West Country / Battle of Britain Class 4-6-2 Locomotive
The Southern Region West Country and Battle of Britain classes with their 4-6-2 wheel arrangement were also known as ‘Light Pacifics’ or informally as ‘Spam Cans’ due to their unorthodox appearance. The class was designed by Oliver Bulleid and developed to be cheaper and easier to build using much of the innovations developed during wartime.
The West Country / Battle of Britain class and its sister, the heavier Merchant Navy class were the first to use welded steel in the manufacture of many key components, which reduced weight and building time. In all 110 were built between 1945 and 1950 and continued into service until the end of the steam era on the Southern Region in 1967. Due to some initial design limitations, fifty of the class were rebuilt during the late 1950s, after which they resembled the rebuilt Merchant Navy class. Twenty of the class survive into preservation.
Dapol will initially be modelling the as originally built locomotive, the rebuilt variant will follow in a later run.
Dapols first ‘Next Generation’ steam model with entirely re-designed chassis and electronics, this model will also incorporate a locomotive mounted motor offering excellent slow running and exceptional pulling power with reliability and robustness.
The Dapol West Country Class will include the following features:
- Powerful New Locomotive mounted motor
- Electrical pick up from all locomotive driving wheels and tender wheels
- Die-cast chassis and locomotive body, injection moulded tender body
- Partial chassis compensation for smooth running and to aid electrical pick up
- Stainless steel running gear
- DCC & DCC Sound ready, Next-18 decoder socket (recommended 6 function decoder)
- Standard NEM fitting N Gauge couplers
- Detailed body and fittings
- Printed name plates
- Accessory bag with etched nameplates and detailed buffer beam fittings