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Hornby Class 31

Built in 1957 as part of the Pilot Scheme, construction was spread over a number years until 1962. Originally known as Class 30, they became Class 31 when their Mirrlees engines were replaced with English Electric engines from 1964. The first twenty locomotives did not have the roof mounted head code box, but a small horn cover instead as well as head code discs. Another difference was that they had an electro-magnetic multiple working control system indictaed by the red circle coupling code. The production locomotives had a roof mounted head code panel and used the electro-pneumatic multiple working control indicated by a blue star coupling code. In all 263 were built. The class had all been withdrawn by 2017 but some 26 are preserved.

My model of a Class 31 is the newer Hornby tooling introduced in 2005 in original green livery with small yellow warning panels. It is a fairly decent model, but does have some issues, especially around the cab area. Fitted with a central can motor driving the outer wheels of both bogies, performance is nice and smooth.

One issue that has been noted is deterioration of the mazak chassis in some models. This mazak rot seems to be limited to one of the first runs, particularly D5512. A common problem being that the section under the cabs becomes detached. Later versions seem better.

Tri-ang first released a Class 31 back in 1962 and remained a stable in their catalogue until 1976, being produced in various liveries. In 1977, Airfix produced a Class 31 with much improved tooling over the aging Tri-ang version and had a five pole motor. The Airfix version still looks quite good today and was produced up until 1981 when the range was sold to Mainline Railways. Mainline ceased in 1985 when the moulds were sold to Dapol, who subsequently sold them to Hornby.

Lima produced a Class 31 from 1989. A typical Lima product with its pancake motored chassis the body was actually quite good. Lima ceased trading in 2004, with the range being bought up by Hornby. The Lima Class 31 was re-released by Hornby as part of its Railroad range with an improved motor bogie. Accurascale announced their Class 31 in February 2022 with what promises to be be a great model.