Hornby Class M7 R2840

The M7 has become a particularly popular tank engine, judging by the number of Hornby models that have sold. This is despite it being more expensive than some tender locomotives and comparable in price to the more recent Stanier 2-6-4 tank with its outside cylinders and other moving parts. The is so typical of the LSWR with its Drummond profile.

One of the M7s' appeals must be their versatility in real life which spills over onto a model railway layout. They were classified as mixed traffic locomotives under BR ownership and could be found on most duties except express trains and heavy goods. 105 locomotives were built between 1897 and 1911 and, remarkably, all but two survived into Nationalisation. Most lasted into the 1960s but were then victims of the cull in the Beaching years. Only two have been preserved.