Hornby: BR 4–4–2T Adams Radial 415 Class – Late BR
In 1882, to meet with the ever increasing London suburban traffic on the London South Western Railway, William Adams, the Locomotive Superintendent, ordered 71 new Class 415 4–4–2T engines.
Developed from the earlier, rebuilt LSWR 46 class, the Class 415 locomotives differed by having larger diameter radial wheels, spoked bogie wheels and shorter side tanks, the main body of water being carried in a well tank beneath the bunker. The locomotives were all constructed away from the LSWR workshops at Nine Elms, which were at full capacity, being built by R. Stephenson, Neilson & Co, Beyer Peacock and Dübs & Co between 1882 and 1885.
All the locomotives of the class were constructed to the same basic design, though those leaving the works after 1884 had slightly larger side water tanks and deeper fireboxes to increase efficiency. Upon Dugald Drummond’s appointment as Superintendent of the LSWR in 1885, the class was modified slightly, with the trademark Adams stove pipe chimney being replaced by a lipped version. This also coincided with the addition of coal rails to the bunker in an attempt to increase coal capacity and a later fitting of double slide bars and crossheads in place of the original, single bars.
Specifics:
- Length: 155mm
- DCC Type: DCC Ready
- Livery: Late BR
- Designer: William Adams
- Entered Service: 1885
- Detail: Diecast Chassis & Boiler
- Motor: 5 Pole Skew Wound
- Purpose: Mixed Traffic
- Wheel Configuration: 4–4–2T
- Special Features: Removable coal load, Sprung Buffers
Hornby is a household name and is famous as the UK brand leader in the model railway hobby. The company’s founder was Frank Hornby (1863 – 1936) who applied for a patent in 1901 to protect an invention he called ‘Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People’. Nobody then could have imagined how this product would influence the model railway hobby that we know today.
