7 1/4 inch gauge GWR 32XX "Dukedog" 4-4-0

A 7 1/4 inch gauge Great Western 32XX "Dukedog", an elegant - if anachronistic - design, one of the last standard gauge engines to feature outside frames.

Whilst looking for all the world like something from the Victorian or early Edwardian era, it was actually Collett who laid out the design marrying Dean's "Duke" pattern boiler to the Dean/Churchward "Bulldog" running gear, with a class of 30 engines built at Swindon between 1936 and 1939 (and a further 11 planned but not built due to the outbreak of war).

Built to the Keith Wilson design, the engine was completed shortly before the COVID lockdown which precluded running at the club. During that time the builder put his time to good use, producing the rake of Great Western cattle vans we currently have listed, before moving onto his current project, a 5 inch gauge locomotive. As a result, the Dukedog has had little running from new.

The boiler has had hydraulic and steam tests, with new certification issued. The engines runs - slightly better in reverse than forwards, with further performance to come from careful setting of the valves and eccentrics.

The locomotive is fitted with vacuum brakes, operated from an external pump. When running it on our track here we found it to be quite light-footed - some ballast in the chassis would be an improvement, given the power available.

The front bogie has very limited clearance with the frames - similar to a Stirling Single - rendering it unsuitable for the sorts of tight radius curves you might find on a typical garden railway.

One engine of the original class survives in preservation, No.9017 "Earl of Berkeley" based at the Bluebell Railway.