For historians and modellers alike, Hornby's model of J36 0-6-0 65330 shows how British railways actually transitioned — slowly, pragmatically, and with much older machinery than its corporate image would like to suggest.
At the 1923 Grouping, the NBR fleet passed to the London & North Eastern Railway, where the 'C' class was designated J36. Under new ownership, the Class of 160 locomotives became almost entirely Scottish-based.
Scotland’s economy depended on coal, ironstone and limestone (among general goods), and the C/J36 class contributed to the backbone of Scottish freight for over half a century. Working coal trains, trip freights, yard duties, and rural goods, they rarely strayed far from depots in the Central Belt, Fife, and the Borders. By the 1930s, these locomotives were already 'old-fashioned', but still indispensable thanks to low axle load and route availability.
No. 65330 specifically is especially interesting because it represents a short-lived transitional period, carrying its LNER apple green paint with early 'British Railways' ownership lettering, before standard BR black became universal.
This mix of old and new makes 65330 a perfect snapshot of the immediate post-nationalisation era, when austerity meant repainting was delayed and older liveries languished a little longer than was ideally desired.
