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This month’s model favourite has been chosen by MKMRS member Charlie Alexander. Charlie joined MKMRS in 2008 and frequently attends our Tuesday club nights at the Society’s base in Bletchley.
MKMRS MEMBER
Charlie Alexander
Charlie has selected the Hornby rebuilt Battle of Britain class loco in its guise as no. 34088, 213 Squadron. Charlie has chosen this model as he thinks it is finely detailed and is an excellent representation of the real thing. And Charlie should know, as he worked on the real loco in the late 1950s/early 1960s as a fireman and has fond memories of the engine.
The Hornby model (R2607) is one of the company’s more recent models and was well-received by modellers. It features sprung buffers, extensive cab detail, 5-pole loco drive, all-wheel pickups and a wide range of separately fitted detail parts.
The Battle of Britain class entry on Wikipedia states:
“The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, collectively known as Light Pacifics or informally, as Spam Cans were designed to be lighter in weight than their sister locomotives, the Merchant Navy class, for use on a wider variety of routes including in the south-west of England and the Kent coast. They were a mixed-traffic design and were used on all types of services. A total of 110 locomotives were constructed between 1945 and 1950, named after West Country resorts and Royal Air Force (RAF) and other subjects associated with the Battle of Britain.
Due to problems with some of the locomotives’ features, sixty engines were rebuilt by British Railways during the late 1950s. This produced a design highly similar to the rebuilt Merchant Navy class. The classes operated until July 1967. Although most were scrapped, twenty locomotives found new homes on heritage railways in Britain.”
