Product Description

Rapido 954001 County Class 1001 Great Western Lined Green

Ring or Email to Pre-Order

Rapido Trains UK is proud to announce its first large Great Western Railway locomotive in OO Gauge; the conspicuous GWR County 4-6-0.

Between 1945 and 1947, the GWR built 30 County Class locos at Swindon Works. They were later named after English or Welsh Counties, omitting the Shire part of their name as traditionally Shire and County mean the same thing. Emblazoned on a long straight nameplate, even this distinctive feature was considered non-standard, as traditionally the GWR used a curved plate fixed to the outside of the splasher.

The County received a mixed reception from enthusiasts. Some loved the design, seeing it as a swansong of the Saint design and the GWR overall, whereas others thought of them as expensive and entirely non-standard.

Working as a true mixed-traffic loco the County’s mainline duties included express trains such as the Cornishman and the Cheltenham Spa Express, as well as milk and fast freight work.

Achieving a top speed of 99 mph on test, the County sadly underperformed. This wasn’t helped by the poor quality of coal that was available at the time. Though the GWR denied reports of rough riding, there are tales of locomotive crews being cautious about taking Counties over 70mph due to the rough ride. In the beginning, their claimed high performance caused them to be rostered for ‘Castle’ duties, which they struggled to maintain.

Working under such high pressure caused problems for the Counties, and under BR ownership in the mid-to-late 1950s, the working pressure was lowered. BR also used this as an opportunity to improve the loco’s draughting, fitting them with a double chimney. With the boiler now topped off at 250 PSI its overall tractive effort also dwindled.

Although all 30 of the Counties were inherited by BR, the entire class were withdrawn between 1962 and ’64 in line with the rundown of steam on the Western Region and the rise of diesel-hydraulics.

Specifications:-

• Single Chimney
• Parallel Buffers
• Suitable for operation on 2nd Radius curves (438mm or greater)
• Working dynamic firebox flicker
• 21-pin DCC decoder socket
• MoPower stay-alive capacitors
• 2 factory-fitted speakers in all models
• Sprung buffers
• Museum quality paint finish
• Smooth & powerful mechanism
• Highly detailed
• NEM coupler pockets