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Hornby R30401

BR Merchant Navy Class - 35015 'Rotterdam Lloyd'

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Era
Era 4 (1948 to 1956) British Railways Early Crest

Manufacturer description

This locomotive was completed at Eastleigh Works and entered service in March 1945. It was numbered 21C15 and named ‘Rotterdam Lloyd’ in November 1945 after Dutch shipping company Rotterdamsche Lloyd, which operated passenger and mail services between Rotterdam and the Dutch East Indies, and became Royal Rotterdam Lloyd in 1947. 

The locomotive was renumbered to 35015 in June 1949, following the nationalisation of the railways the previous year, and was rebuilt at Eastleigh in June 1958. Always based at either Stewarts Lane or Nine Elms, it was withdrawn from the latter in February 1964 and scrapped in the following December.

The model captures the locomotive in striking experimental express passenger blue livery, applied by British Railway in the period between its post-nationalisation renumbering in June 1949 and its rebuilding into more conventional form in 1958. It features the early BR ‘cycling lion’ crest on the tender sides (Era 4).

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

^* Class names often change over the lifespan of a locomotive, so this is not necessarily the class name used by the operator in the period modelled.

The Hornby BR Merchant Navy Class locomotive in the 2025 Range is a model of 35015 'Rotterdam Lloyd'. This OO gauge model is DCC ready, featuring a 5 pole skew wound motor and sprung metal buffers. The locomotive is painted in British Railways express passenger blue livery, applied in the period between 1949 and 1958, and features the early BR 'cycling lion' crest on the tender sides.

The locomotive was based on the real 35015, which was completed at Eastleigh Works in March 1945 and entered service as 21C15. It was later renumbered to 35015 in June 1949, following nationalisation of the railways. The locomotive was rebuilt at Eastleigh in June 1958 and was always based at either Stewarts Lane or Nine Elms. It was withdrawn from service in February 1964 and scrapped in December of the same year.