Succumbing to Temptation

Thanks Entirely to William Sroudley

William Stroudley (6 March 1833 to 20 December 1889) was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers of the nineteenth century. He began work in 1847 as a (stationary) steam engine engineer. From 1854 he trained as a locomotive engineer at the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway, but soon moved to the Great Northern Railway at their Peterborough workshops. In 1861 he was appointed manager of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Cowlairs Works. On 19 June 1865 he became locomotive and carriage superintendent of the Highland Railway at Inverness.

So, plenty of experience!

In 1870 he was appointed locomotive superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) at Brighton works. When he took office there were seventy-two different classes of locomotive in use and so there was an urgent need for standardisation to reduce operating costs. Stroudley was hampered at first by the difficult financial state of his new company, which had faced bankruptcy in 1866. 

Stroudley's first design for the SECR were two 4-4-0 tender locos ...

... which looked very similar to some Highland Railway designs. But soon his gangs were producing the A1 0-6-0 tank engines for London suburban services. Umpteen years ago a youthful blogger was on a visit to Eastleigh works and snapped Boxhill ...

... which now resides in the National Railway Museum. 50 of these tiny machines were built but, as London's "commuter" traffic began to grow, something bigger was needed. So the so-called "Terriers" were dispatched to quieter branch lines. The Isle of Wight had a few, as did the Kent and East Sussex line and fbb blogged about them as they ran between Havant and Hayling Island.

See "A Wee Hurl to West Hayling [3]" (read again).

Thus 23 of the class were sold on to other companies by 1905. By the "grouping" to form the Southern Railway only 15 A1s remained in use. A mixture of 15 A1s and AIXs (slightly dofferent) entered Britiah Railways ownership in 1948 and 10 remain in preservation, not all in full working order.

40 Brighton (Isle of Wight Steam Railway as W11 Newport )
46 Newington (Isle of Wight Steam Railway as W8 Freshwater)
50 Whitechapel (Spa Valley Railway as no. 32650 Sutton )
54 Waddon (Canadian Railway Museum) : Yep that's in Canada!
55 Stepney (Bluebell Railway)
62 Martello (Bressingham Steam Museum as 32662
70 Poplar (Kent & East Sussex Railway as 32670
72 Fenchurch (Bluebell Railway as 672 Fenchurch )
78 Knowle (Kent & East Sussex Railway as 32678)
82 Boxhill (National Railway Museum).

Note that several have been given different and incorrect identities. 55 Stepney (Bluebell Railway engine) is famous as one of the extended list of characters from the Thomas the Tank Engine series of stories.

As you might expect, such a diminutive loco has always been attractive to railway modellers; somehow the epitome of British quaintness.

For the big boys, you could buy an "O" gauge (7 mm to the foot) Roxey Models kit plus extra bits (like wheels and motor - fairly imprtant!) for ...

... about £263. But you would have to be very skilled to get as good a finish as shown above. Or your could buy a ready made jobbie from Dapol ...

at just (just!) £200, although some suppliers are discounting this to £170.

There is even an "N" gauge model (2 mm to the foot) ...

... also produced by Dapol in the past but no longer. Second-hand models appear from time to time at about £65.

According to some on-line "authorities", Dapol also produced a 4mm scale Terrier ...

... but the moulds were taken over by Hornby? (confirmation required, please). "Whatever" as the youff of today are wont to say! The most widely available loco of this class is that produced (again in the past) by Hornby.

They are available in BR black, Isle of Wight Green, Southern Green, Stroudley's "improved engine green" (a sort of yellow ochre colour), LBSCR brown and Kent and East Sussex Railway blue.

So here was fbb, taking the cash at the less busy door of Thorncombe Model Railway Railway Exhibition and seated right next to a display of second-hand locos from Ray Heard Models of Illminster. As the hours passed, conversations began about the price of model railways, fbb's new found interest and his desire to buy at least one more tank engine in due course.

Various beauties were shown to fbb including this Hornby 0-6-0 resplendent in London Transport maroon.

Still fbb resisted!

Then out came the Terriers. fbb's spirit of prudence was broken! Sivelling slightly, the old man coughed up a show special price of £40 and bought ...

... No 8 Freshwater from the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. Except that this version ...

... is showing its Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway Number 2. fbb would appreciate an expert opinion on the autheticity and dates of this livery and number combination.

Many preserved lines like their Terriers as well; here is a line-up of five at Horsted Keynes on the Bluebell Railway in 2006.

Juicy!

By the way, don't look for Ray Heard Models' shop in Ilminster; it isn't there. Ray specialises in visiting Model Exhibitions and "Swapmeets"; there is no retail shop. But he does seem a very nice man.

Once the weather improves, el chubbo will append a picture of his newest acquisition in situ on the back-yard layout at fbb mansions.

But tomorrow :-

fbb and No 3 son are off to Sheffield for a first-hand investigation of the new and much-criticised bus network. No doubt there will be "on the spot" reports in due course. Apologies if the standard of blogs suffer for the duration of the visit. fbb is reliant on hotel wifi and/or tethering (whatever that is?) to No 3 son's mobile.

 Next Stagecoach blog : Tuesday 10th November