Weekend Project: Class 73 No. 73129 City of Winchester

How to refinish the Dapol ‘OO’ gauge Network SouthEast Class 73 to model No. 73129 in the revised version of the livery (or one of the other three revised NSE Class 73s).

VERSION 2 of the Dapol ‘OO’ gauge Class 73 Electro-Diesel or ED was released during the summer, featuring improvements in current collection and a revised circuit board with improved switching of the cab and running lights.

It also has improved lighting control through the 21-pin DCC interface socket when operated with DCC compared to the first release of the model.

One of the models was reviewed in the last issue of Rail Express Modeller: No. 73109 Battle of Britain 50th Anniversary which was finished in the first version of Network SouthEast (NSE) livery.

Modellers wanting the later version of the livery with larger body side numbers and the more prominent NSE legend can use the Dapol model for a refinishing project which retains as much of the original livery as possible. The bulk of the livery works well for an in-service Class 73/1, particularly if representing the subject locomotive, No. 73129 City of Winchester, in post Year 2000 condition. It lost its NSE legends upon entering EWS ownership, but retained the essentials of the livery including nameplates, larger body side numbers and with no additional embellishments such as an EWS logo. The electrification warning notices will need to be changed for the post Year 2000 period too.

The project objective was to model No. 73129 as it was operated in the pre-1994 period when it was adorned with large NSE legends. It is an ideal long weekend modelling project – it would be perfectly reasonable to expect a finished result by Monday evening if it is planned correctly, or Sunday if making a start earlier in the previous week.