A historic locomotive from the National Collection will be cosmetically restored by the team of staff and volunteers at the NRM Conservation Workshop at Locomotion: The National Railway Musuem at Shildon, in a project supported by Locomotionmodels.com. The British Rail Class 71 was an electric locomotive used on the Southern Region of British Railways. In line with British Transport Commission’s Modernisation Plan, 24 of these electric locomotives were built at the BR Doncaster Works in 1958, destined for use on the main lines of the Kent Coast. These locomotives, originally numbers E5000 to E5023, collected their power from the Southern system’s third rail. The Class 71 locomotives were classified as a mixed traffic locomotive, and proved to be equally suited to haul heavy freight or express passenger trains. Renowned for their impressive acceleration, the locomotives were used on the Southern Region’s most prestigious services, including the London to Paris “Night Ferry” train and the famous “Golden Arrow” service. The Class 71s were withdrawn from service on the last day of 1977. One of the class – E5001 – was preserved and became part of the National Collection. From January 2017, in a project supported by Locomotionmodels.com, E5001 will be cosmetically restored to its preserved livery by the skilled team of staff and volunteers at the NRM Conservation Workshop at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon. A new NRM Exclusive model of E5001 in the preserved livery, produced by Hornby for Locomotionmodels.com as part of the National Collection in Miniature series, is now available, All profits generated from the sale of National Collection in Miniature models are reinvested into the ongoing work to conserve, expand and display the National Railway Collection and National Collection in Miniature. For more information on the model, or to order, please visit www.locomotionmodels.com or telephone the Locomotionmodels team at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon on 01904 685785. Visitors to Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon will be able to watch the cosmetic restoration of E5001 from the viewing area alongside the NRM Conservation Workshop. Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon is open from 10am to 5pm daily. Parking and admission are free of charge. For more information, please call the museum team on 01388 777999.