Sold June 2009 Back to Archive

One of those rare instances where the cosmetic state of a locomotive is completely at odds with its mechanical condition. Whilst the paintwork on this Great Western Prairie is grotty, mechanically it was finely made in the first place and remains in good condition. The highly-detailed Trevor Shortland design, derived from original Swindon drawings, results in a large model, slightly longer in the coupled wheelbase than the pair of Britannias currently in the workshop and not a whole lot lighter.

Silver soldered copper boiler with superheaters, working pressure 90psi. There are working ashpan dampers, controlled by levers set into the footplate as on the prototype. Feed by twin injectors, with auxiliary hand pump in the side tank. Cast iron cylinders with piston valves actuated by Stephenson's gear, pole reverser in cab.

The engine steams freely and runs particularly well - it's a powerful locomotive, although not one for tight radius curves. Possibly due to the sheer amount of detail in the design, it's a rare model - I've only ever had one complete one (built by the designer himself) and a good part-built specimen which resided here briefly last year.

There's one of Steve's videos here showing him hard at work with the engine a couple of days after it arrived.

Length 44 inches