NSWGR 48 class diesel electric locomotive by Auscision Models

These locomotives were constructed by A E Goodwin for the New South Wales Government Railways. Some 165 units were constructed between 1959 and 1970 at which stage they had become the most extensively operated locomotives in the New South Wales system. They were based on Alco frames and prime movers and being of a relatively light weight construction, were designed for branch line use in the transition from steam power to diesel. Just over 60 units remain in service today but in the hands of private operators such as Pacific National, etc. There are of course, some in the hands of historical preservation societies. A number of units were also built for the South Australian Railways where they were designated as the 830 class.

The 48 class in HO scale has been offeredby Powerline, then Trainorama. A second run by Powerline was also produced which included substantial improvements over their first attempt. Both the second run Powerline and the Trainorama release have proven to be fairly successful, although the Powerline unit is somewhat difficult when it comes to DCC.

The Auscision version has been a long time in the production cycle, this being attributed to the large number of model variants offered and also production issues with the Chinese manufacturers. The final production run was huge and an entire container load of 48s was received early in July. Despite the volume of the production run, all have been sold and the loco is no longer available.

I have four units, three with full factory installed DCC sound by Loksound and the third now equipped with a Loksound V4 with sound. A very easy installation as the loco was equipped with a 21 pin plug for DCC and a suitable speaker enclosure. Multiple units were needed to model branch line operations where triple and quad configurations were common.

The models look good and I am very pleased with the quality of production. They run superbly at all speeds. There is no variation between the operational characteristics of all four locos and although I have yet to speed match them to the rest of my fleet they look like they have already been matched.
Here is what they look like:



And on the Dargan layout:







A valuable addition to my collection. Pity they are all sold out.

Cheers

and happy modelling

Richard

 

Hi Tony
I also had two of the older Powerline units but those rubber traction tyres were a bit of a pain and the actual model was a bit ordinary. With disconnected wiring, they are used as static models only. I was thinking about the Trainorama ones but then I struck trouble with the gear sets on their 44s and 49s so having had good experiences with Auscision 45s and 4201s I decided to wait for their 48s, indeed a long wait as it turned out. Yes at this stage of their duty on Dargan they are all looking in very pristine condition but that will not last long when (I find time) they get their in service weathering. As usual, the class leaders in my collection are all destined to remain in as delivered condition and this will apply to 4801 but not the others. The only other locos in my collection that are spared from this treatment are specials like the 125 year anniversary models which include my 125 year Garratt, 4201 and now my 48.
There is no working fan on the Auscisions but I guess you cannot have everything....or can you?

Cheers

and happy modelling

Richard