Sold September 2008 Back to Archive

Not an exact scale model, but a good representation of one of the Vale of Rheidol Railway's 2-6-2s - the originals were built by Davies & Metcalfe, with another built at Swindon when the Great Western took over the railway in the 1920s from the Cambrian Railway.

This engine is built for 3 1/2 inch gauge, as ever with narrow gauge models you end up with a large engine for the gauge - this one is more like a 5 inch gauge engine.

Silver soldered copper boiler, working pressure 80psi, feed by twin mechanical pumps (working from the piston tailrods) and injector, with auxiliary hand pump in the side tank. Getting water into the boiler shouldn't be an issue...

Gunmetal cylinders with slide valves actuated by Walschaert's valve gear with pole reverser in cab. Mechanical lubricator on offside running board.

I think this is a really attractive little engine (having been brought up with the Welsh narrow gauge). However, when I broached the subject of it living on a chest in the hall for a while, Mrs P took one look and declared it to look "too boxy". I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder - the engine has been relegated to a bookshelf in my office.

Length 30 inches
Height 12 inches
Width 10 inches