4S-043-011 Dapol 00 GWR 43xx 2-6-0 Mogul 4377 GWR Shirtbutton

PROTOTYPE

In 1906 Churchward fitted a more powerful Standard No. 4 boiler to his successful 3100 Class 2-6-2T to create the GWR 3150 Class. The 3150’s proved themselves to be capable locomotives but their weight and water capacity meant that they were typically restricted to suburban passenger traffic. Churchward was looking forward to the replacement of various of his predecessor’s 4-4-0 and 0-6-0 goods engines.

In 1911 the draughtsman Harry Holcroft was instructed to incorporate as many standard parts as possible in the outside cylinder design including the No.4 boiler to produce a tender version of the 3150 class. No prototype was built as the design had in theory already proven itself. The new 2-6-0s were a success right from the start being powerful enough for heavy goods work and fast and steady enough to work heavy excursion and similar passenger trains.

These new locomotives were produced more or less continuously in a series of batches between 1911–1923. Two further lots were built in 1925 and 1932 by Churchward's successor, Charles Collett. The prototypes of the models that Dapol will be producing are from the following Lots. Production occurred prior to, during and after WW1. Lots 193, 194 and 198 were built at Swindon and delivered into service between June 1913 and May 1914 with WW1 impeding production.

These locomotives (and all subsequent examples) had their frames lengthened by 9 inches at the rear, making maintenance easier as well as giving the crews more room in the cab. Lots 202, 204, 208 and part of 209 up to 5383 in July 1920 complete this build before the motion bracket was changed forming the 63xx and 73xx classes. Eleven examples of the class were transported to France, in the service of the Railway Operating Division of the British Army (Numbers: 5319–5326 and 5328–5330).

One survives in preservation. Production continued after the war with Lots 209, 211-212, 216 and 230 being produced. The first three of these lots were for seventy locomotives built between June 1919 and July 1921 (Nos. 5370-99 and 6300-6341). Lot 216 was for a further 28 locomotives (6342–6369) but Swindon works was then unable to keep pace with the demand for them and only the first twenty were completed after delay, between March and December 1923. The remainder (6362-9 and 7320/1) were later built under lot 230 in 1925.

Number 6320 was converted to oil firing between 1947 and the equipment was removed in 1949. The 43xx “Moguls” were engaged in many different duties on the GWR network and later the Western Region of British Railways. Employing a Standard number 4 boiler and the support struts similar to those fitted to the '2800' class, the class very quickly earned an excellent reputation in its ability to handle most types of traffic, from local stopping goods to main line expresses. According to O.S. Nock they "could handle the heavy goods work as well as the 'Aberdares' and could run up to 70 mph with passenger trains, in other words they were the ideal mixed traffic locomotive.

Although the class continued to be very useful and the final batch were still relatively new, 100 of the earlier examples were withdrawn between 1936 and 1939 and the wheels and motion of eighty were used for the Grange Class and twenty for Manor Class engines. It was intended to replace the whole class in this way but the advent of the Second World War in 1939 brought a temporary halt to withdrawals and the programme was never revived. Further withdrawals resumed in 1948 under British Railways ownership, but the last six examples survived until 1964. Joined Up Thinking The tooling package for the original batch of Moguls was from its very inception designed to allow Dapol to produce the other versions of the prototype.

MODEL

The model incorporates many of the features and benefits from the first batch of OO Gauge Moguls. As well as Dapol’s, customary, excellent aesthetics the model will feature Dapol’s award winning slide out PCB and the tried and tested easy connect, wire free, tender to locomotive electrical draw bar. The inclusion these two features makes converting your model to DCC or DCC and sound very easy indeed. Continual Improvement In line with Dapol’s philosophy of continual improvement and in conjunction with listening to customer feedback, potential areas of improvement were identified with the original Mogul.

Dapol have addressed these opportunities in the new OO Gauge Manor tooling and they will also be incorporated into future production runs of the Mogul 2-6-0 and in the soon to be released Prairie 2-6-2. Some of the improvements we are making are listed below:

NEW FEATURES

• Dapol has adjusted the gearing to a 30-1 ratio, this will provide excellent slow speed running as well as an accurate top speed.
• Improved slide bars and cross head There have also been improvements made to the firebox glow to better showcase this feature of the model.

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

Many original GA drawings were used in the development of these accurate and authentic models. The locomotive will have all of the usual refinements that are expected to be found on all Dapol models.

• A die-cast compensated chassis
• New cab with higher and shorter roof
• Porthole cab windows above the firebox where appropriate
• Detailed cab interior with lever reverse
• Full profile cylinder no cut away
• New motion bracket and boiler support
• New straight Chimney where appropriate
• Original front Pony spring housing where appropriate
• New footplate with longer middle splasher on the right hand side
• Brass plated safety valve casing
• The front Bogie is also sprung and operates on a cam so the model will negotiate R2 curves with ease
• Smooth sided tender where appropriate
• Churchward tapered and Collet straight shank buffers and main footplate with prototypical overhang

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• A slide in PCB offers simple ‘tool-free’ installation of a NEXT-18 DCC decoder and a ’no-solder’ speaker connection. This board slides through the smoke box door and connects directly to the locomotive mother board.
• The tender to locomotive drawbar includes reliable electrical connections moulded within the close-coupling push-fit coupling. This eliminates wired plugs and unreliable wiper style connections.
• A total of 12 wheels split between the locomotive and tender have electrical pick-up, this is enhanced by the sprung centre driving wheel.
• A sugar cube is mountable on the slide out PCB board and a Base Reflex speaker can be housed in the tender. An audio frequency filter is integrated within the main locomotive PCB to ensure each speaker responds within it’s ideal frequency range.
• Improved firebox glow
• Dapol’s proven slow speed mechanism and high torque five pole skew wound motor Progress Dapol's design team are making final revisions of the CAD’s and the project will to go into the tooling shop shortly. We will bring you more news as the model progresses.