Douglas Drummond's first locomotive class built after his appointment as Chief Mechanical Engineer to the London South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1895 was the 30 strong 700 Class of 0-6-0 goods engines later to be widely known as 'Black Motors'. They were in fact very similar to a previous class of his built for the … Continue reading Talking Stock #29 Black Motors, Drummond’s 700 class
Category: Talking Stock
Talking Stock #28 The Atlantic Coast Express – ‘ACE’
The Southern Railway had many evocative and well known named trains such as: the Golden Arrow, Bournemouth Belle, the Devon Belle (as per my Talking Stock #20 post here) but one of the possibly most misnamed but well of them all was the Atlantic Coast Express. Why misnamed you might ask, well of the ten … Continue reading Talking Stock #28 The Atlantic Coast Express – ‘ACE’
Talking Stock #27 4mm Bulleid coaches – new R-T-R on the way?
The topic of Bulleid coaches has come to the fore again via a number of mediums. Firstly; the new Graham Farish Bulleid coaches in 2mm N gauge have hit the shops, a good review of them by Nigel Burkin can be found on the Model Railways Live website here. Secondly; current Model Rail magazine editor Ben … Continue reading Talking Stock #27 4mm Bulleid coaches – new R-T-R on the way?
Talking Stock #26 The four Urie G16 large tanks
I have a bit of a soft spot for all large tank locomotives and a number of classes of large tanks existed on the Southern Railway such as the H16 4-6-2T, W 2-6-4T, the Z class 0-8-0T that I featured in my Talking Stock# 19 post here and the topic of this post the G16 … Continue reading Talking Stock #26 The four Urie G16 large tanks
Talking Stock #25 Marsh got one Atlantic 4-4-2 tank right with the I3
Douglas Earie-Marsh will probably be best known for the popular and graceful H1 and H2 Atlantic express engines, although these were essentially Ivatt designs from the Great Northern with whom March previously worked. His fist design of Atlantic tanks the I1 and I2 classes were not at all successful performers. The I3 tanks however changed … Continue reading Talking Stock #25 Marsh got one Atlantic 4-4-2 tank right with the I3
Talking Stock #24 3rd Series Merchant Navy initial livery variations
The third and final series of Bulleid's Merchant Navy Pacifics were not introduced until after the formation of British Railways in the Autumn of 1948. As a result they were numbered immediately into the new BR numbering series 35021 to 35030 but still initially appeared in malachite green whilst British Railways developed their own new livery schemes. The locomotives … Continue reading Talking Stock #24 3rd Series Merchant Navy initial livery variations
Talking Stock #23 Pull Push set 734 ex LSWR Emigrant Stock
The Southern Railway following on from its constituents made use of Pull Push sets across the network and this practice carried on well into British Railways Southern Region days. Other railways companies also made of such although they were often also known as autocoach, motor coach or push pull sets on these other railways. Originally many … Continue reading Talking Stock #23 Pull Push set 734 ex LSWR Emigrant Stock
Talking Stock #22 The Missing Mogul – the K class
With respect to the Southern Railway Mogul 2-6-0 locomotive fleet most people probably immediately think of the Maunsell Moguls, the N/N1 and U/U1 classes. Their origins lead back to the SECR for the 5'6" driving wheeled N class followed by the later Southern built, also under the design auspices of Maunsell who was now CME of the Southern, the … Continue reading Talking Stock #22 The Missing Mogul – the K class
Talking Stock #21 – Bulleid’s Q1 ugly duckling or powerfully out of the ordinary?
During the second world war the need for a goods locomotive with wide route availability at a time of scarce raw materials and labour was to provide Bulleid with a challenge. He has already voiced his dislike of the Maunsell Q class 0-6-0 (appartently stating he would have cancelled the build if he had taken … Continue reading Talking Stock #21 – Bulleid’s Q1 ugly duckling or powerfully out of the ordinary?
Talking stock #20 The Devon Belle
The "Devon Belle" Pullman service between London Waterloo and Ilfracombe with a portion to Plymouth did not in reality last for long as named train services go. It was introduced by the Southern Railway on 20th June 1947 and lasted until September 1954. Usually the train was worked from London to Exeter with Merchant Navy class … Continue reading Talking stock #20 The Devon Belle