Hornby R3370TTS King Richard 11 6021 King Class

Description

Hornby R3370TTS King Richard 11 6021 King Class DCC Fitted

In the mid-1920s, with train load sizes increasing to and from the South West, the Great Western Railway was faced with the need for even more powerful locomotives, something that could haul the heavy expresses at an average speed of 60 mph. The problem, however, was that the main routes were limited to a 20-ton axle weight, and to counter this, a number of the Great Western’s routes were upgraded to take an increase in axle weight, including the strengthening of some bridges.

Based on this the Great Western’s General Manager, Sir Felix Pole, gave his Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, permission to proceed with the design and construction of a “Super-Castle”, the result being the King class 4-6-0 design which emerged from Swindon works in June 1927.

Collett’s design increased the length and wheelbase over the Castle class, necessary to accommodate the new WA designated boiler, with both the driving wheels and bogie wheels being reduced in size from that of the Castles. With an increase in boiler working pressure to 250lb, a larger diameter cylinder, and a longer stroke, the Great Western promoted the new Kings as “the most powerful passenger locomotives in the country”. Certainly, at 29ft 5in and weighing 89 tons, the class probably represented the limit of the 4-6-0 design.

Locomotive 6021 King Richard II was built at Swindon in June 1928 and spent most of its life allocated to Old Oak Common, moving to Wolverhampton just 3 months before being withdrawn from service on September 7, 1962. Over the course of its lifetime, the locomotive covered 1,901,585 miles across the Western region5.

Hornby engineers have developed a unique sound decoder that not only provides superior DCC control but also dedicated sounds associated with the locomotives that have been installed with this new sound decoder – TTS Twin Track Sound.The TTS Sound Manual for this locomotive can be downloaded here

TTS Sound and Digital Function Definitions

1. Headlight/rearlight
2. Background steam/stem exhaust/coasting ON-OFF
3. Whistle medium
4. Whistle long
5. Whistle short 2 bursts
6. Wheel slip
7. Coal shovelling
8. Blowdown
9. Safety valve
10. Injector
11. Cylinder cock
12. Brake
13. Blower
14. Guard’s whistle
15. Coupler clank
16. Fireman’s breakfast
17. Toggle sound mode between ‘chuffing’ and ‘coasting’
18. Aux lighting if fitted on the locomotive

To see what leading model railway blogger InterCity82 has to say about the ‘King Richard II’ 6000 Class with TTS Sound watch the independent review below.

Independent review