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Rapido 966001 SECR O1 No.65 Wainright Green (As Preserved)

£179.99

Rapido 966001 SECR O1 No.65 Wainright Green (As Preserved)

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Starting life before the SECR even existed, and designed by James Stirling, the O Class was conceived as an all-purpose freight locomotive to work across the entire South Eastern Railway.

Between 1878 and 1899 122 O Class locos were built. Following the first group of 20 that were built by Sharp, Stewart and Co., several more batches were completed, both by them and by the South Eastern Railways’ own Ashford Works. The final five locos were built in 1899 under the South Eastern and Chatham Railway name, as the SER and LCDR had put aside their differences and sensibly merged into a single entity.

Outperforming its predecessors, the O lived up to its expectations, but with the amalgamation of the two railways, new skills and resources became available. As such, 59 of these locos were rebuilt, given larger boilers, and reclassified as the Class O1.

Working alongside similar-sized locomotives, it became apparent that locos such as the new C class could outperform the Class O1 and O locos on freight duties. Though they remained spread across the county for many years, they were relegated to more modest branchline, shunting or light duties.

Many of the class survived both global conflicts, the ‘Big 4’ era and soldiered on until the last days of British mainline steam, working branch lines such as the Kent and East Sussex Railway and East Kent Railway. With the sun setting on the O1s future, BR Class member No. 31065 earned one final claim to fame by leading the ‘Farewell to Steam’ railtour on the Hawkhurst Branch. The last of the class was sadly withdrawn from service in 1962.

Thankfully No. 31065 would live on. Esmond Lewis-Evans spotted it on a visit to Ashford, where it was being used to train apprentices. He saved it from the scrap heap, and it spent several years at the Ashford Steam Centre. When the museum failed to pay its rent, No.65 was dismantled and secretly dispersed in its component pieces across the Southeast, this determined display of preservation cunningly prevented British Rail from claiming it for repossession. It wasn’t until 1996 that its parts were moved to the Bluebell Railway, where it can still be seen today, and it was rebuilt for the centenary year of the SECR.

With its gorgeous fully lined livery, open cab, exposed tender springs, and highly polished brass dome and fittings, No. 65 remains one of the most elegant freight locomotives to survive into preservation.

Specifications:

  • No.65
  • SECR Wainright green (as preserved)
  • Tapered buffers
  • Standard bufferbeams
  • Steam heating pipes (in detail bag)
  • Tender toolbox
  • Smokebox lubricators
  • Tender water gauge
  • Can motor and flywheel
  • Next18 decoder socket in tender
  • Plunger loco pickups
  • Tender wheel bearing pickups
  • Firebox glow
  • Twin speakers in tender
  • NEM pockets front and rear
  • Cosmetic scale coupling
  • Route indicator discs in detail bag

Coming 2025 / 2026

Out of stock

Item Code: RPD966001 Category:

Additional information

Brand

Gauge

Loco Class

Entered Service

1878

Number Built

87

Purpose

Livery

Detail

Cab, Exterior, Flickering Firebox

DCC Ready

,

Era

,