Sold May 2004 Back to Archive

Part-built 3 1/2 inch gauge Pacific to LBSC's "Hielan Lassie" design, based on Thompson's rebuild of Gresley's first Pacific "Great Northern" on his assession to CME of the LNER. As ever, LBSC gave all sorts of options to builders with Walschaerts or Baker valve gear actuating slide or piston valves. This one is Baker gear driving piston valves, with conjugated gear for the inside cylinder (which is how Gresley originally designed it, Thompson added a third set of Walschaerts inside the frames on the rebuilds, just to keep things simple!).

The chassis was built many years ago and has been liberally oiled, to which has stuck a generous helping of muck! Underneath the metal is bright, workmanship is good and the engine turns over freely with all the right noises from the (twin) blast pipes. A mechanical lubricator is fitted underneath the smokebox at the front, driven from an eccentric on the front driving axle. A water pump is driven from the back axle. A grate for the wide-firebox boiler is installed over the rear pony truck.

The smokebox in brass is fitted complete with twin blast pipes, door, locking bar, dart and handles. There is a formed up and brazed shell for a copper boiler which is fit only for the skip. The cab is largely complete.

The eight-wheel tender comprises most of a chassis which rolls along, together with a pretty grim-looking tank containing a hand pump. I suspect the chassis is usable, the tank would probably make a nice planter.

There is a complete set of drawings, all the original LBSC "Model Engineer" articles from 1946 giving words and music, together with some notes.

Length
Locomotive 36 inches
Tender 20 inches