Bachmann Class 416 (2EPB)
EPB stands for Electro Pneumatic Brake and gave its name to the first EMUs to be designed after Nationalisation. They were built at Eastleigh and Ashford between 1953 and 1956 and were a direct descendants of the SUB stock. As such, they were built for suburban passenger services and production of them started when orders for the larger 4EPBs had been completed.
The units were formed from a motor brake second open (MBSO) and a driving trailer
second (DTSO) and each set accommodated 178 passengers. A batch of 79 units of a higher
specification started to arrive in 1954 and a further 15 were built for the Tyneside
electrification, later to be transferred to the Southern Region. Withdrawals started in
the late 1980s, the last being decommissiond in 1995. One of both types of car, from
different sets, have been preserved.
Bachmann's model is new this year and is available in three different liveries - green, blue and blue & grey. They are fitted with 21-pin sockets for DCC and have full underfloor equipment. The units have illuminated train head code panels and internal lighting as well as a close coupling mechanism. They have tension-lock couplings on the outer ends to allow for multiple unit operation. The blue unit (31-375) illustrated is numbered 5764 and the car numbers should be S65378 and S77563. However,
after it was released, it was found that the numbers on the two BR blue cars had been transposed in error and Bachmann have arranged for a batch of correctly numbered bodies produced for those who wished to have them the correct way round.