Hornby R3538 SECR Wainwright H Class 0-4-4T South Eastern Green Livery OO

£119.99
MRP £119.99

This product is no longer available.
(Product Ref 100582)
Have a question about this product? Let us know
Hornby the SR/SECR H class is a very useful addition to the range of small Southern locomotives, the H class 0-4-4T and C class 0-6-0 (Bachmann) formed the principal motive power on many branchlines. Many of the tank engines fitted with the Southern Railway air control pull-system under British Railways ownership, replacing many much older locomotives on busy suburban branches as well as lines in the country districts of Kent and Sussex. The classes last regular duties were around Tunbridge Wells, working some of the connecting lines between the main London routes until the end of 1963 when the locomotives were made surplus by line closures, electrification and diesel traction.
DCC Ready. 8 pin decoder required for DCC operation.

The H Class was originally Harry Wainwrights' solution to updating the ageing 2-4-0 and 0-4-2T locomotives running on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway at the turn of the 20th century and was very much a development of the Kirtley R subsequent R1 classes. 66 locomotives were built by Ashford Works with No.540 being the first engine delivered on November 7th 1904 and No.184 the last in April 1915.

The new design featured many advantages over the R1 class, the most significant of which being, a much more efficient boiler with a better steaming capacity and the distinctive 'Pagoda' cab, designed to keep the crew dry when they needed to hang out of the cab to observe the road ahead. Whilst minor detail may have differed between the six batches built the outline of the locomotive stayed constant, with the exception of ten engines which had straight bunker tops, enabling a better line of sight for crews when running bunker first on the early experiments with Push/Pull operation.

The engines were initially allocated across the SECR region, from Bricklayers Arms down to Hastings and Ramsgate and various sheds in between. Allocations and duties stayed fairly constant through to Grouping in 1923, with the addition of Reading-Redhill Branch services and the operation of semi-fast trains from Maidstone East into London Victoria during 1918/19. Following Grouping, services expanded to include East Grinstead, Horsham, Eastbourne and Brighton. World War II saw some passenger services being curtailed, carriage piloting and shunting duties introduced and the loan of three engines to the LMS for operation on the Arbroath local services, receiving the 2P designation.

Wartime servicing conditions unfortunately led to two engines, 1312 and 1264, being condemned for use as spares, but the remaining 64 entered British Rail service at nationalisation in 1948. With the withdrawal of D3, R and R1 classes from the eastern divisino British Railwats' Southern region in March 1949 there was a shortage of engines available for motor-train services and so the salvaged equipment was fitted to 45 of the H Class between 1949 and 1961. The locomotives also found their way into the central section, the crews resisting replacement with the M7 class in 1955 because of their free steaming characteristics of the H Class.

Increasing electrification of the lines in Kent impacted on the H Class duties, their area of operation contracting to the area served by Three Bridges and Tunbridge Wells West, but by January 1964 the final three engines were withdrawn, having been replaced by DEMU stock.

One H class locomotive was purchased for preservation on the Bluebell Railway where it is currently (late 2016) in regular service.

Have a question about this product? Let us know