November 13, 2026 Graham Muspratt

Rapido Trains UK announce their first OO Gauge ‘mainline’ diesel locomotive, the Class 35 ‘Hymek’

In June 1959, British Railways placed an order for 45 diesel hydraulic locomotives. Before the first locomotives had even been delivered, another 50 were ordered in 1960, and six more followed in 1961, bringing the class total to 101.

The Hymek was the only one built by an outside contractor: Beyer, Peacock & Co. of Manchester. The locomotives were constructed at their Gorton Works, powered by a Bristol Siddeley-built Maybach MD870 engine (produced under license from Maybach in Germany) and fitted with a Mekydro hydro-mechanical transmission, which gave the class its nickname of ‘Hymek’.
The first locomotive, D7000 was delivered at a ceremony at Paddington on the 16th of May 1961, three months ahead of schedule. The first Hymeks went to Bristol Bath Road depot for West Country services, but as the Class 52 ‘Westerns’ were arriving slower than planned, the Hymeks were redirected to South Wales to cover for them.

The final loco was delivered to Newton Abbot in February 1964 and the class was to see regular use from West London to the West Country, South Wales and the West Midlands on Western Region routes.
They were also regularly used on the Southern Region route from Waterloo to Exeter and other Southern outposts such as Weymouth, Southampton, Poole and Bournemouth.
D7006 & D7081 were the first engines withdrawn in September 1971 and there were regular withdrawals thereafter.

The Rapido Trains UK OO Gauge Class 35 Hymek will feature several tooling variations and innovations to allow an accurate portrayal of the class throughout its working life.
Tooling variations include different boiler roof panels, bogie mounted brake cylinders and lower cab door handles. All models will have etched fan grilles, see-through cab steps, fully detailed bogies, fuel tanks and underside details.
The lighting is controllable via DCC, but DC/Analogue modellers can also use the ‘Magic Wand’ supplied to switch the directional/headcode lights on and off, as well as the individual cab interior lights. Modellers will also be able to change the headcode displays with for one of 14 headcodes provided.
A driver and secondman will also be provided as a full-colour 3D print courtesy of Modelu. There are two uniform variations (early or late), and the era of the model dictates which style is supplied.
The models will feature a 5-pole motor and twin flywheels, enhanced with MoPower stay-alive capacitors for fault-free running on DCC, a factory-installed passive radiator speaker, front and rear NEM 362 coupler pockets, sprung buffers, a 21-pin DCC decoder socket, and a working fan beneath an etched grille
on DCC-fitted models.
The DCC Sound models will also come with a Dynamic Exhaust Effect. This allows the characteristic ‘clag’ to be produced by the model alongside the sounds recorded from preserved loco 7076.
This operates when the locomotive starts up, starts moving or when more power is applied when already under load.
All models will have the smoke generator installed and should the modeller wish to upgrade their DCC-Ready model later, all they will require is a DCC decoder loaded with the correct profile, available from Rapido Trains UK.

12 versions of the Class 35 'Hymek' are being produced in both DCC Ready and DCC Sound Fitted versions as follows:

Click above to view the range and to pre-order.

The box artwork features a beautifully illustrated scene of the Hymek roaring out of Twerton Tunnel. Each artwork represents the specific locomotive in the box and several details in the scene change depending on the era.

Subject to alteration.