The totally politically incorrect named "Boche Buster"

Another nice and interesting set to add to my fleet of OO gauge rolling stock, this time from Oxford Diecast I give you the 'Boche Buster' set.  Consisting of the 'Boche Buster' Rail cannon and a War Department Dean Goods locomotive - this locomotive also comes fitted with a DCC Sound decoder chip.  I'd not intended getting this yet after all I recently bought the W1 Hush-Hush as well as the GT3, but this set is pretty much sold out everywhere (including Oxford Diecast themselves) so when I stumbled across a retailer with just 1 left in stock I decided to get it while I could... 

Anyway I'll leave the pictures to do the talking

[Super]

I love the look of Rail Cannons but I find the Camo colors to be quite different. Don't think I have seen such a combination before. Do you know what theater it was used for? It is quite long...12 inches or so...are there articulating trucks to help it around the curves?
You know I am loving those details of the Cab on the engine. What does the ROD stand for...something - Of - Defense?

Hi Super,

I thought you'd want to see the cab detail, hence why I turned on the flash on the phone for those last two shots, it does show up nicely though as the cab is not fully enclosed as you can see.  What I think I'll need to do is add a train crew to it at some point

Anyway, this is actually modelled on a real railgun that was built by the British during the 1st world war in Europe.  I don't know for certain, but I assume the camo is realistic as Oxford Diecast who make this set go to a great deal of effort to produce realistic product.

The gun is nearer to 14" or so in length and actually has dual articulated bogies.  What I mean by that is that at each end there is an articulaed main bogie and then fitted to each end of that there are two actual bogies.  This gives it a great deal of articulation for negotiating corners etc...  Before you ask the bogies on this beast carry a total of 15 axles, 4-4-4-3 format or it may be 3-4-4-4 as it depends which end you call the front

As for the loco designation, during the First World War the "Railway Operating Division" of the army Royal Engineers regiments requisitioned some 600 locomotives from the main rail companies in the UK, during this period they carried the designation ROD and a number.  Hence the designation on the loco that comes with the set.  That particular locomotive was probably requisitioned from the GWR (Great Western Railways) as they were the main users of the Dean Goods locomotives.

According to the documentation that comes with the set there were only 2 of these guns manufactured by the British.  Incidentally Oxford do actually make a model of a 2nd World War equivalent as well, fairly similar in design, although not so detailed to my eyes and finished in a plain colour rather than the quite detailed camo finish on this one.  Overall I think this one looks the better of the two