Graham Farish - 370-396K - Locomotive, Diesel, Class 66/7 - GB Railfreight - The Pride of Britain

Specific Item Information: The Pride of Britain Train Pack honours the outstanding efforts and achievements of the NHS and all key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Containing a Class 66 Diesel Locomotive and two model aircraft, proceeds from the sale of this pack will be donated to NHS Charities Together.

The Class 66 locomotive portrays GB Railfreight & Porterbrook No. 66731 which was unveiled in its ‘Thank you NHS’ livery in April 2020 and was later named ‘Capt. Tom Moore – A True British Inspiration’. That sentiment was certainly fitting as the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, who turned 100 years old on the 30th April 2020, undertook a challenge to walk one hundred laps of his garden in the runup to his centenary birthday to raise funds for NHS Charities Together – with the aim of raising £1,000. Captain Tom’s fundraising campaign soon took off and on the morning of his birthday he had raised over £30 million.

In honour of Captain Tom’s amazing feat and as a special birthday surprise, a Hurricane and a Spitfire from the Royal Air Force's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight performed a flypast over his house – the two aircraft being depicted in miniature as part of this special pack. After completing his challenge and in recognition of his phenomenal achievement, Captain Tom was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Each pack includes:

• Graham Farish N Scale Class 66/7 No. 66731 ‘Capt. Tom Moore’ in GBRf ‘Thank You NHS’ livery
• Easy Model 1:72 Scale Hawker Hurricane LF363
• Easy Model 1:72 Scale Supermarine Spitfire MK356
• Certificate of Authenticity
• Both model aircraft are supplied fully assembled and decorated and include ‘Pride of Britain’ display stands

Class 66 Model Specification:

• Era 9
• Supplied with Etched Nameplates
• Accessory Pack
• Equipped with a 6 Pin DCC Decoder Socket
• Length 145mm (over couplings)

Prototype History: The BR Class 66 is a 2,420 kW (3,250 hp) six-axle Co'Co' diesel electric freight locomotive developed in part from the BR Class 59, for use on the railways of the UK. Since its introduction the class has been successful and has been sold to British and other European railway companies.
In Continental Europe it is marketed as the EMD Series 66 (JT42CWR).

Over four hundred and forty BR Class 66s have been produced since 1998, in various sub-classes for UK operators:

• Class 66/0 - EWS Ordered the inital two hundred and fifty Co-Co Diesel Freight Locomotives
• Class 66/3 - In 2008 a further five Class 66s were delivered for freight operator Fastline
• Class 66/4 - In 2002 DRS freight operator ordered ten Class 66s, further Class 66s were ordered later
• Class 66/5 - Freight operator Freightliner has order nearly one hundred Class 66s in small batches
• Class 66/6 - A small group off Class 66/5s were re-geared to cope with heavy aggregate trains
• Class 66/7 - GBRf freight operator has ordered many Class 66 since the original lease of thirty two in 2008, further orders have included low-emission types
• Class 66/8 - The initial five Class 66/8s were previously Advenza Freight (Cotswold Rail) locomotives now running for Colas Rail. Colas Rail has also taken over a number of ex-Freightliner Class 66s.
• Class 66/9s - A lower emission variant ordered by Freightliner.

Read more on Wikipedia: British Class 66 and EMD Class 66.

Road Name History: GB Railfreight is a rail freight company in the United Kingdom. It is owned by EQT Partners through its subsidiary holding company Hector Rail. GB Railfreight was founded in 1999 by GB Railways. Unlike competitors DB Cargo UK and Freightliner, the company was not formed from parts of the privatised British Rail freight sectors. In April 2000, after winning an eight-year contract to operate infrastructure trains for Railtrack, GB Railfreight ordered seven Class 66 locomotives. An operator's licence was granted in July 2000. Operations commenced on 1 April 2001. In February 2002, GBRf commenced operating its first Intermodal container contract from the Port of Felixstowe for MSC Mendite. Also in 2002, GBRf began its first bulk freight contract for British Gypsum.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Graham Farish is a British brand of N gauge model trains, that belongs to Bachmann Europe.
The company entered the model train business in the early 1950s, focusing on British OO gauge rolling stock, track and accessories.
In the 1970s, it started to produce N gauge models under the GRAFAR label. After the withdrawal of Lima and Minitrix from the UK market in the late 1980s, Graham Farish was the only major supplier of British outline models in N gauge, soon withdrawing from the OO scale market.
In 2001, Graham Farish was purchased by Kader Industries of Hong Kong, and absorbed by its subsidiary Bachmann Industries. Bachmann immediately closed the British manufacturing facility and moved production to China.
Bachmann have since increased the size of the Farish range, by duplicating models introduced to the Bachmann OO range; often, an OO scale Bachmann Branchline model is followed between 6 months to a year later by an N gauge Graham Farish model.

Manufacturer Information: Bachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader formed Bachmann Industries Europe in 1989 with their main UK headquarters in Moat Way, Barwell, Leicestershire, UK (former Palitoy location) and the following year launched the Bachmann Branchline range for the British market with the moulds that had previously been used for the Palitoy Mainline and Replica Railways model railway products. From this starting point Bachmann has developed the range further and now produce a large range of models.
In 2001 Bachmann Branchline bought Graham Farish, an N gauge manufacturer, and since then many of their models have been made available in both gauges.
Bachmann Europe portfolio also comprises other model trains brands such as Liliput.