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A 7 1/4 inch gauge Great Western "King", built to Trevor Shortland's painstakingly detailed design, derived from works drawings. The work of a professional model engineer, this was one of a pair of engines in progress when he died nearly twenty years ago. I first saw it in the summer of 2002 and have tried to buy it ever since. I think the engineering is immaculate throughout - there are over fifty pictures below showing the quantity and quality of work to date.

The builder logged over 5000 hours on the project to get this far - the closer you look the more you see: the petticoat assembly which is silver soldered from four castings and includes a blower ring and vacuum ejector exhaust, sparing a builder none of prototype's detail, connecting rods fluted out back and front (even the inside pair), eccentric straps tenoned together.

The chassis is pretty much complete, the tender chassis well-advanced, with much of the brasswork formed to finish the tank. Platework for the locomotive is largely done bar cab. There is a large quantity of part-machined and spare parts for the engine (some of which, I suspect, were from its sibling, separated from it back in the early 90s). The beautifully made boiler is by Trevor Tremblen of Swindon Boilers, copper construction with TIG-welded barrel seam, remainder all silver soldered - it had a twice working pressure hydraulic test last week and a new certificate issued, it will require a steam test when complete.

The finished locomotive with tender is almost nine feet long, it will weigh something approaching quarter of a ton. Reeves still stock the castings for "King George V" - an unmachined set to build the engine, along with a commercially-built copper boiler currently cost something in excess of £16000.

Complete with a set of drawings.