Sold October 2010 Back to Archive

A well-advanced GWR 43xx Mogul, built to Keith Wilson’s design.

Work to date is to a high standard, it appears that the builder had access to some good equipment – probably at work as parts such as the reverser stand and expansion links looks as if they’ve been wire eroded from something quite hard, the front frame stretcher above the bogie looks to be machined from the solid on a CNC mill. Machining and platework is very crisp throughout, the silver soldered copper Swindon No.1 boiler has been neatly made with well flanged plates and good solder penetration.

The piston valve cylinders are in cast iron, complete with drain cocks cable operated from the cab, end covers are fitted with dummy spring relief valves. A mechanical lubricator is mounted beneath the smokebox door, the cover plate is removed rather ingeniously by unscrewing the lamp.

A pair of injectors are fitted beneath the cab with inline clacks to the boiler, steam feed valves are plumbed up to the backhead.

There is a small box of parts and castings to go with, including profiled frame steel, cast iron buffer casting and gunmetal axlebox castings for the tender, a pair of machined headers with lubricator unions for the cylinder steam feeds and a roll of brass boiler banding material, along with a well-thumbed set of drawings.

This would be a straightforward project to complete, with little further expenditure required other than a handful of boiler fittings and some sheet brass for the tender. The locomotive itself could be ready to steam simply by fitting the steam headers, connecting the lubricator and fitting a regulator gland, water and pressure gauges. From the work done to date, it has the potential to make a particularly fine example of a rarely-modelled prototype.