Bachmann Branchline Launches NER E Class at The Greatest Gathering
With 2025 marking the bicentenary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, Bachmann has selected the North Eastern Railway E Class Tank Locomotive, which was an unsung hero at the centenary celebrations 100 years ago, as the next steam locomotive for its OO Scale Bachmann Branchline range.
The NER E Class 0-6-0 Tank Locomotive, later classified as J71 by the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), was designed by Thomas W. Worsdell for the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was intended to become the company’s standard design for shunting engines. T. W. Worsdell became the NER’s Locomotive Superintendent in 1885 and a year later, the first E Class tank entered traffic. Eventually totalling 120 locomotives, 60 were built under Thomas’s tenure, followed by 60 more when his brother Wilson Worsdell took over as Locomotive Superintendent after Thomas retired in 1890. Construction ceased in 1895 and three years later, Wilson introduced his own take on the design, the E1 Class, the first of which entered traffic in 1898.
The E Class was set apart from the later E1s by having larger driving wheels and smaller cylinders. The splashers were larger as a result of the larger wheels, meanwhile the ‘Es’ sported smaller bunkers and were not fitted with coal rails at first, although these were later included. Early examples had clack valves feeding the boiler with Ramsbottom safety valves and a bell whistle. Later, Ross Pop safety valves and a tubular whistle were fitted, and the clack valves were removed, bringing commonality between the E and E1 types. Metal bufferbeams were employed as built, but later many were fitted with wooden planks sandwiched between two metal plates, as found on the later E1 engines.
The E Class tanks were found to be suitable workhorses for the NER’s sprawling network across the North East, particularly at coastal ports, freight depots and wharfs where tracks could feature tight curves and weight restrictions were often in place. They were also suited to station pilot duties and local trip working, as well as allocations at the NER’s Darlington Works and Shildon workshops where they handled internal movements. All 120 locomotives passed into LNER ownership upon Grouping in 1923, becoming J71s, and remained in similar roles to those the NER had previously assigned them. By 1930 however, the E1s (now classified as J72s by the LNER) had started to replace the older J71s and by the time of Nationalisation in 1948, the class had been depleted by almost a third, leaving 81 examples in traffic.
The fleet that British Railways (BR) inherited in 1948 remained largely intact to start with, but by the 1950s they were being replaced by new 350hp Diesel Shunters (later BR Class 08) and by 1961 the final J71, No. 68233, had been withdrawn after a service life of 74 years. None survived into preservation.
Whilst the J71s were more numerous than the J72s, numbering 120 examples versus 113, the J72 is arguably the more famous of the two for several reasons. Remarkably, those 113 locomotives were built over a period of almost 53 years and were unique in the fact that batches were built by the NER, LNER and BR.
Although no J71s survive today, one J72 No. 69023 ‘Joem’ is still extant meaning that even those who were not around during their service lives can still see a J72 operating, something that is not possible in the case of the J71. Then there is the fact that Bachmann Branchline models of the J72 have been produced since 1990, and earlier still by Mainline Railways, with an all-new Branchline J72 released in 2019.
And so, whilst models of the J72 can already be found in many collections, the new Bachmann Branchline E Class/J71 depicts a locomotive that has never before been produced in ready to run format in OO Scale. Building on the success of the J72, new tooling has been developed to capture the characteristics that set the J71s apart, resulting in a model that shares only a few components with its J72 counterpart.
The new tooling starts with the cab/tank/bunker moulding which portrays the E’s smaller coal bunker. This is adorned with individual tank filler hatches, metal lamp brackets on the rear of the bunker, and metal handrails at the front of the tank plus one on the cab rear sheet. Inside the cab the locomotive controls, levers, dials and gauges are accurately depicted as well as the toolboxes and cabinets that back onto the bunker. A new boiler is adorned with separate clack valves where appropriate, along with Ramsbottom or Ross Pop safety valves, the latter with an optional cover, and a turned metal bell or tubular whistle. Turned metal handrail knobs and metal wires are used to depict the handrails running along the length of the boiler.
The diecast metal running plate sports the distinctive metal bufferbeams and two pairs of steps, serving the cab and running plate to access the tank filler hatches, while the sandboxes are separate mouldings too. Etched brass lamp irons are then added, as are the buffers which are of metal construction and sprung, with three types available to suit individual locomotives. A further option allows those locomotives that were fitted with vacuum brakes, in addition to the steam brakes, to be modelled – this is depicted through additional pipework fitted between the cab front and smokebox, and to the underside of the running plate on each side which were routed to the typical vacuum pipes adorning the front and rear bufferbeams.
Turning to the technical specification and the new Branchline J71 is powered by a coreless motor, with electrical pickup from every wheel. Separate metal bearings are fitted to each axle and the gear train is housed in a diecast gearbox, driving the middle wheelset.
DCC provision comes in the form of a Next18 DCC Decoder socket and all models have a built-in speaker and firebox lighting system that operates on analogue and DCC. SOUND FITTED models will come with a ESU Loksound Micro V5DCC Sound Decoder pre-fitted and again, this feature can be used on both analogue and DCC. At the front and rear NEM coupling pockets are fitted and optional accessories are supplied with each model such as locomotive lamps, 3-link couplings and bufferbeam pipework as appropriate.
Three models will be offered initially, and all are finished with a livery application that is executed to stunning effect, using prototypical colours, numerals and typefaces to create these miniature replicas. Included in the lineup is LNER No. 317 which played an important role in the centenary celebrations of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1925. As part of the 1925 grand cavalcade, No. 317 was used to haul Electric Locomotive No. 9 which could not travel under its own power as the route used for the cavalcade was not electrified. The two further models depict No. 495 in its original T. W. Worsdell livery of lined green and maroon and No. 68260 during BR service.
Recommended Retail Prices start at £159.95, with the ornately-decorated model of NER No. 495 carrying a small premium with a resultant RRP of £169.95. SOUND FITTED versions are priced at £269.95, or £279.95 for the NER model, and all are expected to arrive with Bachmann retailers in early-2026.
The new models were launched in our Greatest Gathering Announcement video which you can watch now on our YouTube channel:
