The London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Fowler 4F is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for medium freight work. They represent the ultimate development of Midland Railway's six coupled tender engines.
The 4F was based on the 197-strong Midland Railway 3835 Class of 1911, with only a few modifications, primarily the adoption of left-hand drive in favour of right-hand drive. They originally had been designed by Henry Fowler, who from 1925 became CME of the LMS.
Midland Railway locomotives were notorious for their short axle-box bearings, which were prone to overheating. Why this poor design feature was perpetuated is a complete mystery but, unfortunately, the LMS 4F inherited it.
The LMS constructed 530 of the locomotives between 1923 and 1928, numbered sequentially from where the Midland engines left off from 4027. A further 45 examples were reluctantly authorised by William Stanier in 1937 at the behest of the operating department.
Prototype: Royal Warttemberg State Railways (K.W.St.E.) class T 5 passenger steam locomotive. One each passenger car, 2nd and 3rd class (later the type BC4i W 00), 3 rd class (later the type C4i WA 01), and 4th class (later the type C4id WA 98), as well as a baggage car (later the type Pwi WA 09). The locomotive and cars look as the prototypes did towards the end of the provincial railroad period.
Model: The locomotive has an mfx digital decoder and controlled high-efficiency propulsion. 3 axles powered. 2 traction tires. The headlights will work in conventional operation and can be controlled digitally. The acceleration and braking delay can be controlled with a 6021 Control Unit or with Marklin Systems. The car floors have truss rods that can be replaced and separately applied details. The handrails and roof supports on the end platforms are made of metal. The baggage car has sliding doors that can be opened and a roof cupola. Total length over the buffers 83.2 cm / 32-3/4".
Highlights:
The Swabian Railroad at the transition to the German State Railroad
Scale: 1:87
This set is currently retailing at over 35% off the RRP and can be shipped globally but please check the conditions for shipping outside Europe . Click here for more info.
Class A1 60163 Tornado BR Apple Green from Bachmann
Posted On 2009-05-20 , 12:12 AM
A1 Class No. 60163 Tornado in lined BR apple green with BRITISH RAILWAYS in full on the tender.
The A1 Class, which numbered 49 locomotives in total, has usually been accredited to A H Peppercorn of the LNER, but in reality their construction was authorised when Thompson was still the CME at Doncaster.
The first 16 were authorised for construction at Doncaster, in October 1945, followed by an additional 23 in 1946, built at Darlington.The remainder of the Class was built at Doncaster in 1949.
Tenders linked to Darlington engines had countersunk (flush) rivets, whilst Doncaster tenders had snap-head rivets clearly visible on their surfaces. Originally the locomotives were un-named, but later took names removed from Class A4’s, whilst others were named after previous CME’s, and a few named after constituent companies which formed the LNER.
On their introduction, the A1’s were allocated to principal sheds between London and Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line, working many of the prestigious expresses. The arrival of Type 4 and ‘Deltic’ diesels on the ECML saw the A1’s quickly withdrawn from service, sadly after only fifteen years working life and all were scrapped.
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust - a registered charity - has built a completely new 'A1' to the original design and with the help of the latest technology. Fitted with additional water capacity and the latest railway safety electronics, Tornado is fully equipped for today’s main line railway. The loco is currently hauling specials on the main line and details can be seen at www.a1steam.com
Last weekend was the Barrow Hill Roundhouse Steam Gala with a number of top class steam engines in attendance. First of all there was the new engine 60163 Tornado which was attending its first gala along with two A4's Sir Nigel Gresley and Union of South Africa. There were a number of other engines that were under steam and the turntable in the roundhouse was also demonstrated and in fact used to bring an engine out to do some demonstration runs. The event seemed to be attended by many hundred of steam fans and families and a great day out was had by all.
Photo Slideshow from the Barrow Hill Roundhouse weekend:
If you are into collecting model trains, there are many important things and ideas you should remember to make sure your collection would be made up of the best items there are. There are numerous brands and models of model trains in the market, and you would surely find it hard and confusing to decide which particular item or brand to take.
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