Why certain loco numbers

[Bealman]

I guess we need a response from the OP.

[Karhedron]

Some manufacturers add number to a body that is not correct, eg Dapol BR terriers with a long bunker never fitted to the particular locos or BR livery to an M7 that was cut up in 1937. So how do they arrive at a number?

The same way as anyone else, they try to research the subject and then reach a decision.

Unfortunately research takes time and sometimes initial results may be misleading. I know one Dapol Grange is in the wrong livery because of a misprint in a book. Hattons forthcoming 1470 in 00 gauge has mistakes in both livery and the presence of topfeed despite the fact I sent them detailed photographs of the loco in the early 50s.

Ultimately manufacturers are only human and there are far too many trains in production for anyone to be an expert on all of them. I am very good at picking up mistakes on late GWR/WR locos but if something was wrong on an LNER loco, I would not notice unless it was pointed out to me. What is obvious to us regarding our pet prototypes is not always obvious to a manufacturer struggling to meet deadlines and maintain turnover.

[GWR-Kris]

Hi guys thanks for the response, so to sum up my question there is no issue using certain names of models in preservation or owner ship, the issue maybe down to tooling such as minor or even major detailing differences with the locos.