5 inch gauge Liverpool & Manchester "Lion"

A 5 inch gauge Liverpool & Manchester "Lion", to LBSC's "Titfield Thunderbolt" design.

Mechanically in good order, it ticks over very nicely in either direction on air. The prototypically correct gab gear can only be reversed in certain positions, it's a design easily damaged if the reverser is "crunched through" in the wrong place - it's not something we'd recommend for a beginner's club engine!

Paintwork is tired, although quality of the rest of the build would amply repay a strip and repaint.

The builder took many pictures of the original engine for reference, adding detailing like the backhead rivetwork and beautfully made brass "haystack" firebox cladding to the model.

We like the builder's plates - alongside the "Todd Kitson & Laird" plate on the frames is "Ruston Diesels, Vulcan Works", the company who restored the original engine to steam for the "Rocket 150" celebrations in 1980.