Oxford Rail adds GWR crane and new rail gun liveries

A Great Western Railway crane and three new rail gun liveries have given Oxford Rail’s specialist OO gauge range a useful shot in the arm. The June update was driven by continued strong demand, and it keeps two of the company’s most unusual military and engineering subjects moving without forcing anyone into a whole new line.

The crane side now includes GWR No. 6 alongside BR Stoke MPD RS1023-15, LMS Wellingborough 243, BR Stewarts Lane DS316 and LNER Sunderland 901628. Retail listings put the crane models at £99.95 each, and Oxford Rail had already shown the project in May 2026 with first-shot samples, finished artwork and engineering samples in development. The new GWR version lands as part of the first stage of the crane program, which makes it a smart add-on rather than a rethink of the range.

That crane is based on Cowans, Sheldon and Co’s standard 15-ton design from the 1890s, a 4-4-0 arrangement that could lift 15 tons to a radius of 20 or 22 feet when propped. The Great Western Railway was late to steam breakdown cranes, ordering its first three Cowans Sheldon 15-ton cranes in 1900 and 1901, so the GWR livery fits the prototype story neatly rather than feeling like a made-up variant. For anyone building a steam-era goods yard, works scene or an end-of-life breakdown depot, that matters.

The rail gun update is even more dramatic. Oxford Rail added three models, Boche Buster in post-1940 condition, Scene-Shifter and Peace Maker. Rails of Sheffield confirmed the batch, and the names alone tell you where this range sits: these are not generic military wagons, but showpiece subjects for wartime trains, museum-style displays and exhibition layouts that need one big talking point instead of another box van.

The history behind them is as specific as the models themselves. The British 14-inch railway gun Boche Buster had origins in weapons originally built for Japan and proofed in 1918, with Boche Buster and Scene Shifter issued to 471 Siege Battery in May 1918. In the Second World War, the carriages were recommissioned and refitted, with Boche-Buster receiving an 18-inch howitzer barrel, while Scene Shifter and Peace Maker took 13.5-inch guns. That is exactly why this refresh works: a handful of carefully chosen liveries keeps Oxford Rail’s crane and rail gun lines useful for another round of operators, collectors and anyone building something with real character.