Rapido Class 35 Hymek Diesel D7013 - BR Green

988001 Rapido Class 35 Hymek Diesel - D7013 - BR Green

New release - pre-orders invited - expected during 4th Quarter 2027.

History

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 design was influenced by Wilkes and Ashmore, who also worked on the prototype locomotives ‘Falcon’ and ‘Lion’, alongside the Class 47. Of the four main diesel-hydraulic classes, 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. This is why, from D7034 onwards, almost all locos were fitted with headboard clips to hold the titled trains’ large headboards. This lasted until 1963 when more Westerns were available and Hymeks were freed up to take on the Hereford – Paddington services, with which they became synonymous.

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.

From 1967, five were even stationed at Worcester to bank trains up the Lickey Incline. For this duty, they had the first gear locked out to prevent ‘hunting’.

D7006 & D7081 were the first engines withdrawn in September 1971 and there were regular withdrawals thereafter. This was not always the end, as a number were reinstated (sometimes more than once) to cover for locos that had not been transferred in time to replace them. The Class 35 had possibly the first ever ‘farewell’ railtour for a diesel class on the 22nd September 1973, with D7001 & D7028 double-heading a tour over the Hymek’s regular haunts. The final 6 survivors of the class lasted until early 1975, the final pair being D7017 & D7018 withdrawn on the 13th and 18th March respectively.

D7076 & D7096 were acquired by the BR Research Department and moved to Derby Test Centre, then Old Dalby where they were used as dynamic test loads for the development of future rail vehicles.

Thankfully there are 4 survivors. D7017 & D7018 were bought from BR service and moved to Minehead and Didcot respectively by the Diesel & Electric Preservation Group. Both are now based on the West Somerset Railway. D7029 was also bought from BR in 1975 by the Diesel Traction Group and moved to Reading Gas Works for restoration, eventually working its first trains on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in 1981 before moving to the Severn Valley Railway in 1996. D7076 was bought from the BR Research Department after it was declared surplus to requirements. The loco was in a poor state of repair. However, D7096 was instrumental in helping with the restoration of this loco, as many parts were donated to D7076 prior to scrapping. D7076 arrived as one of the first diesels on the East Lancashire Railway at Bury in 1983 and is looked after as part of the Bury Hydraulic Group’s fleet.

Rapido say "The Rapido Trains UK OO Gauge rendition of the 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-though 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. Simply remove the body, followed by the headcode retaining clip to allow removal of the headcode part. This can be swapped 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.

You can look forward to a smooth-running mechanism with 5-pole motor and twin flywheels, enhanced with MoPower stay-alive capacitors for fault-free running on DCC.

Our 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 the Rapido Trains UK website.

These effects are based on the ESU system and require the purchase of ESU Smoke Distillate (ESU 51990).

Other features include 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 locomotives come pre-fitted with shortened versions of the bufferbeam details. This is to allow the tension lock couplers room to move whilst also giving the right appearance out-of-the-box.

If you would like to add more detail to your Hymek, it will come with a set of additional parts. These include bufferbeam details, snowploughs and etched cabside numbers.

A locomotive history card, a DCC function card and a special print will also be included with every locomotive.

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."

Product Details:

• Class 35 Hymek D7013
• BR green (as built)
• No lower cab door handles
• No headboard clips
• Stone-Vapor boiler room roof
• Early sandboxes
• Stepped-end brake cylinders
• Directional lighting
• Cab lighting
• 21-pin decoder socket
• High-quality 5-pole motor and drive mechanism for smooth running
• DCC sound & dynamic exhaust option* (with ESU LokSound 5 decoder)
• Factory-fitted passive radiator speaker & smoke unit in all models
• MoPower stay-alive
• Kinematic NEM 362 coupler pockets
• Easily changeable headcodes with 14 different versions included
• Separately fitted wipers
• Separately fitted radiator fan grill with working fan
• Etch fret with full set of number and works plates
• Pre-fitted ‘cut off’ buffer beam detailing to work when coupler fitted
• Optional ‘full’ buffer beam detailing to fit as required
• 3D colour-printed crew with steam-era style uniforms
• Colour art print of locomotive on Dawlish sea wall

*Requires ESU 51990 Smoke Distillate – requires separate purchase.