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Model of Great Northern Railway class J13 (later LNER class J52) 0-6-0ST saddle tank shunting engine 1210 finished in GNR lined green liveryThis Rapido Trains model has been carefully designed from works drawings and historical images to allow a wide range of options to be produced covering the long lives of thee distinctive engines. The chassis features a smooth-running mechanism, factory-installed speaker and a warming firebox glow.
Model of Great Northern Railway class J13 (later LNER class J52) 0-6-0ST saddle tank shunting engine 1234 finished in GNR 'economy' grey goods engine livery introduced around 1912.This Rapido Trains model has been carefully designed from works drawings and historical images to allow a wide range of options to be produced covering the long lives of thee distinctive engines. The chassis features a smooth-running mechanism, factory-installed speaker and a warming firebox glow.
Model of LNER class J52 locomotive 4217 ex-Great Northern Railway 0-6-0ST saddle tank shunting engine finished in LNER plain black livery with shaded lettering.This Rapido Trains model has been carefully designed from works drawings and historical images to allow a wide range of options to be produced covering the long lives of thee distinctive engines. The chassis features a smooth-running mechanism, factory-installed speaker and a warming firebox glow
GNR 1247 was purchased from British Railways by Captain W Smith in May 1959 and returned to the classic Great Northern railway lined green livery. This model replicates 1247 as running on railtours on the mainline during the early 1960s and serving many of todays' heritage railways in their earliest years. Currently at the NRM York site.This Rapido Trains model has been carefully designed from works drawings and historical images to allow a wide range of options to be produced covering the long lives of thee distinctive engines. The chassis features a smooth-running mechanism, factory-installed speaker and a warming firebox glow.
These started life on the GNR, where they were classified as J13 and based on the Stirling-designed J14 (which featured a domeless boiler). Of course, you can’t trust domeless engines, so Henry Ivatt refined this design with a more efficient and domed boiler variant. They would be fitted with a boiler the same length as the one on the J14, but had an increased diameter. The first J13s rolled off the factory floor in 1897 to work alongside their domeless counterparts on shunting duties.
Between then and 1909, a total of 85 of the class were produced, some at the GNR’s works at Doncaster, and others at a variety of contractors, such as R. Stephenson & Co. The updated design proved effective and as locos moved into LNER ownership many of the J14s were rebuilt as J13s.
Under the LNER the J13s that were domed from the day they were built were reclassified as the J52/2. The class became a common sight in North London, covering the North London Line, Kings Cross, and numerous marshalling yards up and down the country.
Plans were put into motion to scrap the J52s in the mid-1930s, however, this cull ceased when the war broke out in 1939, as any functional locomotive was pressed into service. With the introduction of numerous diesel shunters under the modernisation plan, the withdrawal of the J52s sadly continued.
In 1959 and only a couple of years before the entire class were scrapped, Captain Bill Smith stepped in and saved loco No. 68846 from its inevitable fate. He became the owner of the World’s very first privately owned BR steam locomotive, and the J52/2 earned itself a permanent place in the annals of railway preservation history. The aptly and affectionately named Old Lady would live on. Once in his possession, she was repainted into her beautiful pre-grouping guise and renumbered to the iconic 1247.
With a gorgeous livery, long service history and historical claim to fame, 1247 will always have a fond place in the hearts of travelling enthusiasts and preservation modellers alike. The Captain's decisive action showed that preservation was possible, and sparked a wave of like-minded enthusiasts to follow suit.
The J52/2 model has been designed using works drawings to ensure its accuracy and features a variety of liveries covering the loco's history, such as the bold pre-grouping colours of the GNR, through to various black liveries it sported in its final years. Modellers can look forward to a smooth-running mechanism a factory-installed speaker and a warming firebox glow.
The model is currently in the last design stage of development and will enter tooling shortly.