Sold March 2003 Back to Archive

5 inch gauge part-built Stirling single - stock code 1931

An old part-built model of a Stirling single, the 4-2-2 express engine designed for the Great Northern Railway at the height of the "Race to the North". The magnificent original "No.1" resides in the National Railway Museum and combines a Victorian elegance with a purposeful look of speed - if it sounds like I have a soft spot for these engines, as a small boy growing up in Stamford, there was, in the town library, a 5 inch gauge Stirling single on display in a glass case. Many were the afternoons on my way home from school that I would end up there with my nose pressed against the glass!

This is not exactly a glass-case model, but rather a curiosity. The chassis is complete, with all motion work, axle pump and lubricator. It appears to be quite old, possibly pre-war. The boiler is of more recent manufacture and untidy construction although it is substantially built. We don't have a set of drawings for this engine although included is a set of Reeves drawings for the Stirling single which will give a good idea on the platework required for finishing the locomotive and full details of the tender. There is also a set of tender wheel castings, grate and safety valve cover along with a set of steel boiler formers.

Length 28 inches

gauge 5 inch