Grids in the wild! 1990s Mendip Stone Edition

To celebrate the launch of the Cavalex Class 56, we thought it'd be a good time to take a nostalgic look back at the class in their natural habitat. 

Westbury — Mendip stone trains with class 56

Before the Foster Yeoman and ARC class 59s were delivered, the class 56 reigned supreme on stone trains from the Mendips to the South West, South East and London.

To run these services, an allocation of Cardiff Canton based trainload construction class 56s were out-based at a small depot at Westbury in the 1980s and early 1990s. 

Depict the scene

Recommended models for depicting mendip stone workings include 56046 Triple Grey Construction Sector, 56008 BR Blue and 56120 - Large Logo Blue.

A wealth of RTR wagons are available to pair with mendip based class 56s, including Accurascale PTAs, Cavalex HAAs, Cavalex Bardon PHA/JGAs, Hornby/Lima PGAs and maybe something else in the future (sign up for our emails to hear first!).

Photos and Videos

There is a great collection of nostalgic reference videos on Flickr and Youtube — we've pulled together some highlights below to whet your appetite!

(Please note, of course the ownership rights to the below videos and photos remain with their publishers)

Cavalex Class 56s at Westbury