3 1/2 inch gauge Baldwin 4-8-4 "Columbia"

A 3 1/2 inch gauge Baldwin 4-8-4 to Martin Evans' "Columbia" design, serialised in "Model Engineer" 1978-80. As we've pointed out before, it comes out as a seriously large engine in this gauge - 18 inches longer than a 3 1/2 inch gauge Britannia and with 42 square inches of grate area (just less than a 7 1/4 inch gauge Stafford!)

This one has come to us from the family of the builder, a man who, now advancing in years, has had to give up model engineering after a long, productive career.

The son of a father who worked on the railways and a grandfather apprenticed at Stratford Works, this is the second "Columbia" he built, the first completed and subsequently sold many years ago.

The engine rolls freely and runs on air, with some fine tuning of the valve settings remaining to be done. The regulator requires finishing - it was removed for the hydraulic test.

The boiler has had a twice working pressure test off the frames with new certification issued.