Hornby BR 4-4-0 Class T9 ‘Greyhound’ - BR Late Crest

Hornby R3107-BR 4–4–0 Class T9 ‘Greyhound’ – BR Late Crest Fitted for 00 gauge railways. Dugald Drummond designed the successful T9 Class 4–4–0 locomotive for express passenger work on the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), using the experience he gained from the less than perfect C8 Class and by incorporating large fireboxes and Stephenson link valve gear. The first 50 of the Class were confidently ordered straight from the drawing board and constructed between 1899 and 1900. 20 were built at the LSWR's own workshop at Nine Elms in London and 30 were built by Dübs & Company in Glasgow, all supplied with six-wheel tenders. In all a total of 66 Class T9s were built, a further 15 were outshopped from the Nine Elms Workshop between 1900 and 1901. These locomotives incorporated some modifications which included a wider cab, revised wheel splashers and the fitting of cross-water tubes inside the firebox, along with the connection of the Drummond ‘watercart’ eight-wheel tender for longer running. The previous batches were later retrofitted with the same modifications. The 66th and final T9 was built by Dübs & Co, in 1901 for the Glasgow Exhibition of that year. Built specifically for the highly competitive express train services from Plymouth to London, they quickly came into their own, popular with their crews, their high turn of speed soon earned them the nickname of the ‘Greyhounds’. The comparatively short frames and light axle weight suited the tighter curves of lines on the west country routes. Robert Urie, successor to Dugald Drummond, continued to make further modifications and improvements until 1929. After initial service with the London & South Western Railway, they passed to the Southern Railway when the railways were regrouped in 1923. In 1948 they passed to the newly formed British Railways and many remained in service until 1963. In 1949, 13 of the T9s were converted to ‘oil burning’ but the experiment was not a success and all 13 were withdrawn from service. The only survivor of the Class, No. 30120, was returned to steam in 2008 wearing early British Railways livery and is now serving on the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. The locomotive represented here, No. 30313, was outshopped from Nine Elms on the 30th September 1901. Withdrawn from Shed 72A Exmouth Junction on the 31st July 1961 the locomotive was cut up on the 30th September 1961 at BR Eastleigh Works Features: Finish: Pristine DCC Type: DCC Ready L ivery: BR Class: Greyhound Designer: Dugald Drummond Entered Service: 1899 Detail: Individual Cab Components Motor: 5 Pole Skew Wound. Loco Drive Purpose: Fast Light Passenger Wheel Configuration: 4–4–0 Dimensions: 229mm Special Features: NEM Couplings Detailed Scale model. Not suitable for children under 14 years.