Dapol reveals decorated OO Gauge GWR 28xx samples, charity link grows

Dapol’s first decorated, unpowered OO Gauge samples of its GWR 28xx and 2884 2-8-0 project have sharpened the picture for modellers: the outline is now far beyond CAD, the livery and variant details are visible, and 2874 carries an added charity tie-in that gives the release real traction. Dapol dated the update May 19, 2026, and said the samples arrived for the first of two production runs, while parts for the second run were still to come.

The 2874 version is a Dapol-exclusive model, and Dapol said it will donate to the 2874 Trust for every 4S-009-009 sold. That link matters because the Trust is restoring Great Western Railway locomotive 2874 at Toddington in Gloucestershire. The Trust says 2874 was built in 1918, worked for 45 years, and was withdrawn in 1963, and that it will be the only inside steam pipe version among operating 28xx class locomotives. For OO modellers, that makes the model more than another freight engine: it connects a mainstream ready-to-run purchase to a named preservation project with a clear historical target.

The decorated samples also show that Dapol is still deep in the engineering stage, not at the finish line yet. The company said it is waiting for another engineering prototype before final testing can be completed, even though the project has now entered tooling. CAD simulations with its partner factory led Dapol to specify a diecast boiler, added to the diecast footplate and diecast compensated chassis already in the concept, in order to achieve the prototype’s scale tractive effort. The revised package also includes a floating gearbox, sprung centre driving wheels, a sprung front pony truck operating on a cam, a detailed cab interior, Churchward boiler fittings, Churchward and Collett boiler support and motion brackets, vertical and curved drop footplates, and Churchward and Collett sprung buffers. Dapol says the model is intended to handle R2 curves.

The finished range is being split across Churchward and Collett-era subjects, with the first run covering 2831, 2804, 3802, 2851 and 2874, and the second run set for 2854, 2884, 3819 and 3850. Dapol’s latest prices are £220 DCC Ready, £255 DCC Fitted and £330 Sound Fitted, with production pencilled in for September and shop stock expected toward the end of the year.

For layout builders, that combination makes the 28xx especially useful in coal, mineral and mixed freight scenes from the Edwardian era through the BR years. The class began as Britain’s first 2-8-0 type, with the prototype No. 97 later renumbered 2800, and Great Western records show the design eventually became a 100-wagon machine after trials with No. 2806. With the decorated samples now on show, Dapol has taken the project far enough to let modellers judge whether this freight stalwart is close to an order.