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Announced as part of the Summer 2023 British Railway Announcements and following the success of their OO scale counterparts, we are delighted to present our pair of Limited Edition London Transport Class 20s. Depicting No. 20227 ‘Sherlock Holmes’, why not combine this model with No. 20142 ‘Sir John Betjeman’ to create the perfect pair!
MODEL FEATURES:
- Graham Farish N Scale
- Era 9
- Pristine London Transport Maroon Livery
- Running No. 20227
- Named ‘Sherlock Holmes’
- Accessory Pack
- NEM Coupling Pockets
- Powerful 3 Pole Motor
- Directional Lighting
- Equipped with a 6 Pin DCC Decoder Socket – Recommend Decoder item No. 36-568A
- Length 97mm
CLASS 20 No. 20227 HISTORY
Type 1 No. D8327 was the final example of 228 Bo-Bo locomotives (later reclassified Class 20) constructed by English Electric’s Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows between 1957 and 1968. It was delivered to British Rail’s Polmadie Depot (66A) on 7th February 1968 in BR blue livery, and went on to spend much of its early career in Scotland working coal and other freight, usually coupled nose-to-nose with a classmate owing to the type’s relatively low 1,000hp. It was one of the Class fitted with slow-speed working equipment for operation of the MGR (merry-go-round) coal trains from new, which allowed the locomotive to run through a power station at constant low speed for unloading. D8327 was reallocated to Edinburgh’s Haymarket Depot on 1st March 1969, and, with the introduction of the TOPS numbering scheme, the locomotive was renumbered to No. 20227 in January 1974.
The locomotive was one of a handful to receive BR Railfreight Grey livery during the mid-1980s, before being reallocated to Eastfield (ED) in May 1988. It came south after privatisation and, after acquisition by the Class 20 Locomotive Society, began a long association with London Transport/Transport for London. Consequently, it was painted into Metropolitan Railway maroon in 2000 and named ‘Sir John Betjeman’ (not to be confused with No. 20142), spending time on hire to Transport for London primarily for use on contracts moving ‘S Stock’ trains to and from Bombardier’s Derby Works. In 2013 the locomotive was repainted into London Underground ‘LT150’ Red and White for the ‘Steam on the Met’ services in March 2013, but in 2017 No. 20227 received its current London Transport Lined Maroon livery complete with London Transport roundels with the number 8 below, plus domino headcodes. With its former name now carried by No. 20142, the locomotive was named ‘Sherlock Holmes’ after the famous fictional private detective, receiving ‘221B’ shed plates at the same time – a nod to Sherlock Holmes’ famous Baker Street address.
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