The Robinson designed ‘8K’ 2-8-0 became a prominent part of the Railway Operating Divison fleet during the First and Second World Wars. MIKE WILD inspects Bachmann’s latest variant of the popular heavy freight locomotive for ‘OO’.
Reviews Feature
FIRST REVIEW
ROBINSON’S ‘8K’ 2-8-0 is a popular subject choice and even the sole surviving preserved example in the UK, 63601 at the Great CentraRailway (GCR), was a huge draw during its period in steam in the first decade of the 21st century.
Bachmann produced its first modeof the Robinson 2-8-0 in 2010 (HM37) when it delivered a standard GCR built engine which it then followed with an ex-Railway Operating Division GWR version in 2012 (HM55). Now Bachmann has added further to the ‘8K’ story by delivering a Railway Operating Division (ROD) built example.
The fleet of ROD Robinson 2-8-0s were built during the First World War to fulfia need for a standard heavy freight locomotive which could be used in Europe. The ROD had already requisitioned 600 locomotives from Britain’s railway companies – including ‘Dean Goods’ 0-6-0s and ‘43XX’ 2-6-0s from the Great Western Railway – but it needed its own design for which it adopted Robinson’s highly successfu‘8K’ (later ‘O…
