Hornby R30321TXS RailRoad Plus BR Railfreight, Class 47, Co-Co, 47188 – Era 8 (Sound Fitted)

Built between 1962 and 1968, the Class 47 Co-Co Diesel-Electric locomotive was once the most numerous class of mainline diesel in Britain with 512 examples. 310 locomotives were constructed by Brush Traction in Loughborough, and the remaining 202 at Crewe. The locomotives were used for passenger and freight operations beginning in 1962 in the BR Green livery, before being repainted into the BR Blue colour scheme before further diversification saw them painted in all manner of liveries.

Strong performers, these locomotives were among some of the largest to be employed by British rail. The first five withdrawals were all due to accident damage with the first planned decommissioning taking place in February 1986. As withdrawals began, ostensibly due to a lack of parts the withdrawn engines in turn solved this issue, and therefore the Class 47 disappeared slowly once withdrawals began.

In 2023, 30 of the class remain operational on the national network with West Coast Railways being the largest operator, 17 are stored, 33 have been converted to the Class 57 and an additional 32 have been preserved. Starting out life in the respondent BR green as D1838, locomotive 47188 would gain its TOPS number in 1973. After BRs move away from rail blue the locomotive would be painted in BR Railfreight colours, the colours it would be scrapped in in 2005.

This Railroad model fitted with a 3 pole motor and simple gearing, proving to be a reliable runner on any layout. The 8 pin DCC sound decoder allows the model to be used on a digital layout and its railroad specification makes it ideal as a starter digital model.