Sold May 2003 Back to Archive

A well-made tank locomotive to Ken Swan's well-regarded "Bridget" design, an ideal choice for a garden railway given its ability to deal with very tight radius curves.

Professionally-built copper boiler, all silver-soldered with superheater. Feed by axle pump and injector with auxiliary hand pump in tank. Outside slide valve cylinders with Walschaert's valve gear. Sight-feed cylinder lubricator with tank beneath the footplate. Steam brake.

The engine appears to have had little use - the motion work and bearings are all in good order - but has been stored in the builder's workshop for many years while he built a series of traction engines. It now needs re-commissioning and some tidying up before use.

Sunday evening:

I had a couple of hours spare this afternoon, so tested the boiler and then ran the engine. It raises steam quickly and goes very well, to within one notch of centre on the reverser in both directions. There are minor jobs still to be done, but the engine could be put into service very quickly (provided you can live with the colour!).

Weight 170 pounds