The British Rail Class 08 diesel-electric shunter is the most numerous of all British locomotive classes. In all 996 were produced between 1953 and 1962 at the BR works at Crewe, Darlington and Doncaster. The Class 08 became the standard BR Shunter and was a very common sight at stations and freight yards until the 1990s. However, as the nature of the British Railways changed with fixed rakes of wagons and the introduction of multiple units, the requirements for shunting diminished and many Class 08 were either scrapped or sold overseas, including 15 to Australia and 5 to Liberia. The Class 08’s role as a shunter has been continued onto the heritage railways and over 60 have survived into preservation, making it the most numerous class of preserved locomotive.

The Dapol Class 08 SHunter model includes the following features:

• Sprung metal buffers

• Die cast Running plate for extra quality and weight

• Independently controlled running and cab lights

• Sprung metal coupling hook and screw coupling

• Etched plates where applicable

• Finely moulded body with many separately added fine details

• DCC ready with a 21 pin socket

• DCC and sound fitted models available

• Cast profiled wheels with fine relief and appropriate colouring

• Tungsten chassis and all wheel pick up

• Powerful 5 pole skew wound motor with refined slow running control

• Accessory bag with spares and other optional added detail

• Tooling design allows production of many variants