This weekend the Country celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of her Majesty whilst bunting manufacturers reflect on the good times and worry about their ongoing share price and the inevitable drop in sales. To mark the occasion in Southern style I thought I would share a few pictures of my Adams A12 ‘Jubilee’ class 0-4-2 locomotive number 528.

Built originally in 1887, at the time of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, hence them gaining the ‘Jubilee’ name, the  Adams A12 class were built at the London South Western Railways own works at Nine Elms, and the first after a long period of its locomotives being built solely by outside engineering contractors.

The 0-4-2 wheel arrangement was pretty unique in the UK with only the B1  ‘Gladstone’ class of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway being of a similar style although the A12 had  outside axles boxes for the trailing Axle.  Fifty were built at Nine Elms with a further 40 contracted out to Neilson & Co at Glasgow. For quite a diminutive engine  they were surprisingly heavy excursions and troop train movements,  goods services to the west of England, Weymouth and Southampton and passenger train services in north and central Devon. All 90 entered Southern Railway service and the last of the class was not withdrawn until 1948 (although the four that survived, just, into the British Railways ownership did not gain a BR number).

My model is a Nu-Cast white metal kit which was a little of a challenge to fit a reasonable size motor and gearbox into but manged it with a small Comet gearbox and Mashima motor in the end. Technically for the period I model 1946 to 1949 she should be in unlined black livery but felt at the time she would look better if she had managed to retain Maunsell livery just a little while longer.

I hope you all enjoy the weekends celebrations and that her Majesty, unlike the weather, continues to reign over us for many years to come.