Hornby BR Merchant Navy Class “Nederland” 35014 Locomotive R3566

A NEW 00 gauge example especially developed by “Hornby Model Railways” as part of their SUPER DETAIL DCC series. This 4-6-2 BR Merchant Navy Class locomotive is named Nederland with running number 35014. A must have highly detailed example.

The SR Merchant Navy class (originally known as the 21C1 Class), is a class of air-smoothed 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotives designed for the Southern Railway by Oliver Bulleid. The Pacific design was chosen in preference to several others proposed by Bulleid.

The first members of the class were constructed during the Second World War, and the last of the 30 locomotives in 1949. Incorporating a number of new developments in technology, the design of the Merchant Navy class was among the first to use welding in the construction process

This enabled easier fabrication of components during the austerity of the war and post-war economies. Due to problems with some of the more novel features of Bulleid’s design, all members of the class were rebuilt by British Railways during the late 1950s.

The class members were named after the Merchant Navy shipping lines involved in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Merchant Navy class operated until the end of Southern steam in July 1967.