Rapido has announced its first-ever narrow gauge diesel locomotive, with the OO9 Gauge Fowler & Co. Resilient Class 4wD joining the Narrow Lines range in a choice of 11 different liveries.

These compact industrial diesels were designed for the sort of tough, tight-radius work found on construction sites, quarries and industrial railways, and Rapido’s model is packed with detail. Features include a diecast and injection-moulded body, coreless motor, MoPower stay-alive, E24 decoder socket, removable body and a huge selection of optional detailing parts including dumb buffers, brake gear, cab doors, grille covers and different headlight styles. Versions will be available DCC Ready or DCC Fitted.

We’re also especially pleased to have a Rails of Sheffield EXCLUSIVE included in the range, finished in War Department olive green. It’s designed to sit perfectly alongside our other Rapido OO9 exclusives, including the Sirdar steam locomotive and our various WDLR-liveried wagons, giving you the chance to build up a distinctive military narrow gauge formation.

With Rapido’s first OO9 diesel now officially announced and pre-orders open, this looks set to be another very characterful addition to the range.

We’re also adding another EXCLUSIVE to Rapido’s new OO9 Fowler ‘Resilient’ 4wD diesel range, finished in a War Department olive green scheme.

Similar locomotives were built for the War Department by manufacturers such as John Fowler, Motor-Rail Simplex and Ruston & Hornsby around the Second World War. Locomotives of this type were widely used at munitions works, military bases and other industrial sites, where compact and reliable diesel power was increasingly replacing earlier petrol designs.

It also complements our growing range of War Department-themed OO9 models, including the Rapido Sirdar steam locomotive and our various matching wagons, making it ideal for building a complete military narrow gauge train.

Please note our exclusives require a 10% upfront deposit.

The name John Fowler is held in high regard by steam enthusiasts, but the company's legacy and fan base are primarily not that of railway locomotives, but those that ran on roads and farmers' fields. John Fowler & Co. of Leeds produced some of the finest steam-powered traction engines and farming vehicles ever built.

Not one to shy away from innovation, Fowler & Co. clearly understood the direction transport technology was heading and, as early as 1902, began working on early renditions of the internal combustion engine.

Sadly, the first traction engines to be fitted with internal combustion engines were not a success. But as the technology evolved, Fowler & Co. sensibly experimented further, and fitted their first railway locomotive with an IC engine in 1914.

Though results were mixed and early petrol renditions were proving on par, but not better, than their steam-powered predecessors economically, Fowler & Co. would make a complete success of the idea in the 1930s. They did this by utilising a diesel engine instead of petrol.

Having produced lots of narrow gauge steam locomotives for industrial work, the company designed many of its diesels with a similar spec in mind. Making them ideal for construction projects, quarries and aggregate haulage.

One of these designs was a 4wD and was assigned as the Resilient Class.

In 1936, Fowler & Co. built four diesel locomotives for the Essex Water Authority, to aid in the construction of the Abberton Reservoir near Colchester. Once they served their purpose, three of the four locos were sold in 1939 to the Alpha Cement Company for their site at Cliffe in Kent. These locos were named Abberton, Layer, and Peldon.

The locos continued to work the quarry until 1962, and the works subsequently closed in its entirety in 1970. In an unlikely turn of events, much of the remaining rolling stock was simply left to fall into a state of disrepair in the middle of the quarry.

Layer and Peldon were saved by the Brockham Museum Association, and No. 21295 Peldon would later be transferred to Amberley Museum in 1982. After extensive restoration from her derelict state, Peldon re-entered service in 1987.

Just like their steam predecessors, versions of the Resilient Class were built for railways across the world, and versions have survived into preservation in both India and Australia.