Graham Farish - 371-020DB - Locomotive, Diesel, Class 08 - London, Midland and Scottish - 601

Specific Item Information: Announced as part of our Autumn 2022 British Railway Announcements, we are delighted to present this Sales Area Exclusive N scale Class 08 Diesel Shunter. This model, which will be available from retailers in West Midlands, Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man and counties including Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, depicts Class 08 No. 08 601 ‘Spectre’ in LMS Black livery.

N scale modellers running DCC can now quickly and easily add the iconic Class 08 diesel shunter to their fleet with this new and upgraded Graham Farish model. The highly detailed body is constructed from numerous separate components, including handrails, lamps, lamp brackets and whistle, whilst the chassis features the distinctive outside frames that are synonymous with the 08s along with metal sand pipes and separate brake rigging. As you would expect, the livery application is second to none and is achieved using authentic colours, logos and fonts. Provision for DCC is via a Next18 socket and what’s more, with a pre-fitted speaker adding sound to your model is possible too – or why not opt for a SOUND FITTED model and really bring your layout to life!

Road Name History: The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railways into four. The companies merged into the LMS included the London and North Western Railway, Midland Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (which had previously merged with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922), several Scottish railway companies (including the Caledonian Railway), and numerous other, smaller ventures.

The resulting company was an unwieldy construction, with numerous interests other than railway operation. Besides being the world's largest transport organisation, it was also the largest commercial enterprise in the British Empire and the United Kingdom's second largest employer, after the Post Office. The LMS also claimed to be the largest joint stock organisation in the world.

In 1938, the LMS operated 6,870 miles (11,056 km) of railway (excluding its lines in Northern Ireland), but its profitability was generally disappointing, with a rate of return of only 2.7%. Under the Transport Act 1947, along with the other members of the "Big Four" British railway companies (GWR, LNER and SR), the LMS was nationalised on 1 January 1948, becoming part of the state-owned British Railways.

The LMS was the largest of the Big Four railway companies serving routes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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.