Graham Farish - 371-725 - Passenger, Electric, Class 450 - South Western (UK) - EMU 450073

Specific Item Information: The British Rail Class 450 third-rail DC EMU began service during 2003. They are a part of the Siemens Desiro modular train family. Used for outer suburban services, the Class 450 was built with standard and first class accommodation. The unit has a maximum speed of 100 mph (161 km/h).

The Siemens "Desiro UK" family also includes units of Classes 185, 350, 360, 380 and 444. These trains are the most numerous trains in South Western Railway's fleet, and also the most numerous units in the Desiro UK family.

In April 2001, 785 vehicles were ordered by South West Trains in order to complete the replacement of its slam-door rolling stock, in accordance with its franchise commitment to do so by 2005, as the slam-door trains were coming to the end of their useful lives, and did not meet modern health and safety requirements. Introduction to service was delayed by the required power supply upgrades capable of powering the new trains, which feature air conditioning, a feature not present in the slam-door trains they replaced. In the December 2004 timetable change, the Class 450 Desiro began serving most intended routes, although introduction was delayed until June 2005 in some areas. The units are owned by and leased from Angel Trains.

The entire Class 450 series consists of four car multiple units, semi permanently formed as DMSO(A)+TCO+TSO+DMSO(B). The Class 450 Desiro trains operate on certain London commuter rail routes, as well as outer suburban and regional services from London Waterloo, and local services outside of the London area. They are used on all SWR lines.

Road Name History: First MTR South Western Trains Limited,[2] trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and MTR Corporation (30%) that operates the South Western franchise. It operates commuter services from its Central London terminus at London Waterloo to South West London. SWR provides suburban services in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset, as well as regional services in Devon, Somerset, Berkshire and Wiltshire. Its subsidiary Island Line operates services on the Isle of Wight.From Wikipedia

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.