Announced as part of the Summer 2023 British Railway Announcements and following the success of their OO scale counterparts, we are delighted to present our pair of Limited Edition London Transport Class 20s. Depicting No. 20142 ‘Sir John Betjeman’, why not combine this model with No. 20227 ‘Sherlock Holmes’ to create the perfect pair!
MODEL FEATURES:
- Graham Farish N Scale
- Era 9
- Pristine London Transport Maroon Livery
- Running No. 20142
- Named ‘Sir John Betjeman’
- Accessory Pack
- NEM Coupling Pockets
- Powerful 3 Pole Motor
- Directional Lighting
- Equipped with a 6 Pin DCC Decoder Socket – Recommend Decoder item No. 36-568A
- Length 97mm
CLASS 20 No. 20142 HISTORY
Type 1 No. D8142 was built by English Electric’s Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows as one of a Class of 228 Bo-Bo locomotives (later reclassified Class 20) constructed between 1957 and 1968. It was delivered to British Rail’s Birmingham Division (D02) on 21st May 1966 in BR green livery and found regular employment hauling coal trains, usually coupled nose-to-nose with a classmate owing to the type’s relatively low 1,000hp. Slow-speed working equipment was later fitted for operation of the MGR (merry-go-round) coal trains, which allowed the locomotive to run through a power station at constant low speed for unloading. D8142 was reallocated to the Line Power Controller, Derby (ML) in February 1968, and in June that year was transferred to the Nottingham Division (D16), seeing spells at both Toton and Tinsley.With the introduction of the TOPS numbering scheme the locomotive was renumbered to No. 20142, losing its green livery to BR’s corporate blue.
After periods in store and finally working under Trainload Freight Coal, No. 20142 was withdrawn in July 1993. It was subsequently acquired by the Llangollen Diesel Group and moved to its new home at the Llangollen Railway in October 1994. After a rapid overhaul it returned to service in 1995 having had BR green livery restored complete with small yellow warning panels. It saw regular use on the line, visiting other heritage lines and receiving full yellow ends and its TOPS number in 1999. It was sold to Michael Owen’s Class 20189 Ltd in 2008 and repainted into ‘Rail Blue’, but in September 2016 emerged in its current London Transport-inspired livery, complete with Metropolitan Railway crests and L142 headcodes. It was officially named ‘Sir John Betjeman’ after the former Poet Laureate at London Transport Museum’s Acton Depot open weekend that same month, and since then has been active on the main line and heritage lines.
