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Class 14

Class 15 BTH

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Class 17 Clayton

Class 20 EE Type 1

Class 21

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Class 23 'Baby Deltic'

Class 24 Derby Type 2

Class 25 Derby Type 2

Class 26

Class 27

Class 28

Class 29

Class 30 Brush Type 2

Class 31 Brush Type 2

Class 33 BRCW Type 3

Class 35 'Hymek'

Class 37 EE Type 3

Class 40 EE Type 4

Class 41 'Warship'

Class 42 'Warship'

Class 43 'Warship'

Class 44 'Peak'

Class 45

Class 46

Class 47 Brush Type 4

Class 48 Brush Type 4

Class 50 EE Type 5

Class 52 'Western'

Class 53 'Falcon'

Class 55 'Deltic'

Class 56

Class 57

Class 58

Class 59

Class 60

Class 66

Class 67

Class 68

Class 70

The Class 42 'Warship' locomotives were built at Swindon in 1958. They were based on the Deutsche Bundesbahn V200 locomotive, but scaled down to fit the British loading gauge. The Swindon built locomotives were numbered D800-D832 and D866-D870. D834-D865 were built by the North British Locomotive Company and became Class 43.

The Class 42 featured two Bristol-Siddeley Maybach engines driving a Mekydro hydraulic transmission. The class earned the name 'Warships' as, apart from two, they were all named after Royal Navy vessels. The first three locomotives were ordered as part of the Pilot Scheme and differed both cosmetically and mechanically from the production batch. They had slightly less powerful engines and carried headcode discs as opposed to four digit headcodes. D870 'Zulu' also differed slightly from the the rest in having roof mounted horns in a small cowl above the centre of the cab windows.

My version of the Class 42 is the Bachmann model. This is an upgraded version of the original Mainline Railways model and does feature Bachmann's centre can motor driving through flywheels to the bogies. A smooth runner, the old tooling is beginning to show by todays standards. Still an acceptable model though. The models was available in green, maroon and blue liveries over the years. Only the four digit headcode versions have been offered. One curious release was a model of D870 'Zulu'. D870 differed from all the other 'Warships' by having the horns moved from the buffer beam to above the cab windows housed in a small cowl. The reason apparently being to make room on the buffer beam for fitting electric train heating (ETH) sockets. The Bachmann model of D870 does not feature the repositioned horn cowl!

The first RTR model I know of is the Trix Lilliput model of the 1960's. It is quite a crude looking model by todays standards and doesn't really look much like a 'Warship'. Mainline Railways produced a Class 42 in 1979. A reasonable model for its time, it had a poor motor and drive system which resulted in poor running. Fleischmann produced a HO gauge Class 42 for many years. This was an excellent model in all ways, but just too small for my OO gauge layout. Lima was next on the scene with their version in 1980. Not one of their best models failing to capture the distinctive cab shape convincingly.

Bachmann acquired some of the old Mainline range and upgraded the model with a much better chassis. Hornby re-launched the old Lima tooling in 2014 as part of their 'Railroad' range including a better motor. MTK and Q Kits both produced kits of the Class 42.