0 GAUGE 7mm:1ft
1961 to 1987 ERA
Scottish traction icon
BUILT by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, Class 27s shared common features with the older Class 26, except they were fitted with a higher powered engine (1250hp vice 1160hp) and four-character headcode boxes instead of indicator discs.
A handful were initially allocated to Thornaby, Leicester and Cricklewood from new in 1961 and 1962 before transfer to Scotland.The fleet of 68 Class 27s became exclusively Scottish Region locomotives in 1969 (one Class 27 was withdrawn in 1965), gaining the nick-name ‘MacRats’ along with Class 26 locomotives.
Class 27s successfully established themselves on West Highland Line freight and passenger duties during the 1970s, the latter which utilised steam heated Mk.1 coachingstock. At the start of the 1970s, about the same time as the application of TOPS numbers, Class 27/1 was created for dedicated Edinburgh-Glasgow push-pull working with a locomotive marshalled at each end of a
