3 1/2 inch gauge V4 "Bantam Cock"

A finely made 3 1/2 inch gauge LNER V4 to LBSC's "Bantam Cock" design, the work of a chartered engineer who spent his working life on the railways at Stratford Works.

The engine has come to us from the late owner's son, along with his "Tich" and GER T19 in the same gauge. Completed in 1988 and unsteamed from new, it has been on display for many years and remains in "ex-works" condition.

It carries considerable extra detailing compared to the basic LBSC design, including dummy Wakefield lubricators mounted on the running boards, dummy washout plugs on the outer wrapper, draincocks piped through to the buffer beam, headlamp, cab wind deflectors, drip lubricators with hinged lids, vacuum brake hoses on locomotive and tender air tank.

The chassis is stiff to turn over, unsurprising after thirty-five years "on the shelf". The boiler has had a twice working pressure hydraulic test and appears sounds with no sign of deflection or leaks, other than a couple of beads of water from stays in the firebox which, not unusual in a new boiler, would take up under steam.