BR(ER) Thompson B1 class 4-6-0 no. 61379 Mayflower

BR(ER) Thompson B1 class 4-6-0 no. 61379 Mayflower.

Superbly built from one of the original Walter Hodgson designed Piercy Model Products kits by my good friend the late Graham Jaques and very well painted by him also. Portescap RG7 motor and gear unit, Slaters wheels, plunger pick-ups, opening smokebox door, working lubricator linkage, working reversing gear, nothing was too much trouble for Graham. The model runs like a dream.

A rare model of the only B1 named by British Railways, No. 61379 Mayflower was named in 1951. Mayflower also carried on the cab-sides, a plaque stating “This locomotive was named Mayflower 13th July 1951 as a symbol of the ties between the two towns of Boston and of the lasting friendship between the USA and the British Commonwealth”. It’s well worth stating that I remember Graham, with his eye for detail, commissioning the late Chris Gordon Watford of Severnmill Nameplates to create the cab-side plaques for this model.