7 1/4 inch gauge Talyllyn No.2 "Dolgoch" 0-4-0T

A 7 1/4 inch gauge Tallylyn Railway No.2 "Dolgoch", the 2' 3' gauge original a grand old lady which runs to this day on the line she was built for by Fletcher, Jennings & Co in 1866.

This one has come to us as part of a small collection of good locomotives, including the magnificent 7 1/4 inch gauge Wainwright 4-4-0 we sold recently, a GWR 47XX by the same builder and a Welshpool & Llanfair Railway 0-6-0 "The Countess" in 5 inch gauge.

Constructed using drawings, castings and a boiler kit supplied by Reeves, it was quickly realised, on seeing the sheer size and weight of copper plates in the boiler, that soldering them together was beyond the builder's experience and workshop facilities. In the end he prepared all the plates and tubes before turning them over to the estimable Trever Tremblen at Swindon Boilers to assemble and test.

A rare model in any gauge, we've only once before had a 7 1/4 inch gauge "Dolgoch", that one at a considerably earlier stage back in 2012. Being based on a narrow gauge prototype it makes for a big engine - ready to run we would expect it to weigh in at the best part of a quarter of a ton when finished.

A well-advanced project, built to a good standard, that needs little by way of additional expenditure to complete other than time in the workshop.

Drawings, parts and castings are available from Reeves.