7 1/4 inch gauge GNR Stirling 8 foot Single No.5

I bought this 7 1/4 inch gauge Stirling Single from its builder in 2002. One of the finest I'd seen, it's spent the last twenty-two years on display - first at our house on Station Road in Woolhampton, latterly in the library at home here in Metheringham.

Such was its condition that I never ran it - its presence beside me these last twenty years as I've sat writing words for this website more than enough to justify its place in the collection!

The engine was built by a highly talented craftsman, a man who had spent his working life as a woodwork teacher. In his spare time he served as chairman of the local model engineering society, building several fine locomotives and traction engines.

The Stirling was built from scaled up drawings and his own patterns - in total four sets of castings were made, of which three are known to have ended up as complete locomotives, including this, the first to be built. On completion it was run regularly at the builder's club, maintained to the high standards you might expect from a man who'd spent several thousand hours building it in the first place.

It's another of those engines where, like the 3 1/2 inch gauge Britannia we listed recently, the pictures speak more eloquently than any words.

Suffice to say that the standard of machining, fit and finish, platework, painting and lining are first class throughout. The builder used stove enamel to paint all of his engines, for its durability and speed of curing, explaining that he could take painted parts out of the enamelling oven and work on them as soon as they were cool enough to handle.

In our experience, the very finest built engines all display the same quality - it appears that the builder hasn't ever had to try too hard. Pipework is always straight and kink free. Platework is flat with near invisible joins. Motionwork has a sculpted quality, with crisp edges and the absence of machining marks. Easy to spot, difficult to achieve...

To pick just one example of the builder's fastidious attention to detail, look closely at the half round beading around the top of the tender and cab.

This started out life as hard brass rod, which was then annealed, wrapped tightly around a four inch diameter wooden mandrel and secured at either end with a small screw. This was then put in the lathe and half the diameter of the rod was turned away. It was then removed, annealed, straightened, formed to shape and soldered to the platework. Flawlessly done, the effortless look belying the hours of work to produce it.

Last week we steamed the engine for the first time in my ownership. Whilst I hadn't seriously doubted that it would go just as well as it looks, we were all impressed by just what a sure-footed performance it put up, the feeling of latent power and speed under the regulator palpable.

One of the finest engines we've had in the last twenty years - of exceptional quality and vivid performance, it remains in excellent condition throughout.

Complete with quickly detachable front derailing bar and driver's footpegs for the tender (which are practical, although it looks much nicer without them when on display in the house!)

Supplied with 12 months warranty and starter kit of coal and oil.

If required we would be more than happy to include half a day's training at our works on the firing, driving and disposal of the engine for a new owner.