Since the early-1940s the War Department Austerity Saddle Tank has been a common sight on Britain’s railways – playing a vital role in the Allied victory of World War Two before becoming a mainstay of industrial operations and, more recently, heritage railways. Unveiled as part of the EFE Rail range, the WD Austerity Saddle Tank is a fitting subject as the brand’s first N scale steam locomotive.
This all-new model is a high-fidelity miniature recreation of the prototype, sporting details such as metal handrails, sand boxes and pipes, brake hangers and separately fitted brake rigging, and a decorated cab backhead. Daylight is visible beneath the boiler, just as it should be, below which a representation of the inside motion has been moulded onto the chassis. The model is powered by a coreless motor, with electrical pickup from all wheels whilst each axle runs in a pair of separate metal bearings. DCC provision is by way of a 6 pin decoder socket located in the cab, however due to the limited space available a very small decoder such as the Bachmann 6 Pin Micro decoder (36-571) is required for this model.
No. 7 ‘Robert’ was delivered to the War Department in 1943 and was sold to the National Coal Board in 1950. Named ‘Robert’ whilst at Bold Colliery in 1978, ahead of the Rocket 150 Celebrations at Rainhill, the locomotive attended the event resplendent in lined green livery as depicted by this EFE Rail model.
MODEL FEATURES:
- EFE Rail N Scale
- Era 7
- Locomotive is now Preserved
- Pristine National Coal Board Lined Green livery
- Running No. 7
- Named ‘Robert’
- Accessory Pack
- NEM Coupling Pockets
- Powerful Coreless Motor
- Equipped with a 6 Pin (Micro) DCC Decoder Socket – recommended Decoder item No. 36-571
- Length 63mm
