The British Rail Class 71 Electric Locomotive is a Bo-Bo configuration engine which was built at the British Rail Doncaster works between 1958 and 1960, for mixed-traffic service on Southern Region’s Kent Coast Main Line .
The Class 71 was only able to work on the third rail power system, which ultimately limited its operational scope for passenger and freight work. Due to safety problems when working in sidings, where coupling and uncoupling necessitated work near the third rail, a pantograph was also fitted to allow overhead power to be used in some yards. Despite this restriction the engines worked high profile routes, notably the Night Ferry and the Golden Arrow.
Features of the DCC Ready Hornby model include:
- 5 pole skew wound motor with double flywheel dual bogie drive
- Working pantograph
- Sprung buffers
- Removable front valance panel
- Accurate running light modes
- Changeable headcodes
- Cab lighting
History of the Class 71
The British Rail Class 71 Electric Locomotive is a Bo-Bo configuration engine which was built at the British Rail Doncaster works between 1958 and 1960, for mixed-traffic service on Southern Region’s Kent Coast Main Line. The Class 71 was only able to work on the third rail power system although a pantograph was also fitted to allow overhead power to be used in some yards. Despite this restriction the engines worked high profile routes, notably the Night Ferry and the Golden Arrow. The engines were relatively short lived, most of them being scrapped in fully working order, as Class 73 electro-diesels eventually made the Class 71 redundant. In addition, the increasing use of Electric Multiple Units for passenger work led to the eventual demise of the engines.