7 1/4 inch gauge WD Austerity 2-10-0

Whilst we do visit quite a lot of barns on our travels, we don't find 7 1/4 inch gauge Austerity 2-10-0s in many of them.

This one has come to us from the late builder's family, after having been stored in a garage for many years. It's survived remarkably well, due in no small part to a liberal coating of oil which has preserved much of the brightwork, which now simply needs a good clean.

The chassis is well made, it turns over freely and runs on air - we couldn't resist running it up and down our test track with a long air line attached!

Tender is largely complete although what paint there ever was on it has suffered in storage.

The copper boiler is of brazed and soldered construction, however it's of thin gauge material - useful only as the pattern for a replacement really. Given the wide firebox, we'd be tempted to fit a steel boiler which would add useful adhesive weight, allow running at higher pressure and be substantially cheaper than the copper alternative.

An interesting project - the chassis and tender could be stripped, overhauled and repainted over the winter at little cost other than time in the workshop.

At nearly nine feet long with tender it will make a large, powerful locomotive when finished, an interesting example of a rarely modelled prototype.