🚂 New Bachmann LMS Ivatt 2MT Steam Locos In stock

Now available is the latest batch of OO Gauge LMS Class 2MT Ivatt 2-6-0 steam locomotives from Bachmann - with three BR green and BR black versions now available.

Ivatt’s 2MT ‘Mogul’ 2-6-0 Tender Locomotives were popular, go-anywhere engines which served the LMS and BR for two decades and across a wide area, making this Bachmann Branchline model a great choice for many modellers wishing to depict the steam age or preservation, as the type remains strongly represented today.

The Branchline model of Ivatt’s 2-6-0 mogul employs a diecast running plate and locomotive chassis to provide an impressive weight, ensuring that the model’s performance matches that of the prototype. 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 and lamp irons to the safety valves, whistle and sprung buffers, each of which are turned brass. Further details are added individually like the lubricators and sand boxes adorning the running plate and the brake blocks, brake rigging and metal wire sandpipes mounted to the chassis. Within the cab, controls, dials and pipework are all moulded authentically and decorated accordingly.

Designed by H. G. Ivatt for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS), 128 of these Class 2 Moguls were built for light freight and passenger duties. With construction commencing in 1946, just twenty examples were built by the LMS and the remaining 108 were outshopped by British Railways following Nationalisation in 1948. The construction programme was completed in 1952 and these Mixed Traffic locomotives would go on to operate on all the BR regions, with the exception of the Southern. Light axle loadings allowed the Ivatt 2MTs to be used on most routes including branch lines, where their almost enclosed cabs made them ideal for working tender first when no turning facilities existed. The design provided the basis for the BR Standard Class 2MT 2-6-0, and the two are very similar in appearance, with the Standard version having only a modified cab and tender profile to allow unrestricted route availability across the British network.

With BR progressively closing more and more branch lines, and rationalising others – often employing new diesel multiple units to provide a more economical passenger service – duties for small locomotives like the Ivatt 2MTs began to disappear and the decline of the class began in 1961 when the first example was withdrawn. The Mogul’s versatility and its relatively modern design however ensured that many examples were still in traffic until the mid-1960s, but by 1967 all had been withdrawn. Thankfully, seven Ivatt 2MT have been preserved and the type is an ideal source of motive power for many of the trains running on heritage railways today.