Here come the footballers! This BR (Late) - B17 Class - 61652 'Darlington' will make a handsome addition to your OO gauge railway. With features such as wide tension lock couplings and an accessory pack including vacuum pipes, this smart Footballer Class locomotive is also DCC ready with a 21-pin socket so you can upgrade to HM7000 control.

History

The ‘B17’ Class was also known as either the ‘Sandringham’ Class or the ‘Footballer’ Class, depending on which name it carried. Designed by Nigel Gresley for passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line, 73 were built between 1928 and 1937, 52 of them at the LNER’s Darlington Works and the remainder supplied by private builders North British in Glasgow and Robert Stephenson & Co. in Newcastle.

Built as No. 2852 in 1936, it became 61652 under BR and is one of the ‘Footballers’, carrying the crest of Darlington Football Club and a football beneath its nameplate. It is finished in BR Green with the late crest on the tender.