The London & North Western Railway (LNWR) was known as the Premier Line and one of its premier freight locomotives, in terms of power and ability at least, was the G2 Class, and their later equivalents, the G2As. The Bachmann Branchline model brings the G2 to OO Scale with a high fidelity rendition of the early-twentieth century powerhouse.

This model of No. 9446 forms part of our new Railway Celebrations range and depicts the locomotive that took part in the 100th Anniversary celebrations of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. In 1925, to mark the centenary, a celebration of railways featuring locomotives from the past century was put on by the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). Opened by the Duke and Duchess of York later King Geroge VI and Queen Elizabeth  a procession of locomotives took place over some six miles of line between Stockton and Darlington, passing the royal grandstand and delighting the hundreds of thousands of onlookers who turned out to witness the celebrations.

The parade of 53 locomotives intended to showcase the evolution of the steam locomotive, from the early examples to modern designs. The first London & North Western Railway (LNWR) 0-8-0 locomotives were built in 1893, however the G2 was somewhat younger, being built between 1921 and 1922 and No. 9446 was one of 60 locomotives built to this design at Crewe Works. Outshopped as LNWR No. 1012, the locomotive was the first G2 to receive London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) numbering, becoming No. 9446 which was applied in June 1925, along with LMS livery with a high gloss finish in preparation for its participation in the centenary celebrations. No. 9446 would become BR No. 49446 upon Nationalisation in 1948 and the locomotive remained in traffic until April 1964 when it was withdrawn and subsequently scrapped.

The Bachmann Branchline model employs a diecast running plate, along with further metal components to provide an impressive weight ensuring the model's strength and power match its prototype's. Meanwhile, those components produced in plastic are precision moulded, with details such as rivets and boiler bands crisply reproduced. Separate parts are then added to enhance the authenticity of the model further, from the metal handrails to the whistle and safety valves, each of which are turned brass. The smokebox door is hinged and can be posed open or closed, whilst within the cab, controls, dials and pipework are all moulded authentically and decorated accordingly.

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.