GWR Churchward Saint class 4-6-0 no. 2923 Saint George

Mick Bayliss My loco collection
GWR Churchward Saint class 4-6-0 no. 2923 Saint George. This is a special model for me. In 2008, at Mellors & Kirk auctioneers in Nottingham, it was sold with provenance, as part of the Simpson collection of 31 finescale model locomotives. All scratchbuilt, mostly by Peter Everton or Brian Broumpton and painted by Alan Brackenborough. Three of them had been built by Stanley Beeson. I attended the auction, with little available cash, and was very disappointed to come away with nothing. Advance in time now to January 2024 and this model (with another, a King 6024 by Mr. Everton) is again in the same auction house, but this time in a damaged condition. Nameplates missing, two scratches to the green paintwork and a damaged (and very crudely glued back together) cab. The buyer in 2008 has clearly not looked after his purchases (the King was also in a play worn condition) and has probably now passed away. After careful viewing, I decided that if it could be obtained at the right price, restoration could be achieved, and here is the result. Mechanically it did still run quite well. Parts of the tender brake gear were missing and have had to be replaced. The cab has been completely broken down to it’s individual parts, thoroughly cleaned of all glue deposits and rebuilt as a soldered together unit. Fortunately, Mr Broumpton built this model with the cab screwed to the running plate and fitting around the firebox and backhead (just like the real thing and unlike kit built models these days), making the repair of the cab considerably easier and also the painting and lining of the cab spectacle plate considerably easier also. John Cockcroft has made a superb job of repainting the cab and restoring the rest of the paintwork to match Mr. Brackenborough’s original finish. New plates by Severnmill complete the rebuild of this fine model. I now get to own and enjoy one of the models that I disappointingly missed out on 16 years previously. I may have missed out, but attendance to that auction in 2008, gave me the ambition to collect fine scratchbuilt models like this.