◆GAUGE ‘O’ ◆MODEL Ellis Clark Trains E1007 LMS ‘Black Five’ 4 ‐ 6‐0, No. 45337, BR lined black, late emblem
◆PRICE £949.00 (DCC-ready) £1,175 (DCC sound ‐fitted) ◆AVAILABILITY Ellis Clark Trains Web www.ellisclarktrains.co.uk
First mooted in 2019 as a joint venture with Darstaed, the first batch of LMS ‘Black Fives’ have now arrived, produced solely under the Ellis Clark Trains banner. Representing one of the most ubiquitous steam locomotives of the later LMS and BR steam eras, Stanier’s Class 5 4 ‐ 6‐0 is an excellent choice for a ready-to-run model in any scale, but it looks especially impressive in ‘O’.
Dealing with such a large fleet of locomotives, with myriad detail differences and design tweaks across 842 examples, Ellis Clark’s design team have wisely decided to concentrate on a single batch of ‘Black Fives’ for now. Accordingly, the suite of new releases depicts only those locomotives built for the LMS by Armstrong Whitworth, at its famous Scotswood works in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (LMS Nos. 5225-5427).
Within this batch, there’s still plenty of variety, with a choice of welded or riveted tenders and there are several LMS and BR livery options available, most of which come without numbers, with sheets of suitable transfers provided.
Supplied for review is No. 45337 in BR lined black with later emblems. Emerging in 1937, LMS No. 5337 headed initially to Blackpool, before moving around various Lancashire sheds. The model sports a 12A shedcode, placing it at its final depot – Carlisle Kingmoor – from where it was withdrawn in 1965. Rescued from Barry scrapyard in the 1980s, the real No. 45337 returned to steam at the East Lancashire Railway in 1995.
After removing the hefty model from its foam-packed box – and unbolting it from the heavy-duty plastic transit crate – it’s immediately apparent that most of this model is rendered in metal. At over 2kg, it feels like it means business and, in many ways, has the aura of a bespoke kit-built model rather than a mass-produced RTR product.
ACE APPENDAGE
Supplied with the locomotive and tender separated, I unbolted the latter first, which features a detailed metal bodyshell, with only the front bulkhead and cab fittings, plus a few other smaller details formed from plastic. The open ‐frame chassis is impressive, with authentic stretchers and a convincing rendition of the brake gear and water scoop apparatus. Flexible pipes project under the cab to represent water feed pipes.
A working headlamp is fitted to the rear, in the upper central position and the various footsteps all feature a neat chequer plate texture, even atop the buffershanks. A spare oil lamp is mounted on the cab bulkhead, which
