TT Gauge
Hornby TT:120
TT3008M BR Green Class A4 4-6-2 60016 'Silver King' Loco
Brand new item direct from our Yorkshire model railway shop.
Tech Specs
Item Scale 1:120 Scale
Gauge TT
DCC Status DCC Ready Next18 socket (It is NOT DCC
Fitted)
Operator BR
Designer Sir Nigel Gresley
Wheel Configuration 4-6-2
Livery BR Green
Minimum Curve (mm) Radius 2
Class Class A4
Product Info
The LNER Gresley A4 is one of the most iconic express
locomotives in Great Britain, with its streamlined casing a classic symbol of
the attitude towards speed and design in the 1930s, which saw increased
competition to the railways from road and air travel. The LNER Board knew that
they had to make travel between the major cities faster, comfortable and more
reliable.
Nigel Gresley, the LNER's Chief Mechanical Officer,
travelled on the Fliegende Hamburger diesel locomotive in Germany and was
impressed by its streamlining, although he realized it was only efficient at
high speeds. Gresley was certain that a modified A3 Pacific, with streamlining,
could haul greater loads than other locomotives at the same speed or faster and
a series of trials were conducted to confirm the A3's suitability.
With the trials successfully completed, the LNER Board gave
Gresley the go-ahead to create the "Silver Jubilee" streamlined
trains, the first of the new streamlined A4s.The streamlining of the A4s' steam
circuit, higher boiler pressure and extension of the firebox to create a
combustion chamber made them more efficient than the A3 as they consumed less
coal and water- especially later on when they were also fitted with a Kylchap
double chimney. This improved their free steaming capabilities further. Their streamlined
design not only made them capable of high speeds, but created an up draught of
smoke, obscuring the driver's vision, a major problem on the new Class A4
engines. The story goes that during wind tunnel testing, after several
unsuccessful efforts to get the smoke to lift clear, a thumbprint was
inadvertently left on the clay model just behind the chimney. This succeeded in
clearing the smoke and was incorporated into the final design.
2511 Silver King was the 3rd A4 locomotive to be built,
designed to pull the Silver Jubilee service. The locomotive entered service in
November 1935 in the unique LNER Silver livery designed for the service. The
locomotive would go on to work under BR before being scrapped in 1965, making
it one of the longest serving A4 locomotives.
Safety Information
Detailed scale model. Not suitable for children under 14 years. Please refer to safety notes in enclosed instruction leaflet. Please retain these details for future reference.