📢 Please take a minute to read this personal message from the creator of RailwayModels.uk

EFE Rail E81001

Class 313 3-Car EMU 313034 BR Blue & Grey

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Era
Era 7 (1972 to 1982) British Rail Blue (TOPS)

Manufacturer description

Bachmann Europe is delighted to unveil a range of all-new tooling Class 313 and Class 314 Electric Multiple Units from its EFE Rail brand; the first time that any such ‘PEP’ family EMUs have been produced ready-to-run in OO Scale. This model is finished in corporate BR Blue & Grey livery as originally carried in the 1970s.

 

The EFE Rail Class 313/314 is comprised of three highly detailed vehicles featuring precision moulded bodyshells adorned with separate detailing parts and an extensive collection of underfloor equipment and separately fitted pipework.

 

Drive is provided through the centre car, with a coreless motor powering each bogie and mounted within a diecast metal chassis to give a strong drive mechanism and low centre of gravity. This vehicle also houses a Plux22 DCC decoder socket and the close fitting electrically conductive couplings mean that just one decoder controls both motors and the lighting in all three vehicles.

 

MODEL FEATURES:

• EFE Rail OO Scale
• Era 7
• Pristine BR Blue & Grey with deep brown chassis livery
• Running No. 313034
• Three-car unit comprising car Nos. E62562, E71246 & E62626
• Destination blinds displaying ‘2K12 Moorgate’
• Equipped with a PLUX 22 DCC Decoder Socket – recommended Decoder item No. 36-570A
• Length 799mm

MECHANISM:

• Coreless motor powering both bogies in centre car
• Diecast metal chassis provides strong driving mechanism and low centre of gravity
• 16.5mm (OO gauge) wheels to NEM310 & NEM311 standards with authentic profile and detailing
• NEM coupling fitted at driving cab ends
• Conductive couplings with integral close coupling mechanism at the inner end of driving vehicles and both ends of pantograph vehicle
• Designed to operate on curves of second radius (438mm) or greater

DETAILING:

• Separately applied metal detail parts
• Bogies constructed from multiple components featuring third rail shoe gear where applicable
• Separately fitted underframe components
• Intricately detailed pantograph which can be manually raised up and down
• Detailed interior, with specific variations dependant on class type
• Each model is supplied with an accessory pack

LIGHTING:

• Directional lighting, including illuminated headcode and destination panels
• Cab lighting
• High-intensity headlights where applicable
• Passenger saloon lighting
• Door interlock lights (controllable via DCC)

DCC:

• Plux22 DCC decoder interface – one decoder required per unit
• Pre-fitted with speaker to allow users to fit their own sound decoder

LIVERY APPLICATION:

• Authentic liveries applied to vehicles including interior decoration
• Multiple paint applications employed using BR and corporate specification colours
• Logos, numerals and text added as appropriate using authentic typefaces, logos and colours

 

CLASS 313/314 HISTORY

 

Both the Class 313s and 314s were developments of British Rail’s prototype ‘Standard Suburban Train’, for which three prototype units were built at the start of the 1970s. Designated 2-PEP and 4-PEP, which stood for Prototype Electro Pneumatic, these prototypes spawned a family of units known as the ‘PEP family’. The Class 313 were the very first production units to appear from this family, which eventually spanned five classes and encompassed some 755 individual vehicles.

 

The three-car Class 313s were not only the first production ‘PEP’ units to be built, but were also the first ‘dual-mode’ EMUs, having the ability to collect power from 25kV AC overhead power lines via a pantograph on the centre car, or from third rail shoe gear for 750V DC pick-up. A total of 64 Class 313s were built by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) at York Works in 1976-1977. The units were put to work on the Great Northern Inner Suburban lines operating from London Moorgate, and for 10 years they served their intended route before operations spread further afield.

 

The Class 314s comprised a smaller fleet of just 16 three-car units and these were constructed two years after the Class 313 build programme had been completed, once again at BREL York. Unlike their earlier counterparts, the Class 314s went north of the border to work on the then-newly opened Argyle Line. The units collected power from 25kV AC overhead lines only, for which they are equipped with a pantograph on the central PTSO (Pantograph Tourist Second Open) vehicle, and did not have the third rail pick-up of their Class 313 siblings.

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

^* Class names often change over the lifespan of a locomotive, so this is not necessarily the class name used by the operator in the period modelled.

The EFE Rail Class 313 3‑Car EMU (model number E81001, running number 313034) is a ready‑to‑run OO‑scale model produced by Bachmann Europe under its EFE Rail range. It represents a British Rail Class 313 unit in the original 1970s corporate BR Blue and Grey livery, complete with destination blinds reading “2K12 Moorgate”.

The set consists of three detailed carriages (E62562, E71246 and E62626) mounted on a die‑cast metal chassis. The centre car houses a coreless motor that drives both bogies, and the chassis provides a low centre of gravity. Wheels conform to NEM310 and NEM311 standards and the model can negotiate curves of a second‑radius (438 mm) or larger. A Plux22 DCC decoder socket is fitted; a single decoder controls the motors, lighting and sound functions.

Key features include separately applied metal detail parts, a manually operable pantograph, directional and cab lighting, illuminated headcode and destination panels, and conductive couplings at each end. The model measures 799 mm in length and comes with an accessory pack.

The Class 313 was one of the first dual‑mode electric multiple units, able to draw power from 25 kV AC overhead lines or 750 V DC third‑rail, and 64 units were built by BREL in 1976‑77 for service on the Great Northern Inner Suburban lines. This replica reflects those specifications in a highly detailed, historically accurate form.