Graham Farish - 371-334SF - Passenger, Diesel, Class 150/2 - Arriva - DMU 150236

Specific Item Information: The British Rail Class 150 Sprinter is a class of diesel multiple-unit passenger trains built by BREL York from 1984 to 1987. A total of 137 units were produced in three main subclasses, replacing many of the earlier, first-generation "Heritage" DMUs. The first subclass, 150/0 comprised a pair of prototype units.

The second batch, of fifty units, was classified 150/1 and numbered in the range 150101-150. Like the prototype units, they did not have front-end gangway connections which allowed passengers to move between units working in multiple. Originally based at Derby Etches Park depot, these units were introduced in 1986, mainly concentrated around Birmingham and Manchester, and in later years restricted mainly to commuter services. Today the entire fleet is concentrated on the Northern franchise, mainly working around Manchester to places like Buxton, Sheffield, Liverpool, Southport and Carnforth.

The final batch of 85 two-car units were built with front-end gangway connections. These units were classified as Class 150/2 and numbered in the range 150201-285. They were used on longer-distance services. The 150/2s have operated in Scotland, Wales, the West of England and the North.

Road Name History: Arriva is a multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. It was established in 1938 as T Cowie and through a number of mergers and acquisitions was rebranded Arriva in 1997 and became a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn in 2010. Arriva operates bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus services in 14 countries across Europe. As of September 2018, it employed 61,845 people and operated 2.4 billion passenger journeys annually. It operates as three divisions: UK Bus, UK Rail and Mainland Europe.

Brand/Importer Information: Graham Farish is a British brand of N gauge model trains, that belongs to Bachmann Europe.
The company entered the model train business in the early 1950s, focusing on British OO gauge rolling stock, track and accessories.
In the 1970s, it started to produce N gauge models under the GRAFAR label. After the withdrawal of Lima and Minitrix from the UK market in the late 1980s, Graham Farish was the only major supplier of British outline models in N gauge, soon withdrawing from the OO scale market.
In 2001, Graham Farish was purchased by Kader Industries of Hong Kong, and absorbed by its subsidiary Bachmann Industries. Bachmann immediately closed the British manufacturing facility and moved production to China.
Bachmann have since increased the size of the Farish range, by duplicating models introduced to the Bachmann OO range; often, an OO scale Bachmann Branchline model is followed between 6 months to a year later by an N gauge Graham Farish model.

Manufacturer Information: Bachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader formed Bachmann Industries Europe in 1989 with their main UK headquarters in Moat Way, Barwell, Leicestershire, UK (former Palitoy location) and the following year launched the Bachmann Branchline range for the British market with the moulds that had previously been used for the Palitoy Mainline and Replica Railways model railway products. From this starting point Bachmann has developed the range further and now produce a large range of models.
In 2001 Bachmann Branchline bought Graham Farish, an N gauge manufacturer, and since then many of their models have been made available in both gauges.
Bachmann Europe portfolio also comprises other model trains brands such as Liliput.