Graham Farish 371-051D Class 04 D2289 BR Blue

Announced as part of our Winter 2021 British Railway Announcements, the BR Class 04 Diesel Shunter makes a welcome return to the Graham Farish range and includes DCC compatibility for the first time. This example is finished as No. D2289 in BR Blue livery.

For the first time, N scale modellers running DCC can quickly and easily add a diesel shunter to their fleet with the new Graham Farish Class 04. With a 6 Pin DCC Decoder socket, fitting a decoder is a breeze but be sure to opt for the Bachmann 6 Pin Micro Decoder (36-571) to ensure that your decoder will fit into the limited space available. Sat atop the new DCC-ready chassis is a highly detailed body shell incorporating many separate components including lamp brackets, horn and metal handrails. Completed by the exquisite livery application using authentic colours, logos and fonts, this is an attractive addition to any N scale collection.

 

MODEL FEATURES:

• Graham Farish N Scale
• Era 6
• Pristine BR Blue livery
• Running No. D2289
• NEM Coupling Pockets
• Length 54mm

 

CLASS 04 HISTORY

Supplied by the Drewry Car Company, the first Class 04 diesel-mechanical shunters were built in 1952 and construction continued until 1962, with a total of 142 outshopped over the ten year period. The construction was subcontracted by Drewry to two companies, Vulcan Foundry building the first whilst later examples were made by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns. Two locomotives of the same design were built for the Central Electricity Generating Board.

Featuring a Gardner engine and using a jackshaft drive arrangement, these shunters had a top speed of 27mph and tipped the scales at just over 30 Tons. Intended for shunting duties and distributed across the British Railways regions, the Class 04 design was used as the basis of the Class 03 on which construction began in 1957. With the changing face of the railways and reduced requirements for shunting locomotives, the Class 03 was selected as BR’s standard light shunting locomotive and so the withdrawal of the 04s began in 1967. The last example was withdrawn from BR service in 1972 but several were granted a second life in private and industrial use. Today, 21 examples survive in preservation, including one of the two locos built for the Central Electricity Generating Board.