Description
Hornby R3097 BR Evening Star Class 9F 40th Anniversary Hornby DCC Ready
Hornby Evening Star Special Presentation – 40th Anniversary of Hornby Railways.
Construction
Evening Star was built at Swindon Works in 1960. Though the last to be built, it was not the last 9F numerically as Crewe Works had already completed engines with higher numbers. It was equipped with a BR1G-type tender and given BR Locomotive Green livery, normally reserved for passenger locomotives, and was completed with a copper-capped double chimney. All other members of the class of heavy freight locomotives were painted unlined black.
Naming
92220 was the only Class 9F to be named (and liveried in lined passenger express BR Locomotive Green) when running with BR, although other 9Fs have subsequently been named in preservation.
The name Evening Star was chosen following a competition run in 1959-60 by the BR Western Region Staff Magazine. There were three competition winners, Driver T.M. Phillips (Aberystwyth), Boilermaker J.S. Sathi (Old Oak Common), and F.L. Pugh (Paddington), who had all suggested Evening Star.
A special commemorative plate was affixed below the nameplate on the smoke deflectors. The commemorative plate reads:
March 1960
The last steam locomotive for British Railways
Named at Swindon on March 18, 1960, by
K.W.C. Grand, Esq
Member of the British Transport Commission
The wooden patterns for this commemorative plate and the engine’s name plate were both carved by pattern maker Fred Marsh.