5 inch gauge 51XX GWR Large Prairie

I first bought this engine back in 2004, it came in with several other engines from a man in Kent downsizing his collection - he had a John Adams built Black 5 I coveted which he cannily said "would always be the last one to go...". So it was I ended up having to buy eight locomotives to get the one I wanted!

Built by Trevor Shortland and completed in 1992, the Prairie was built to his own highly detailed design, scaled from works drawings at 1 1/6 inch to the foot - drawings and castings remain available to this day, now stocked by A.J.Reeves.

Last time the engine was here, it ran well although a then-recent paint job in very thick, glossy green paint didn't do much for its appearance.

The intervening years have't been kind to the engine, it's in a pretty forlorn state now - the green is still thick and glossy, although falling off in places. The engine runs on air in a fairly lumpy manner; one spectacle is detached and in the bunker, the other missing; one sandbox needs reattaching.

Time for a "heavy overhaul" on this one - given the quality of original build and the rarity of large Prairies in this gauge, it would be a worthwhile project.