51 D Class 4-4-0 locomotives were built between February 1901 and March 1907 during the Wainwright period by the South Eastern & Chatham Railway. From delivery these locomotives were used on the prime express trains to the Kent Coast and Hastings including those carrying boat train traffic for the Continent via the Cinque Ports. During the First World War there was a considerable increase in troop and ambulance train traffic between London and the ports of Dover and Folkestone. The D Class were also utilised on trains conveying armoured vehicles to Richborough and other ports as the war advanced in Europe. Twenty-one of the Class were rebuilt between April 1921 and October 1927 as D1 Class 4-4-0s, leaving 30 D Class locomotives in operation. During the first years for the Southern Railway the locomotives continued to appear on front-line express duties. As larger locomotives appeared the D Class locomotives began to appear on South Central services. The outbreak of World War 2 in September 1939 saw many of the class laid up due to the wartime travel restrictions resulting in a reduction of passenger traffic. 28 members of the D Class entered British Railways stock, two of the total class of 30 locomotives being scrapped prior to Nationalisation. The first of the Class (No. 1242) was withdrawn in October 1944 due to wartime damage and the last in December 1956. No. 31737 survives into preservation and resides as a static display at the NRM facility in York.
Technical Specification
• Diecast Chassis
• Low centre of gravity between the wheels
• NEM couplings with removable coupling pocket
• Sprung buffers
• R2 (438mm/17.2”) minimum radius
• Pickup from tender and driving wheels
• Powerful 5 pole motor in boiler
• Pull-out PCB for tool free DCC & Speaker fitting.
• ‘Snap-fit’ conductive tender drawbar
• Options for bass reflex speaker in tender (pre-wired)
• Firebox glow
• Profiled wheels
• Detailed motion
• Removable coal load with internal tender profiling
• Fully detailed back-head and cab interior.
Variations
• Two boiler variations
• Two cab types
• Three Chimney Types
• Two Smokeboxes
• Three tender variations
• Additional detail variations
‘Snap-fit’ tender drawbar—a robust solution for simple mechanical & electrical connection of the tender
Dapol's Toolless DCC & Speaker Installation
Simplifying & Reducing the risk of DCC Installation
