Locomotion’s ES1 electric for ‘OO’ gauge

The pioneering North Eastern Railway steeple cab electric is the subject of the latest collaboration between Locomotion Models, Rails of Sheffield and Heljan. MIKE WILD takes a detailed look at this new release ahead of its arrival in December.

AS UNIQUE survivors go, the North Eastern Railway’s British Thomson-Houston built Bo-Bo electric No. 1 is quite remarkable. It was built in 1903 at a time when electric locomotives were in their infancy and had what, in many respects, was an unremarkable career pottering up and down a short branch line in Newcastle.

What really makes ES1 – Electric Shunting One – so special is its place in electric locomotive development. It was a steeple cab design which had a central cab with clear visibility over the two bonnets. Inspiration for the locomotive came from an example built by General Electric and Thomson-Houston for the Milan-Varesse railway in Italy.

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