The Midland Railway Class 1532, alongside a number of similar 0-4-4T designs, formed the backbone of Midland Railway local and light passenger duties for decades, and now the OO scale model of this ornate prototype returns to the Bachmann Branchline range.

Portraying a condensing engine built to work in and around London through the Metropolitan Railway tunnels, this Midland Railway-liveried locomotive is a miniature marvel. Carrying all the hallmarks of a condensing loco, from the large pipes running along the boiler sides to the side tank and bunker sheeting, with their rivetted construction and slots at each corner to aid the air flow around the water tanks, the model is packed with an impressive level of detail wherever you look. A significant proportion of the model is made from diecast metal, with fine engraving and detailing, which is complemented by precision moulded components capturing every aspect of the prototype in high fidelity. Sprung buffers are fitted to each bufferbeam, whilst in the cab, the locomotive controls are faithfully captured and decorated authentically.

A vast tooling suite caters for the many variations seen on the real locomotives throughout their careers, whilst the technical specification is equally impressive, employing a coreless motor and with a Next18 DCC Decoder socket, firebox lighting and pre-fitted speaker – SOUND FITTED models are available too. The livery application is nothing short of exquisite, with a rich application of crimson lake accompanied by the yellow lining and gold insignia replicated using advance printing techniques bringing this Victorian paint scheme to life.

The locomotive’s diecast chassis is enhanced with brake blocks, brake rigging and sandboxes with separate wire sandpipes. Driving wheels are cast to the correct LNWR pattern, whilst the third pair of driving wheels are flangeless, as on the real locomotives. Moving to the tender and the locomotive to tender drawbar is adjustable to suit individual layout conditions, whilst electrical connections are incorporated into the drawbar and a poseable fallplate is fitted to the tender – not only is this a prototypical feature but it serves to reduce the visual impact of any gap in this area which may be necessitated by operating conditions. The tender itself is finely moulded, with several separately applied details including the lamp irons, tank vents, fire tool holder and handwheels. A realistic coal load is included whilst the tender chassis includes brake rigging and metal wheelsets are employed.

Whilst there is little to complicate the black livery of this freight locomotive, the paintwork is applied to a high standard throughout, with the printed details, including the numberplate and cab dials, all reproduced and fully legible thanks to the specialist printing techniques implemented in the production of Bachmann models. 

MODEL FEATURES:

Bachmann Branchline OO Scale

Era 3

Pristine LMS Black livery

Running No. 9446

Smokebox Door Handwheel

Adjustable Tender Drawbar

Powerful 3 Pole Motor

NEM Coupling Pockets

Sprung Buffers

Accessory Pack

Locomotive Ready to Accept a Speaker

Equipped with a 21 Pin DCC Decoder Socket – Recommend Decoder item No. 36-557A

Length 231mm (over couplings)

Part of our Railway Celebrations range

CLASS G2/G2A HISTORY

The London & North Western Railway (LNWR) had an long history of producing 0-8-0 tender freight engines with the first prototype design emerging in 1892, and the last, the G2, appearing in the early 1920s. The G2 was a class of 60 brand new steam locomotives built between 1921-22, and with a boiler generating a pressure of 175psi, they were the most powerful design the LNWR had ever constructed. From 1924 onwards, the G2s were rebuilt with a belpaire boiler which improved performance even further. The entire class passed into BR ownership in 1948, with the first withdrawals beginning in 1959 and the last in 1964. One example, No. 49395 has been preserved as part of the National Collection, where it has been restored to running order.

Owing to a lack of suitable freight engines in the 1930s, the LMS decided to rebuild a significant number of LNWR-built G1s with the powerful 175psi belpaire boiler found on the G2 to create a new class of locomotives, the G2A. These rebuilds were virtually indistinguishable from the G2s and were very successful for the LMS, with over 300 examples rebuilt. Although some were downgraded back to a 160psi boiler and reclassified to G1, the majority of the class was inherited by British Railways in 1948, with the last four cut up in 1964.