Dapol - 2D-022-009 - Locomotive, Diesel, DRS, Class 68 - TransPennine Express - 68019

Specific Item Information: The Class 68 is a brand new diesel-electric Bo-Bo locomotive commissioned by DRS for intermodal and passenger use. The design is based on the Vossloh Eurolight, with 4 axles and a 3800HP diesel engine and is to be built at the Vossloh plant in Spain. Initially, DRS initially ordered fifteen locomotives with the first to be operational early in 2014. The locomotive is capable of 100mph and has a state of the art adhesion control system which ensures high utilisation of available traction power. Further Locomotives have now been added to the UK fleet bringing the total to 25 and a further 9 on order. Stadler are now assembling the Class 68, alongside the Class 88 .

Road Name History: TransPennine Express (TPE)[1] is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major cities and towns of Northern England and Scotland.
The franchise operates all its services to and through Manchester covering three main routes. The service provides rail links for major towns and cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Hull, Leeds, York, Scarborough, Middlesbrough and Newcastle. TPE run trains 24 hours a day, including through New Year's Eve night. TPE trains run between York, Leeds and Manchester Airport at least every three hours every night of the week. The franchise operates across the West Coast Main Line, Huddersfield Line, East Coast Main Line and part of the Tees Valley line.From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Dapol Ltd is a Welsh model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railway products in N gauge and OO gauge. Dapol's name is a play on its founders David and Pauline Boyle's names. He owned a model concern Highfield Birds & Models. In 1981 he first tried to buy the Airfix and Mainline ranges. The Dapol brand name was first used in a Railway Modeller advert of September 1983. The first Dapol wagons (for OO) were announced to become available on 20 November 1983. From 1 March 1984 ex Airfix railway kits became available.

Dapol manufactures a growing range of N gauge locomotives, coaches and wagons, and is the main competitor of Graham Farish in the British 'ready-to-run' market. Continuous improvement in model specifications has led to the introduction of 40:1 gearing in locomotive drive mechanisms, NEM couplings on all stock, and LED lighting strips for coaching stock (yellow for 'older' coaches, to represent incandescent illumination, and white for more modern coaches and EMUs to represent fluorescent fittings).