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Rapido 811003

HR Loch Class No.120 ‘Loch Ness’

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

Prototype Era
Era 2 (1875 to 1923) Pre-grouping

Manufacturer description

Highland Railway ‘Loch’ Class 4-4-0
HR Drummond I Lined Green No. 120 ‘Loch Ness’
Tall louvred HR chimney
Long smokebox door straps
Smokebox wing plates
Jones safety valves
Tender toolbox
Tender gong
Tablet catcher
Suitable for operation on 2nd Radius curves (438mm or greater)
Dynamic firebox flicker
21-pin DCC decoder socket
Factory-fitted speakers in all models
Sprung buffers
Museum-quality paint finish
Smooth & powerful mechanism
Highly detailed
NEM coupler pockets
1:76 scale (OO gauge)

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

The Highland Railway Loch Class 4-4-0 locomotives were a series of passenger steam engines designed by David Jones, the Highland Railway's Locomotive Superintendent, in the late 19th century. The class was built to provide a powerful locomotive capable of traversing the undulating terrain of the Inverness to Perth line and the challenging Slochd Summit.

The first 15 locos were built by Dübs & Co. in 1896 and 1897, with the final loco being delivered in September 1897. The locomotives were named after inland Scottish lochs, with some of the most famous being Loch Ness. The class was a success, producing 17,070 lbs of tractive effort, which was almost 3000 lbs more than the Strath Class.

During World War I, the Highland Railway built three additional locos, which differed from the Dübs & Co. versions in having a modified tender and a Westinghouse pump. The Loch Class was eventually superseded by the Castle Class, but they continued to work on local passenger services and branch lines until they were inherited by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.

The LMS made various alterations to the class, including replacing the boilers on ten of the original locos with new ones, which resulted in a different profile for these locos. Two of the Lochs survived into British Railways ownership, but neither was repainted into BR livery and both retained their LMS liveries until withdrawal.

Rapido Trains UK has released a range of OO gauge models of the Highland Railway Loch Class 4-4-0 locomotives, which include the Dübs & Co. built locos and some of the conversions they received. The models will be available in a variety of liveries, from pre-grouping to BR days, and will feature a range of detailing variants, including different chimneys, domes, and safety valves. The models will also include factory-installed speakers, NEM coupler pockets, and a dynamic firebox flicker effect.