Sold March 2003 Back to Archive

Now don't run away - this isn't as bad as it looks!

A 7 1/4 inch gauge Great Western King chassis, four cylinder with piston valves and inside Stephenson's valve gear.

Many years ago, somebody made a determined start on this large and powerful engine working to a good standard. Work done to date comprises:

Frames
Axleboxes, horns and keeps (gunmetal)
Driving and coupled wheels, quartered and keyed to axles, crankpins fitted
Crankaxle
Eccentric sheaves
Expansion links and inside motion bracket
Inside and outside piston valve cylinders, bored and fitted to frames
Frame stretchers
Outside motion brackets (gunmetal)
Correct compensated, working leaf springs
Tender wheels on correct tapered axles
Smokebox with chimney base

So far, so good. Unfortunately, at that point the project stopped and the engine languished in the original builder's son's shed for a couple of decades, acquiring a liberal coating of grime and rust and being bashed around causing the frames to take some rather odd kinks. However - the grime is largely superficial and a roll of emery cloth appears to work wonders! Realistically, shot-blasting would be the answer for most of it, with hand finishing of the machined bits (crankpins, axles etc) and a little blacksmithing for the frame extremities. It all pushes along freely, there's a set of castings for the front bogie wheels and the expansion links came up bright with some paraffin (they even rock smoothly).

So, impress the chaps down the club (they'll all nudge each other and let newcomers know that you're the chap building a 7 1/4 King - an aura of Keith Wilson-like serenity and experience will surround you) and make some room in my shed for less than the cost of a set of Rob Roy castings!

(If, on the other hand, you really were planning on making a 7 1/4 King, this is a quick way to get over £1000-worth of castings with some competent machining thrown in for free!)

Drawings and castings still available from Reeves.

Overall length (locomotive) 62 inches
Driving wheels 10 inch diameter