BR, Class 71, Bo-Bo, '71012' BR Blue - Era 7
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Product Information
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Description
For more information on the Class 71, please see our Engine Shed article.
The early 1950s were a time of great plans and modern ideas, not least where the railways were concerned, but still recovering from the financial effects of the Second World War, many of these plans had to be implemented in a measured way. Electric traction was seen by the newly nationalised British Rail to be the answer and so attention was focused on new routes in the Southern Region, where third rail electrification had been in place since 1923. Much of BR’s Southern Region passenger traffic could be accommodated by the use of EMUs, but to cover the motive power requirement for 900 ton freight services, as well as the "Night Ferry" and "Golden Arrow" workings, a new electric locomotive was required.
The design specification was based on the experience gained in the previous fifteen years, through the operation of Bulleid’s CC1 & CC2, Class 70 locomotives. By adopting the continental practice of reducing the weight, without sacrificing tractive effort, a smaller engine could be built, resulting in a 750v DC, 77 ton, Bo-Bo locomotive, 24 of which were built by BR’s Doncaster works between 1958 and 1960. Numbered E5000 – E5023 as built (E5000 was subsequently renumbered to E5024 in December 1962), the type was classified by BR Southern Region as HA. To enable operation under the simple catenary wires erected in a number of Kentish yards at that time, a single pantograph was fitted centrally on the roof and a booster system was also fitted, avoiding the problem of ‘gapping’ across short breaks in the conductor rail.
Ten of the class were converted to Class 74 engines in 1967/68, at a time when passenger duties for the Class 71s were being reduced and despite being moved onto extra freight workings, the type was under-utilised. In 1977, it was decided that the Class 33 and 73 Electro-diesels could take over the Class 71’s duties and they were withdrawn from service.
Locomotive 71012 entered service as E5012 on October 27,1959 and from August 22, 1966 was allocated to Shed 73F, Ashford Chart Leacon for duties. Moved to storage from September 1976, 71012 was finally withdrawn from service on November 26, 1977 and sent to Cashmore’s in Newport where it was cut up on August 31, 1978.

Hornby
Hornby is a household name and is famous as the UK's brand leader in the model railway hobby with its high quality 00 gauge (1:76) models and accessories.
Colour and contents of products may vary from those illustrated
A familiar sight in Dover, at the head of the Golden Arrow, Night Ferry, or Train Ferry workings, there’s plenty of scope for some interesting layout opportunities based around the Kent Coast workings.
I’m particularly looking forward to seeing some micro-layouts based around Dover’s Shakespeare Beach…
Technical Specification & Detail
Gauge | 00 |
Length | 203mm |
DCC Type | DCC Ready |
Operator/Livery | BR, BR Rail Blue |
Class | 71 |
Detail | Double Flywheel Dual Bogie Drive |
Motor | 5 Pole Skew Wound |
Special Features
- NEM Couplings
Customer Reviews
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Review Guidelines
To write a great review:
- Focus on the item itself. Why do you like it or dislike it?
- Avoid mentioning any personal information (email address, telephone numbers) and time-sensitive material.
- Just be honest! You're an expert on this item. Share your experience with others. We will never reject a review just because it's negative.
We will reject reviews that contain:
- Customer service issues. Please contact Customer Services instead if you have experienced a specific issue that needs to be addressed.
- Any mention of competitors.
- General issues or discussion. Your review is on this specific item and what you think of it, it's not a place for debate and discussion on wider subject matters.
- Clear signs that you don't own the item.
- Profanities, distasteful language, promotional material and/or external links. This applies to nicknames too.
What happens next?
- We'll check your review and approve it as soon as possible. Should it not be possible for us to approve your review for the website, it'll appear (with a message from our team) in your Account area.
- Other visitors can leave replies to your review and mark if they felt it was helpful.
Write a review
Average rating based on 2 reviews
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Sign in or registerShort and Sweet.
Review like the engine. Short and Sweet. No negatives here. Amazing looking, amazing runner. Buy 2, I did.
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Excellent loco
I am really impressed by the finish on this loco, and also the running qualities. it could easily cope with a train consisting of twelve mk one coaches. Only one fault is that the facing edges of the pantograph head are square which kept catching on the joining clips on my catenery, so I had to file the leading edges to a more smoother round shape. After I had done this it looked an impressive sight with the panto raised pulling the mk ones. Well done Hornby looking forward to the 87.
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