Rapido Thomas Hill Sentinel Rebuild 4wDM Diesel NCB Green

949302 Rapido Thomas Hill Sentinel Rebuild 4wDM Diesel - NCB Green

New release - pre-orders invited - expected during 2027.

History

Thomas Hill Limited of Rotherham was founded in 1937, and its principal business was the repair and servicing of steam-powered road vehicles; by 1942, they adapted their business to provide the same service for battery-electric vehicles. 

With the Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd experimenting with diesel motive power, Thomas Hill Ltd showed an interest in the evolving new technology and signed an agency agreement with the Sentinel Company.

Renamed Thomas Hill (Commercial Vehicles) Limited, their agreement meant they would complete the sales and servicing of Sentinel steam and diesel road vehicles, and steam rail locomotives.

By the 1950s, Sentinel diesel sales had declined, and in 1956 Rolls-Royce acquired the Sentinel Waggon Works factory for diesel engine production. They also agreed to complete the remaining Sentinel steam rail locomotives. 

In 1957, Rolls-Royce began work on diesel locomotives alongside the last of the steam locomotives. Thomas Hill would assist in the design and development of these diesel machines and would be the sole distributor.

Working from their new Kilnhurst Works, which was situated at Kilnhurst Central station of the Great Central Railway, Thomas Hill Ltd set to work on the next generation of Sentinel shunters.

Opening the works in late 1959, some of the earliest orders obtained were for Sentinel steam locomotives to be rebuilt with diesel-hydraulic engines.

For most steam locomotives, this type of conversion is simply out of the question. Thanks to the unique design of the Steam Sentinel locos, this wasn’t a fantasy idea and was within the realm of possibility. Design work had started as early as 1958, but it was not until the opening of the new works that real progress could be made.

Retaining the original steam loco's chassis, wheels, and final transmission, the rest was removed and replaced. In its place, a 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder Rolls-Royce diesel hydraulic engine was inserted along with a torque converter, gearbox, entirely new body, cab, buffer beams and buffers.

In addition to this, quality-of-life upgrades were made for the driver by making the controls easy to use and providing better all-round visibility. Recessed steps and side skirts were also added for the safety of the shunter on duty.

The first converted locomotive No.101c left the factory in January 1960. Throughout that year, Thomas Hill Limited completed four of these steam-to-diesel conversions and a further seven in 1961. To differentiate these converted locos, they were allocated works numbers with a 'c' suffix ('c' for conversion).

These newly converted locos were used in a variety of industrial railways and could be found across the UK in an eclectic mix of different types of industries.

Preserved operational examples can be found at the Foxfield Railway and Chasewater Railway.

• 4wDM Shunter Works No. 158c
• Yorkshire Area No. 5
• NCB Lined Green
• Thomas Hill conversion
• Chassis-mounted sanding gear
• Rear-mounted radius rods
• Etched parts included in detail bag
• 24-inch buffer heads
• E24 DCC decoder socket
• Museum quality paint finish
• MoPower stay-alive
• Diecast metal and plastic construction
• Smooth & powerful mechanism
• Highly detailed
• NEM 362 coupler pockets front and rear