3 1/2 inch gauge Britannia 70028 "Royal Star"

A well-built 3 1/2 inch gauge Britannia "Royal Star" to LBSC's popular design, serialised in "Model Engineer" magazine.

It came to us with a collection of 3 1/2 inch gauge locomotives, the Britannia having taken pride of place on the owner's mantelpiece.

We suspect it has spent much of its life on display given the asthmatic performance when it first arrived with us - it brought a whole new meaning to "shy steaming"! A day in the workshop attending to drafting has transformed it, the engine now steams freely and runs well.

The silver soldered copper boiler is a full "bells and whistles" combustion chamber job by Cheddar Boilers, with four element superheater.

Whilst fitted with brake gear, the locomotive steam brake is not piped up - not the greatest hardship, as regular readers know we're not fans of locomotive brakes in the smaller gauges. They tend either to be feeble (in which case why have them) or effective (in which case the out of scale weight train pushes the locomotive along with wheels locked up).

Paintwork was well done in the first place and remains in good condition.