Production samples of the new British Railways 3MT arrive

The samples are currently under review by the design team and are available to pre-order now, costing £621.00 DCC Ready, £653.40 DCC Fitted and DCC Sound fitted models priced at £739.80.

Model Features

• Diecast metal body and chassis
• Diecast wheels that are tapered from the rim inwards on both sides as per the prototype, with steel tyres
• Brake shoes in ABS plastic
• 5 pole skew wound precision motor
• Sprung centre driving wheel and pony trucks
• Diecast pivoted coupling and connecting rods, plated then blackened
• Fully working prototypical Walschaerts valve gear
• Removeable cab roof (for adding a crew) by means of small magnets
• Working cab doors
• Wire handrails with stanchions in metal
• Sprung metal buffers and screw link couplings
• Full back head detail with reversing wheel in ABS
• Flickering firebox glow
• All-wheel pick-up (including wheels on both pony trucks)

The new model will be available in the following liveries, with unnumbered versions available in only limited quantities;

• LHT-S-8201 - British Railways 3MT Lined Black Late Crest 82010
• LHT-S-8201U - British Railways 3MT Lined Black Late Crest Unnumbered
• LHT-S-8202 - British Railways 3MT Lined Black Early Crest 82029
• LHT-S-8202U - British Railways 3MT Lined Black Early Crest Unnumbered
• LHT-S-8203 - British Railways 3MT Lined Black Late Crest 82027
• LHT-S-8204 - British Railways 3MT Lined Black Early Crest 82019
• LHT-S-8205 - British Railways 3MT Green Early Crest 82007
• LHT-S-8206 - British Railways 3MT Lined Green Early Crest 82003
• LHT-S-8207 - British Railways 3MT Green Late Crest 82020
• LHT-S-8208 - British Railways 3MT Lined Green Late Crest 82030
• LHT-S-8208U - British Railways 3MT Lined Green Late Crest Unnumbered

About the prototype

The BR Standard Class 3 2-6-2T was a class of steam locomotive designed by Robert Riddles for British Railways. It was essentially a hybrid design, the chassis being closely based on and sharing a number of parts with the LMS Ivatt Class 4, and having a boiler derived from a GWR No.2 boiler as fitted to the GWR Large Prairie 2-6-2T and 5600 Class 0-6-2T tank engines.

The design and construction took place at the ex-GWR Swindon Works, along with the 2-6-0 tender engine version of the class and a number of other BR Standard Classes, The chassis design used a number of LMS-designed components including Brake Hanger Brackets, Flexible Stretcher Brackets and Reversing Shaft Brackets.

In service, they were based on the Western, Southern, North Eastern and London Midland Region. The class had a short life as most of the work that they had been built for soon disappeared alongside the branch lines and the introduction of DMU services on shorter routes. The shortest-lived was 82043, only 8 years and 8 months old at withdrawal; the longest-lived was 82019, two months short of its fifteenth birthday. The class’s design life span, however, was intended for 40 years.

None of the locomotives survived into preservation. The 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust is in the process of constructing a new locomotive from the ground up, which is progressing well, and has been most helpful supplying photographs of these versatile engines to the team at Lionheart Trains.

Your weekly World of Railways newsletter

Are you subscribed to our weekly email newsletter? Don't miss the latest news, reviews, modelling advice and competitions.