7 1/4 inch narrow gauge Hunslet 0-4-0ST "Lilla" with tender

A 7 1/4 inch gauge quarry Hunslet, a large engine built to Ross Harrison's design in 4 inch scale, coming in at nearly a foot longer than the more commonly modelled "Alice" class.

The original locomotive, works number 554, was built for Cilgwyn Quarries in 1895, entering service as "Lilla". It was subsequently bought by Penrhyn Quarry in 1928 and worked until the 1960s when it was acquired by the pioneering narrow gauge preservationist Bernard Latham and restored in his back garden. It visited a number of railways until, after a visit to the Ffestiniog it remained there following purchase by a private consortium, where it remains to this day.

The engine is the work of a long time customer and great friend of the company. Something of a rennaissance man - a bon viveur, raconteur par excellence and highly capable engineer with wide ranging interests including vintage cars and steam engines of all types. A regular visitor to our works, he makes the world a rather more interesting place.

Still hard at it in the workshop in his ninth decade, he swears this will be the last 7 1/4 inch narrow gauge locomotive he'll build - they're getting far too big to handle! Completed earlier in the year the engine is in unsteamed, ex-works condition.

The welded CE-marked steel boiler is by Bell Boilers, complete with all manufacturer's paperwork, feed is by twin injectors; the chassis runs well on air in either direction.

There are some "loose ends" to be tidied up and there will, no doubt, be minor jobs to be done to commission for steam, as with any new engine. Jobs we've noted include:

• Seal leaks in saddle tank
• Strip and reseat whistle valve
• Replace blanking plug in firebox with fusible plug

The ride in tender - with, allegedly, the last all-welded steel body to be supplied by Blackgates Engineering - is fitted with electric boiler feed and vacuum brake pumps.