The magnificent and powerful Britannia's were the first of the
standard class locomotives to enter service for British Railways following nationalisation in 1948. The epitome of the fast passenger express, the class were rugged designs reflecting a post-war austerity - but with a pedigree that could be traced back to the LMS Duchess's of the late 1930s.
The names assigned to the class reflected a real sense of national pride and the locomotives were held in high esteem - the first being named 'Britannia' followed by a number of locomotives named after famous literary figures. No. 70004 'William Shakespeare' was one of only two of the class ever stationed for any length of time on the Southern Region, being attached to Stewarts Lane shed and allocated to the highly prestigious 'Golden Arrow' heavy boat trains. This distinguished locomotive was often considered to have been the best of the class.
We are proud to introduce our special edition model of 'William Shakespeare' to celebrate the passing of 50 years from her entry into mainline service. What better way of commemorating this golden anniversary than to present the locomotive as she would have appeared at the head of the legendary 'Golden Arrow' - complete with a gold plated headboard!
Constructing a model locomotive is a deeply satisfying experience and whether you are an experienced model engineer or new to the hobby, we are sure you will derive great pleasure in building and driving 'William Shakespeare'.
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Complete
in Every Detail...
Your kit comes with every component necessary to complete and run a finished locomotive. Everything is designed for straightforward bolt-together assembly with no machining required. The locomotive frames are precision cut and the platework is pre-formed, leaving only some hand finishing to produce a model in which you can take real pride. The copper boiler comes fully constructed, silver soldered throughout and super-heated; hydraulically tested to twice working pressure.
Faster Results and Affordable Too . . .
You may have dreamed of building your own live steam locomotive for years and lacked confidence in your technical skills, or did not have the time to bring a scratchbuilt project to completion. Experienced model engineers will appreciate the advantages of our 'William Shakespeare' kit which is designed for construction in under 200 hours - less than one-tenth of the time involved with a traditional build - and with success guaranteed. Components are paid for and despatched monthly so you can build as you buy - sensibly spreading the cost and workload.
The following pages provide comprehensive detail on kit composition and information on our affordable instalment terms.
There is no further production of our 'Britannia' Class locomotive planned until 2002 at the earliest. If you would like to own this fine locomotive don't hesitate a moment longer as availability is strictly limited to a single batch this year . . .
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