Dapol O gauge 7S-024-002 GWR 6417 64xx Class 0-6-0 Pannier Tank Shirbutton Monogram
Finely detailed O gauge model of GWR 64xx class 'auto pannier' 6417 finished in the post 1934 GWR green livery with shirtbutton monogram logo.
This Dapol model is a new run of models from the Lionheart Trains range being produced with DC, DCC and DCC Sound options.
These models will have identical specification as the previous Lionheart Trains models release and will feature:
Die cast chassis, footplate, boiler and Firebox
Powerful 5 pole motor
Exquisitely detailed body with many added detailed parts
Sprung buffers
Expertly applied livery
DCC Ready with a 21 pin decoder socket
Sound and DCC Versions offered
The GWR 64xx class locomotives were built in the mid-1930s to provide a more powerful locomotive type for working auto trains. Whereas the 4-coupled tank engines of the 517 and metro types could manage 2 trailer 'auto coaches' the new panniers were intended to work with up to 4 trailers. As only two coaches could be coupled to either end of the locomotive due to the stiffness of the mechanical linkages 3 and 4 car formations were worked in 'sandwich' mode with locomotive in the centre of the train.
A sub-type numbered in the 74xx series were also built without the auto train apparatus for service on branch lines where conventional passenger coaches were used, many of them working scenic routes across mid and west Wales.
6417 was sent new to Plymouth Laira shed in December 1934 and, excepting a brief time at Taunton through the summer and autumn of 1943, remained allocated to the Plymouth shed until October 1953. Plymouth auto duties often loaded to the full 4 coach formations, especially for peak hours and shift change times at the Devenport dockyards. Auto train suburban services from Plymouth ran along the mainline east across Devon and west into Cornwall. While some local branch services were also covered by auto trains many of the areas well-known branch lines were steeply graded and home to the even more powerful 44xx and 45xx small prairie tank engines.
Under British Railways ownership 6417 moved from Plymouth Laira to Aberdare in 1953, then to Newport Ebbw Junction shed in April 1958, however the loco is recorded as having been withdrawn from service at Aberdare shed in June 1959. The Ebbw Junction allocation may have been a paper centralisation of engines on the divisions' master shed with 64s being sent out to sub-sheds to cover the duties required.