Description
PROTOTYPE
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class has received several nicknames, initially being known as “Rooters” by their south London crews. However, the engines were more famously known as “Terriers” on account of the distinctive ‘bark’ of the exhaust beat.
Originally known as ‘A’ class, these diminutive tank locomotives were designed in 1870 to haul commuter trains on the heavily congested lines in South and South-East London. These included routes from London Bridge to both East and West Croydon, London Victoria to Sutton and the line from Victoria to London Bridge via Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill, as well as operating on the East London Railway under the Thames through the Thames Tunnel designed by Marc Isambard Brunel. Six locomotives were built for these services during 1872, and were successful thanks to their high acceleration between the closely spaced station stops and the use of lightweight trains. A further 44 were built between June 1874 and September 1880 to complement the original six.
They were distributed across most of the GWR network and, after nationalisation of the railways in 1948, across the British Railways Western Region, and also other regions.
MODEL
These great little models feature lots of details including external pipe work, directional lighting, and finely printed external logos and numbering.
FEATURES
Sprung metal buffers
Beautifully Painted Body
Complete firebox glow and flicker
All Wheel Pick-up and all wheel drive
Cast Profiled Wheels with Appropriate Colouring
Die Cast running plate for extra quality and weight
Exquisitely detailed body with many added detailed parts
Powerful 5 Pole Motor with Refined Gearing for slow running control
