Locomotive and stock portraits.
It’s a pleasant pastime to just sit by the lineside and watch a few go by.
All these feature Alan Harris cast iron wheels, but a variety of builders and specialists have played their parts to create this photogenic collection. I’ll let the captions cover the details and add a short description of the locality for those readers not familiar with the layout.
All these feature Alan Harris cast iron wheels, but a variety of builders and specialists have played their parts to create this photogenic collection. I’ll let the captions cover the details and add a short description of the locality for those readers not familiar with the layout.
G.W.R. Mogul No 4318
De Glehn compound No 103 'La France', with illustration below.
Scratchbuilt Mike Brierley King is a historic collector's piece from the era of Beeson and Norris.
Resident Dean ‘3232’ class 2-4-0 waits to back onto a short van train in the yard headshunt.
Dean Goods with colliery wagons.
Double headed Express passes goods loop. Chris Nevard/Model Rail
The Midday service from Hay-on-Wye. Chris Nevard/Model Rail
Dean 2-4-0 No 3242 was one of a class of 20 fast passenger locomotives built in 1893. They worked Swindon to Weymouth trains, South Wales expresses, (as seen here) and other fast North to West trains. A few were shedded in the twenties at Machynlleth and Oswestry, often fitted with Belpaire fireboxes and later boilers. Original by Chris Nevard.
This fairly recent addition to the stud is a BR Class 4MT 2-6-4T, and it's also an MOK build. The original survives at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway near Linlithgow on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth.
Rebuilt MN No 35028 'Clan Line'
Unrebuilt West Country No 34098 'Templecombe' rounds the end curve with a Southern bogie brake van. The loco never wore Southern livery, only coming out of Brighton Works at the end of 1949.
My build of the MOK Ivatt L.M.S. Class 4 kit, seen here as 43059, which was built along with the other 162 in the first few years of BR.
There were 53 of these iconic Patrick Stirling 8ft Singles with their marvellous perforated splashers like paddle steamers, and no 1 runs with an appropriate train of G.N.R. six wheeled teak carriages. They were designed specifically for high speed expresses between York and London and succeeded in averaging nearly fifty m.p.h. As the turn of the century approached, the G.N.R. and their competitors found newer four-coupled designs to be superior. The loco was scratch built by Simon Hill with AGH wheels and Portescap motor. Simon retained an example and the pair were painted by Alan Brackenborough who upon completion of the lining stated he wouldn't do another!
No 6011, ‘King James 1′ in the original 1928 condition, runs along the embankment with an up express. Original by Steve Flint/Railway Modeller.
No 976 slows to a stop at Bucks Hill. Some of these 1874 Armstrong designed 455 class ‘Metro’ tanks were kept at Swindon, Oxford and Gloucester after their spell in London’s tunneled lines, while others were also seen in South Wales and in the West of England too. They sometimes hauled main-line trains like this Cardiff to Gloucester cross country service, being capable of remarkably fast running on the open sections. Original by Steve Flint/Railway Modeller.
My lined black Patriot class 4-6-0 No 5538 'Giggleswick' is a regular runner and it heads up with an express formed of pre-grouping Wolverton bogie stock.
The branch line locomotive shunts the goods yard before its next turn back to Hay-on-Wye.
Dukedog 4-4-0 No 3267 'Earl of Plymouth' brings a van train onto the down main. Original by Steve Flint/Railway Modeller.
Lined L.M.S. lake Jubilee No 5600 'Bermuda'
From Swindons third batch in 1932, No 5015 Kingswear Castle was allocated to Cardiff Canton during the early to mid thirties, moving to Shrewsbury in mid December 1938. Having just passed through the platforms onto the low embankment, this is the up main towards Hereford. The down main, and goods loop can be seen in the foreground.
The model was built from a Malcolm Mitchell kit, with some JLTRT superdetailing components, full inside motion and a Ron Chaplin motor/g box with a Soundtraxx chip. The loco was painted & lined out by Dave Studley. Original by Barry Norman
A Churchward 28xx class stays on the down main at Kenderchurch with a rake of coal empties. No 2843 is shown here as externally unchanged since its 1912 build date, retaining the inside steam pipe arrangement and the early cab without any side windows. Almost without exception, these were paired with 3500 gallon tenders.
Built and painted in the plain Brunswick green livery by John Hayes from a Martin Finney kit, No 2843 has a Portescap/ABC setup, with an ESU sound chip.
The locomotive has just crossed the facing point into the goods loop visible in the foreground, with the smokebox just obscuring the buffers of the yard headshunt alongside the retaining wall of the cutting. Original by Barry Norman
As a reminder that the line was a joint GWR/LMS route, a Hughes Crab approaches the station on the down main. No 13004 was built at Horwich in October 1926 and is shown in its original lined lake livery. Within a few years it would be re-numbered as No 2704
This model was built using Chowbent and scratchbuilt components by John Hayes with a Portescap/ABC, then painted and lined into the early LMS livery by Chris Wesson. Original by Barry Norman
Mogul No 4318 on the down main. These numerous mixed traffic locos were first introduced in 1911, with standard number 4 boilers and the frame support struts similar to those fitted to the '2800' class.
Lined black L.M.S Jubilee No 5593 'Kolhapur'
No 5818 was permanently on hand to run the daily branch line duties up and down the Golden Valley line until its eventual closure. The Collett 0-4-2T was built in August 1933 and arrived for work at Pontypool Road few months later. It soon became the favourite of the resident driver Charlie Smith who had a habit of taking photos of the day to day activity up and down the line with his black & white camera.
The main lines are behind us in this view, and following the prototype, the trackbed of the branch diverted away a few yards to the north east of the signal box. It then rounded a curve at Kenderchurch to pass its own tiny corrugated sheet engine shed, and ‘The Dump’, a network of Royal Ordnance sidings, with the next station being Abbeydore a little over two miles to the north west. 5818 heads a typical hourly passenger service returning from Hay-on Wye, with it’s junction onto the Hereford to Brecon line.
The model was built in 2005 from a Modern Outline kit with the usual refinements of detail, using a Zimmo sound chip. John Hayes then applied his painting skills for the finishing touch. Original by Barry Norman
Sepia study of a 517 Class locomotive as used on the Golden valley branch line. No 832 was an 0-4-2T designed by George Armstrong for local passenger work on the Great Western Railway. They were built at Wolverhampton Works and this particular one was outshopped in 1873.
Crossing the border! A straight framed 1904 Dean Bulldog rounds the curve on the down main towards Abergavenny. No 3405 “Empire of India” has also had its parallel boiler replaced by a Swindon No 2. These were originally known as the ‘Camel’ class when outshopped, now with the later splasher mounted nameplate, and the number plate separate on the cabside. Within a few years, the 4-4-0 would be rebuilt as ‘Earl of Eldon’ No 3212 and sent to Oswestry with a larger 3500 gallon tender.
Scratchbuilt in nickel silver by Tony Reynalds with fully detailed piston rods, crank axle and Stephenson inside motion, it appears in the un-lined early 1930s livery, gently weathered by Martyn Welch. This is one still in the queue to have a sound chip fitted.
The short section of embankment is broken once by a small stone built occupation bridge, which is modelled as being permanently muddy underfoot as it would also have acted as a drainage culvert for the steeply sloping meadow behind the line. Original by Barry Norman
An express goods heads away north west, with the second of the nine 47xx 2-8-0s at the head. This was to be Churchward’s final design for the GW, and No 4701 began work in January 1922. With well over 30,000 lbs of tractive effort and a good turn of speed the class were equally at home with passenger duties. Often rostered on overnight long distance goods work, this fine looking class were soon nicknamed ‘night owls’.
Bucks Hill’s resident example was built and painted by John Hayes from a Martin Finney kit using a Portescap/ABC drive, and a soundtraxx chip. Original by Barry Norman
Re-numbered in the 1912 scheme, this curved frame Bulldog was built in 1900 as No 3343. With its combined name/number plate on the cabside, No 3331 “Pegasus” now has a No 2 taper boiler with Belpaire firebox, but retains its original Dean bogie.
Built in the late nineties from a Martin Finney kit, the loco has full inside motion and uses a Portescap/ABC combination. John Hayes painted and weathered this workhorse, which features Carl Legg etched cabside plates.
At the head of the Cardiff Breakdown train, Pegasus has just entered the scenic section of Bucks Hill and is about to round the short curving embankment to the south west of the station. The tired looking post & wire fencing denotes the railway land boundary, as it winds its way around the tunnel mouth. A fixed distant arm guards the down main, and a tumbledown barn appears nearly surrounded by trees on the hillside behind. Original by Barry Norman
Heading home, a Churchward 43xx Mogul passes the retaining wall behind the yard headshunt. No 4318 was built in October 1911 and by the mid thirties period it had been allocated to Ebbw Junction.
The model was built and painted 10 years ago by John Hayes from a Malcolm Mitchell kit and uses an ABC/Maxon combination drive. Original by Barry Norman
Llantrisant’s 4208 emerges from the gloom with Crocodile well wagons and Macaw B flats. The short haul 2-8-0T was completed at Swindon in February 1912, with nearly all the class set to work on the South Wales coal traffic. The trailing driving wheelsets were designed with sideplay, with spherical joints in the connecting rods allowing the movement. They earned the nickname ‘Water Carts’ because of their high consumption and small tanks, with very few of them straying east of Severn Tunnel Junction.
The model was built from a nickel silver David Andrews kit, an ABC/Maxon setup provides power via a soundtraxx chip and Ron Chaplin pickups. Original by Barry Norman
No 2258 approaches Bucks Hill tunnel with a van train. 120 of these Collett 2251 class 0-6-0s were built at Swindon, as first introduced in 1930, designed for medium goods and some branch passenger work. They were really a modernised Dean Goods, sharing the main dimensions, but with more modern features such as taper boilers and full cabs. This one was finished at the end of April in the first year of production, and is seen here as only a few years old. Built from a Martin Finney kit, also using the Finney inside motion parts. Original by Steve Flint/Railway Modeller.
This was the RM cover photo, but it shows a little more background here. No 6011 King James 1 heads east with nine on. Photo by Steve Flint/Railway modeller
No 5593 'Kolhapur' is in the attractive L.M.S. lined black. One of a limited run from Lee Marsh.
Recently built from an MOK kit, this Armstrong 4-4-0 was painted and lined by Alan Brackenborough. These were nominal renewals of four of Dean's "experimental locomotives", Nos. 7, 8, 14 and 16, thus explaining the early numbers. Had it not been for the recent derailing of one of his 3001 Class 2-2-2s in Box Tunnel, they would probably have been rebuilt as 2-2-2s, but the adoption of Dean bogies and double-curved running plates resulted in an exceptionally handsome design.
No 3405 'Empire of India' appears in the un-lined early 1930s livery, gently weathered by Martyn Welch. Original by Barry Norman
