Prototype and model
As the outline history of the class has already been covered in MR280, I will concentrate on giving a brief summary of each of the locomotives represented in the 22 versions available. Information is taken from The Pannier Papers by Kevin Pile. Numberplates are printed flush on the cab sides so that renumbering with etched plates is straightforward. For simplicity’s sake I will list the locomotives in BR number order, with the Model Rail reference number after.
1600 (MR-309A)
No. 1600 was allocated new to Barry and remained there throughout its career until withdrawal in March 1959. One of two ‘16XXS’ sold out of service to the National Coal Board, it worked at Risca colliery, Newport. The model carries NCB light green livery based on that carried by No. 7754, but it is likely that the livery is fictitious. Shedcode: Blank
1604 (MR-303)
No. 1604 went new to storage for a couple of months in late 1949 before being allocated to Oswestry where it seems to have spent its entire career of just 10 years, being withdrawn at Swindon Works in July 1960. The model is black with early BR emblem and comes factory-weathered. Shedcode: 89B Oswestry
1607 (MR-309B)
Like No. 1600, No. 1607 was sold out of service to the National Coal Board. The model carries NCB light green livery based on that carried by No. 7754, but it is likely that the livery is fictitious. Shedcode: Blank
1609 (MR-301A)
Apart from a spell at Stourbridge between February and November 1953, No. 1609 was allocated to Llanelly throughout its career. The model is black with the early BR emblem. Shedcode: Blank
1616 (MR-307A)
Allocated new to Lydney in December 1949, No. 1616 would have worked the freight by-ways of the Forest of Dean and in the Gloucester area until its withdrawal in October 1959. The model has the ‘Busby’ spark-arrestor chimney and is black with the early BR emblem. Shedcode: 85B Gloucester Horton Road, Lydney.
1623 (MR-301B)
No. 1623 was at Lydney and Gloucester before transfer to Llanelly in April 1963. It had works visits to Gloucester, Newton Abbot, Wolverhampton, Barry and Caerphilly and was withdrawn in May 1965. It is modelled with the conventional chimney, in pristine black with the early BR emblem. Shedcode: 85B Gloucester
1624 (MR-301C)
New to Croes Newydd in July 1950,
No. 1624 was well travelled in its early years, moving to Stourbridge in June 1951, Machynlleth in July 1951, Plymouth Laira in July 1953 and finally to St Blazey in October 1953, where it remained until withdrawn in February 1962. It is modelled in pristine BR black with the early emblem. Shedcode: 87C Danygraig
1627 (MR-305A)
New to Lydney in August 1950, a year later No. 1627 went to St Blazey on loan.
It is not clear how long it stayed in Cornwall before returning to Lydney, but in August 1962 it was officially transferred to Oxford, where it was condemned in June 1964. It is modelled in BR black with the late emblem and is factory-weathered. Shedcode: 81F Oxford
1628 (MR-305B)
No. 1628 was very much a Welsh ‘16XX’ and seems to have only left the principality once, for a works visit to Wolverhampton in August 1962. It began in September 1950 at Whitland, went to Llanelly in July 1953, and to Oswestry in July 1959 where it was stored for a couple of months. In October 1959 it was transferred to Croes Newydd. It was apparently hired out in 1964 and returned in November that year. It was withdrawn in September 1966 as the last of its class in BR service. The model is black with a late BR emblem and factory-weathering. Shedcode: 6C Croes Newydd
1629 (MR-307B)
Swindon delivered the ‘16XXS’ at the rate of roughly one a month. No. 1629 was new to Cardiff Cathays shed in October 1950 and went to Merthyr a month later. It returned in December 1950 but in September 1953 was transferred to Worcester. There it acquired the spark arrestor chimney, which enabled it to safely work the branch to the armaments depot at Ditton Priors. It lasted in that job until June 1960. The model has the ‘Busby’ spark arrestor chimney and is in pristine black with the early BR emblem. Shedcode: 85A Worcester
1636 (MR-304A)
Delivered to Oswestry in March 1951, there are question marks regarding the later allocation of No. 1636. It moved to Machynlleth in February 1954 and to Oswestry in August 1959. It was reported as transferred to Didcot in June 1962 but appears to have actually gone to Slough and certainly carried a Slough (81B) shedplate. It is modelled in pristine black with the later BR emblem. Shedcode: 81B Slough (see photo left)
1638 (MR-306)
New in April 1951 to Llanelly, in August 1962 to Oswestry and then in January 1965 to Croes Newydd, No. 1638 was the only member of the class to be preserved, initially at Buckfastleigh and subsequently at the Kent & East Sussex Railway where it still operates. MR-306 depicts No. 1638 in GWR green with the letters GWR on the tank sides, with copper-capped chimney and brass safety valve bonnet as it has appeared in preservation. This livery will suit Great Western modellers who might wish to turn a blind eye to the post-nationalisation introduction of the class as well as those with preservation-era layouts. Shedcode: 74A
1638 (MR-310A)
Another preservation-era livery carried by No. 1638 has been BR green with the early BR emblem, as depicted by MR-310A. Shedcode: 83A Newton Abbot
1638 (MR-310B)
As befits its celebrity status, MR-310B depicts No. 1638 in its early preservation condition when its owners applied their own livery, BR green with ‘DART VALLEY’ on the tank sides. Shedcode: Blank
1646 (MR-302A)
No. 1646 had a short career in Wales, going new to Swansea East Dock in May 1951. It moved to Croes Newydd in February 1953. In June 1956 it was transferred to the Scottish Region, to Helmsdale, in order to work the branch line from The Mound to Dornoch, as the ‘16XX’ was the only available class with a light enough axle-loading to work the former Dornoch Light Railway. After the branch closed it worked from Inverness for a while, having had its GWR lamp irons replaced by the BR pattern. No. 1646 is modelled in pristine BR black livery with the early emblem. Shedcode: 60C Helmsdale, Dornoch
1649 (MR-302B)
In June 1951 No. 1649 went new to Bristol St. Philips Marsh. It was taken out of WR stock in July 1958 and went, like No. 1646, to Helmsdale on the Scottish Region for working the Dornoch branch, which closed in 1960. Afterwards it was fitted with Br-pattern lamp irons and worked some local duties around Inverness. It was withdrawn from Perth in 1963. The model is in BR black with early emblem and factory weathered. Shedcode: 60C Helmsdale, Dornoch (see above)
1655 (MR-304B)
Another all-time Welsh ‘16XX’, No. 1655 was at Burry Port from January 1955 and Llanelly from January 1961. It was withdrawn in July 1965. Our model is in pristine BR black with the late emblem. Shedcode: 87F Llanelly
1657 (MR-301D)
No. 1657 was new in January 1955 to Hereford. With a short career of just nine years it was condemned in November
Above: Branch line railtours in the 1950s/60s required a versatile locomotive suited to the lightest of lines on the itinerary, hence the use of No. 1658 on a Gloucestershire Railway Society outing that included the Malmesbury branch, here seen at Dauntsey. DON LOVELOCK 1964, still allocated to Hereford. The model is in pristine BR black with the early emblem. Shedcode: 85C Hereford
1658 (MR-301F)
Allocated to Swindon throughout its career from new in February 1955 until November 1964, No. 1658 would doubtless have made frequent appearances on the Highworth branch workmen’s trains and on the Tetbury branch freights, both of which required lightweight motive power. The model is in pristine BR black with the early emblem. Shedcode: 82C Swindon (see left)
1661 (MR-308)
A regular in the West Midlands,
No. 1661 was new to Kidderminster in March 1955 and went to Worcester shed from November 1957. There it became the final wearer of the ‘Busby’ spark arrestor chimney for working the Cleobury Mortimer & Ditton Priors Light Railway. However, with operations on that line being infrequent, it was better known for activity on the ‘Vinegar branch’ to the Hill Evans vinegar works. Towards the end of its career it received the chalked nickname ‘Vinegar Castle’ at the time that Worcester shed had the last significant allocation of ‘Castle’ class 4‑6‑0s.
Model Rail’s No. 1661 is depicted with the ‘Busby’ spark arrestor, in weathered BR black with the early crest and carrying the full complement of chalked ‘Vinegar Castle’ names. Shedcode: 85A, Worcester
1664 (MR-301E)
New to St Blazey in March 1955, No. 1664 worked in Cornwall until its transfer to
Swindon in December 1961. It was a familiar sight on the Tetbury branch freight service working the last freight and extracting the empty wagons on August 4 1963. It also worked the final end‑of‑term school train for Westonbirt Girls School on April 2 1964, formed of a Collett full brake and two LMS Stanier coaches. The branch closed completely just two days later but No. 1664 lasted a little longer, until November 1964. The model is presented in pristine BR black with the early emblem. Shedcode: 83E St Blazey (see above)
Freight on the Tetbury branch had already ended when my brother caught No. 1664 on the Up line at Kemble with the ‘toad’ brake van for the Cirencester goods. R.J. LEIGH/CJL COLLECTION
1668 (MR-301G)
Another ‘16XX’ that didn’t quite make 10 years in service, No. 1668 went new to Taunton in May 1955. Showing how much the work for these locomotives had dwindled, it was placed in store for a month in July 1960 before transferring to Oswestry, where it lasted until January 1965. The model carries pristine BR black with the early emblem. Shedcode: 83B Taunton (see below)