Although designed by the Great Western Railway, the ‘15XXs’ were built by British Railways. They were a major departure from the GWR’s tried and tested pannier tank formula. The ‘15XX’ featured a very short wheelbase for negotiating tight curves and, with outside cylinders and Walschaerts valve gear, the bottom end design was said to
have been inspired by the USATC ‘S100’ 0-6-0T (Southern ‘USA’).
This Rapido Trains model fills a big gap in the ranks of ‘OO’ gauge GWR models with the Hawksworth ‘15XX’ pannier tank.
About the prototype:
Built: 1949 (Ten built)
The ‘15XX’ fleet was withdrawn by BR between 1959 and 1963. Three were used by the NCB until 1969. The majority were based at Old Oak Common shed for moving coaches to and from Paddington station. Others worked in South Wales.
Where can I see one? No. 1501 is based at the Severn Valley Railway.
Model Specification:
• Designed from original works drawings and a wealth of photographic material
• Die-cast construction
• Quality mechanism
• Next18 decoder socket
• NEM coupler pockets
• Sprung buffers
• Key detail changes between individual locomotives