Unassuming and revered – the English Electric Class 20s
IN the early summer of 1957, while spotting beside the West Coast Main Line just south of Winwick Junction in Lancashire, I was puzzled to see a small locomotive, gleaming in a new coat of BR green with a bright red buffer beam and white marker discs on its front end, approaching from the direction of Vulcan Foundry.
The driving cab was in the ‘correct' position at the back, but I could see no chimney. As it drew closer I realised it was some kind of diesel locomotive, and as it went by I made a note of its small cab side number, D8000. At a time when steam still ruled supreme, I'd witnessed the very first 1000hp English Electric Type 1 Bo-Bo diesel-electric! Today, that locomotive forms part of the National Collection.
Interest
Little could I have imagined then that, well over 60 years later, the remaining members of a class that eventually numbered 228 would still be revered by enthusiasts from all over the country who had long-since nicknamed them ‘Choppers'.
The unassuming diesel-electrics proved amazingly long-lived, and those which still survive in main line use or at heritage railways remain popular with diesel traction followers and railway modellers alike. The much-improved latest releases from Bachmann have come at an opportune time.
Originally announced a few years ago now, the OO-scale Class 20/3 models will be arriving in the shops between now and April, and will be followed soon afterwards by the Class 20/0s, with each sub-class offered in three distinct guises. The models have a recommended RRP of £179.95 DCC ready, or £279.95 sound-fitted.
The Class 20/3s are offered as No. 20306 in DRS blue (35-125 or 35125SF sound- fitted), 20 311 in Harry Needle Railroad Company orange (35-126 or 35-126SF sound-fitted) and 20 312 in original DRS Compass livery (35-127 or 35-127SF soundfitted).
The Class 20/0s will come as No. D8015 in late-crest BR green with disc headcode (35-351 or 35-351SF sound-fitted), 20 057 in BR blue with disc headcode (35 355 or 35355SF sound-fitted) and 20 227 in BR Railfreight red-stripe livery and headcode box (35-357 or 35-357SF sound-fitted).
All these models have been produced from brand new tooling to represent the external shape of the locomotives more accurately, but during the various eras of their operation many detailed variations arose, which might give some idea of the research that has to be undertaken by model locomotive manufacturers these days.
Variety
The Class 20/3 models have fewer variations because of the small number that were so converted, but as for the Class 20/0s, the variations included disc or box headcodes; oval or round buffers; with or without nose-end ladder; twopiece or single right-hand-side handrail (single handrails were sometimes fitted once the ladders had been removed); English or Scottish buffer beams; divided or single-piece radiator shutters; with or without inspection light socket on solebar; four types of bogie equalising beam (plain, fluted-early, fluted-late or drilled); mechanical or electronic bogie speedometer; two or four sand boxes; original battery box or battery box with clips; and with or without cab-mounted high-intensity headlight.
Several other variants are not seen on these initial model releases, but are also catered for in the tooling.
All of the new Class 20 models feature a five-pole, twin-shaft motor, working head and tail lights (with day/night mode option on the Class 20/3s) and cab lights, and lighting can be controlled via chassis-mounted switches or via DCC. They also come with a Plux22 DCC decoder socket, pre-fitted speaker, sprung buffers and NEM coupling pockets.