Sold December 2007 Back to Archive

A well-made example of LBSC's "Tich", the first engine built by a man from a model engineering family who has himself gone on to be a professional modeller.

Silver soldered superheated copper boiler, feed by axle pump with auxiliary hand pump in the side tank. Before anybody writes in that there's an injector as well, there is but it appears more for ornamental purposes than any serious intention to get water in the boiler (he says bitterly, a beaten man...). Working pressure 80psi. Gunmetal cylinders with slide valves operated by Walschaert's reversing gear with pole reverser in cab. Mechanical lubricator behind front buffer beam.

Used over the years by its builder, the engine has been well looked after and comes complete with a fitted wooden travelling box. I'm always amazed at quite how fast a well-built Tich will go on its two inch wheels - on my rainy day portable track set up in the workshop this afternoon, it was a close-run thing first time I opened the regulator whether me or the engine would make it to the other end of the bench first.