An Ex-LSWR Coaches update & the B17 and Class 91 Arrive
Hello and welcome to another edition of The Engine Shed – your behind the scenes look into the Hornby Development workshop, giving you an insight into what goes into producing our models as well as providing a little history about what inspired us to produce the models on your layouts.
After last week’s announcement of the Peckett & Sons W4 Class 0-4-0 we’ve been inundated with suggestions and ideas as to what liveries the models will eventually be in. Remember, this is your chance to have a real say in the development of one our models so if you have any reliable colour photographs of a Peckett W4, let us know and upload them to our Official Forum thread.
So, on with this week’s blog, to begin with we wanted to show you some more images of the highly anticipated 58’ Maunsell Rebuilt (ex-LSWR 48’) coaches. A couple of weeks ago we showed you a teaser video of them lined up on our test layout, and wouldn’t you know it, the video led to us announcing the little loco lurking in the background! So in this edition of The Engine Shed we thought we’d show you in more detail how we are getting on with the coaches that we announced back in June. We’re really pleased with the level of detail that has been achieved and cannot wait to show you more updates as and when they come in!
The B17 Class
Now on to a pair of locos that we cannot wait to hit the shelves. The production of R3003 BR 4-6-0 'Barnsley' B17 Class - Late BR and R3004 BR 4-6-0 'Serlby Hall' B17 Class - Early BR Weathered was severely affected by the well-documented production delays Hornby experienced a few years ago, but we have found an alternative factory and work has progressed smoothly since and we are now approaching the release date. Both of these locomotives will be available in DCC Fitted versions as well as the standard DCC Ready. R3318 BR 4-6-0 ‘Gilwell Park’ B17/3 Class - Early BR will follow soon after.
A Brief History of the B17
B17 61664 Liverpool on 25/7/48
By the mid-1920s there was a critical need for locomotives that were suitable for the increasing passenger traffic on the GE District (formerly the Great Eastern Railway), but track limitations prevented the transfer of locomotives from other regions. Nigel Gresley was required by the LNER to produce a 4-6-0 design to supplement the existing B12 locomotives serving that region and the initial specifications were for a three-cylinder 4-6-0. Borrowing the cylinder and motion arrangement of the D49, but with a tractive effort of about 25,000lbs and restricted axle loading of 17 tonnes, the Doncaster Works had many problems meeting the specifications and the contract was thus given to the North British Locomotive Company (Glasgow) in December 1927.
The eventual axle loading was 18 tons and the final design of the B17 Class incorporated many features of the A1 Pacific locomotives built in 1924. Several modifications were required before the first B17 was delivered in late 1928, but between 1930 and 1937, a total of 73 B17 locomotives were produced by Robert Stephenson & Co. at Darlington and Glasgow.
B17 61641 Gayton Hall at Sheffield Victoria 1958 - Credit ColourRail
The final B17 design to be built (the B17/4), was intended for routes with fewer length restrictions and were produced with 4,200 gallon LNER Group Standard tenders, whilst Locomotive Parts 1, 2, and 3 were merged to form the new Class B17/1 in 1937, operating with 3700 gallon GE tenders. Between 1943 and 1958, 55 of the Class underwent further modifications, including the fitting of Diagram 100A boilers, thus being designated 817/6.
The first locomotive, No. 2800, was named Sandringham, starting a line of B17s named after English country houses, whilst starting with No. 2848, some were named after Football Association clubs. Although eventually some locomotives would be re-named, all of the 73 B17s bore a name.
B17 61623 Lambton Castle at Cambridge
We’ve had the Approval Sample of R3004 and R3004X in and this will be the first B17 to be released with the others (R3318, R3003 and R3003X) following on soon. Take a look at the Final Sample of the loco in the Early BR Weathered livery on our layout below. You can also pre-order the B17 now and we're hoping for it to hit the shelves later this year.
East Coast Trains Bo-Bo Electric Class 91 - R3365
91128 at Lund Farm, Selby - Credit Tom Curtis Rail Gallery
Also coming out very soon is the East Coast Trains Bo-Bo Electric Class 91. In 1984, with electrification well under way on the East Coast Main Line, the British Railways Board decided that a fleet of new high power locomotives and rolling stock would be required to operate alongside the existing highly successful HST fleet. The design was to be called Project Electra and the service would be called Inter City 225, as the operating speed was envisaged to be 140mph (or 225km/h).
GEC had an operational example for proving constructed during 1988, but because GEC had no capacity themselves to construct, the task of building this fleet was sub-contracted out to British Rail Engineering (BREL) at Crewe. The order was split between two batches, an initial, smaller batch of ten locomotives numbered 91001-91010, followed by a larger batch of twenty one locomotives numbered 91011-91031.
91005 with a full rake of new Mark 4 coaches in 1988 - credit Harry Hudson
At 6,300hp, the Class 91 locomotives were the most powerful on the network at that time and although there were a number of early teething problems, these were quickly overcome. The first passenger run commenced with a Kings Cross-Peterborough commuter service in March 1989 and six months later, on September 17, 1989, 91010 David Livingstone set the speed record for a British locomotive hauled train, reaching 162.4mph at Stoke Bank near Peterborough. Unfortunately, the promised Government funding for upgraded track and signalling on the ECML that would allow these new trains to achieve their anticipated operating speed of 140mph was never approved, limited the 91s to 125mph, the same as their HST predecessors.
With the advent of Rail privatisation, Great North Eastern Railway were awarded the franchise to operate trains on the East Coast Main Line and during their tenure, the fleet received reliability modifications at Doncaster Works resulting in the locomotives being renumbered to 91101-91122 and 91124-91132.
The traction motors of the Class 91 were mounted in the frame of the locomotive, rather than in the bogie, the tractive power being fed to the axle gearbox by a Cardan shaft. Primary braking was operated by rheostatic methods, turning the traction motors into generators which enabled the torque to be reversed. This creates a retarding effect on the transmission and once the speed drops to around 28mph, traditional brakes bring the locomotive to a halt.
The Class 91 actually has two drivers’ cabs, as it was initially planned to operate the loco as a high speed passenger train during the day and to haul freight during the night. Only the leading end was streamlined, locos operating ‘blunt end’ first being restricted to 110mph to avoid damage to the roof mounted pantograph from aerodynamic buffeting. Ideas of using the Class 91 as a mixed traffic locomotive were soon scrapped and the class has only ever operated in passenger service.
As Electric locos are rarely featured in The Engine Shed we thought we’d knock up a quick video of the Class 91 so you can see it in action - complete with pantograph on full display so you can see it in all its glory. As you can see it runs well, despite there being no Catenary present...
So there we have it, another fortnight in the Hornby Development office. As is often the case with development, we have peaks of excitement when we receive new samples but right now we are all working hard with the Marketing team preparing for upcoming shows as well as designing and planning ranges for far off in the future.
Oh, there is the small matter of the release of a little blue tank engine and a right Royal affair as well, but we’ll save that for another time shall we?
Let us know your thoughts about the Ex-LSWR samples, B17 and the Class 91 on Facebook and Twitter with #HornbyEngineShed and over on our Official Forums.
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