cafe car and viewing van 3D prints to make modern KiwiRail “Great Journeys of New Zealand” trains, aka the TranzAlpine, Coastal Pacific and Northern Explorer services.

The AKS and AKL carriages are British Rail MkII carriages converted for suburban services in Auckland as the SA class. The main visual difference was the two sets of doors designed to allow passengers to get on and off trains quickly.

That of course means that we now have the basic shell design for SA class carriages, which will also be added to the store. If there’s enough interest, we’ll get the SD (driving cabin) version created as well, so you can relive the glory days of pre-electrification suburban rail services in Auckland, or the Te Huia Auckland - Hamilton service, or even the Capital Connection service!

This also means that I’ve got the basic design of the British Rail Mark II carriage in 1:120 scale, well before Hornby has released their TT120 version. I will eventually be releasing the other variant on this theme - the original Capital Connection “S” class carriages.