Bachmann 32-817SDDS Class 47 714 Anglia Railways DCC

Description

Bachmann 32-817SDDS Class 47 714 Anglia Railways DCC Digital Sound Regional Restricted Special Model

Model

The class 47714 is a detailed model with excellent Anglia Railways livery with directional LED Lighting, Cab lights and DCC Digital Sound.

Prototype

The British Rail Class 47 is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush’s Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British mainline diesel locomotive.

They were fitted with the Sulzer 12LDA28C twin-bank twelve-cylinder unit producing 2,750 bhp (2,050 kW) – though this was later derated to 2,580 bhp (1,920 kW) to improve reliability – and have been used on both passenger and freight trains on Britain’s railways for over 55 years. Despite the introduction of more modern types of traction, a significant number are still in use, both on the mainline and on heritage railways. As of January 2020, 78 locomotives still exist as Class 47s, with further examples having been converted to other classes; 34 retain “operational status” on the mainline.

Eventually, 310 locomotives were constructed by Brush in Loughborough, and the remaining 202 at BR’s Crewe Works. The first 500 locomotives were numbered sequentially from D1500 to D1999, with the remaining twelve being numbered from D1100 to D1111. The locomotives went to work on passenger and freight duties on all regions of British Rail. Large numbers went to replace steam locomotives, especially on express passenger duties.

The locomotives, bar a batch of 81 built for freight duties, were all fitted with steam heating boilers for train heat duties. The initial batch of twenty, plus D1960 and D1961, were also fitted with electric train heating (ETH). With this type of heating becoming standard, a further large number of locomotives were later fitted with this equipment.

In the mid-1960s, it was decided to de-rate the engine output of the fleet from 2,750 bhp (2,050 kW) to 2,580 bhp (1,920 kW), significantly improving reliability by reducing stresses on the power plant, whilst not causing a noticeable reduction in performance.