Back in the range for the first time in a while are these Class 4575 'Small Prairie' 2-6-2T and Class 8750 'Pannier Tank' 0-6-0PT locomotives from Bachmann in OO Gauge!
Bring home a range of new Great Western Railway and British Railways liveried locomotives right now in time for Christmas! Explore all of the new releases below...
OO Gauge GWR Class 4575 'Small Prairie' 2-6-2T
Product Features
Highly detailed model with separately fitted parts including handrails, lamp irons, footsteps, whistle, safety valve, pipework and more
Digital capability - 8-pin decoder socket
Powerful 3-pole motor
Accurate tooling variations dependent on era/ loco
Sprung metal buffers
NEM tension lock couplings
Prototype Information
Under the tenure of George J. Churchward, the Great Western Railway (GWR) 45XX Class Small Prairie Tank Locomotives were built, with construction beginning in 1906 and by 1915, four batches totalling 55 locomotives had been completed. Following Grouping in 1923, Charles Collett ordered the construction of twenty more, before modifying the design to produce the 4575 Class. The two types were essentially the same, but with the 4575s boasting a higher water carrying capacity, facilitated by larger side tanks which made it easy to tell the two types apart – the 4575s having slope sided tank tops whereas the 45XX’s tanks had straight tops. One hundred 4575s emerged from Swindon Works between 1927 and 1929 and like their sister locomotives, they were put to work on mixed traffic duties, predominantly on branch lines.
The entire fleet was inherited by British Railways upon Nationalisation in 1948, but eight years later withdrawals being, the closure of branch lines and the introduction of diesel multiple units signalling their demise. By 1964 the entire Class had gone, but the Class is strongly represented today as eleven examples survived the cutters torch and are now preserved at various sites across the UK.
OO Gauge GWR Class 8750 Pannier Tank 0-6-0PT
Product Features
Highly detailed model with separately fitted parts including handrails, valves, safety valve, whistle, top ffed, steps and more
Accurate tooling variations for eras/ locos
Digital capability - 8-pin decoder socket
Powerful 3-pole motor
Sprung metal buffers
NEM tension lock couplings
Prototype Information
The Class 8750 Pannier Tank was a derivative of the Great Western Railway’s (GWR) Class 57XX design, the company’s most prolific class of locomotive. The 57XX was first introduced in 1929 and construction continued for 21 years until the final examples were outshopped by British Railways. Such was the success of the design that it became the GWR’s standard shunting and general purpose tank engine, used for shunting, light goods traffic and even passenger workings on branch lines and suburban routes.
The first three hundred locomotives to be built were classified as 57XXs (or 67XXs depending on their braking systems) but from 1933 a new, larger cab was introduced which incorporated square windows instead of round, and provided more enclosed side sheets for better crew comfort. Locomotives built from 1933 with this new cab were designated Class 8750s and when the 863rd and final Pannier Tank belonging to the 57XX family rolled off the production line, the Class 8750s made up the majority of the fleet.
Employed across the GWR network and then the Western Region following Nationalisation, all 863 locomotives passed into British Railways ownership before the first 8750 was withdrawn in 1957. The type would remain in service for another decade, with withdrawals accelerating at the start of the 1960s before British Railways withdrew the final examples in 1966. Even then, some of these Pannier Tanks were still in use with London Transport (LT) and other private operators who had purchased them from BR; the LT Panniers surviving in traffic until 1971. Ultimately, sixteen Pannier Tanks from the 57XX family survive today in preservation, half of which are genuine 57XXs whilst the other half are Class 8750s.