GER Holden 4-6-0 no. 1501. Built in the mid 1960’s, from scratch by Wally West using wheels turned from very good castings, probably by Miller, Swan & Co. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected from the tender wheels, via sprung plungers mounted on the front face of the tender, connecting with contact faces on the back of the loco. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco driving and tender axles have sprung hornblocks. Superbly painted by Bernard Miller with hand painted lettering in the GER fully lined passenger livery. The edges of the running plate are showing their age and the faces of the wheel tyres need repainting, but nothing that a little conservation cannot put right. The important areas of the paint are still very good. Cabside number plates have now been found and added since the model was previously displayed on this website.
GNR steam rail motor No.1. Built from scratch by Wally West circa 1973 and painted by Nick Campling in the fully lined GNR passenger green and teak livery.
GCR Robinson class 8K 2-8-0 no. 1185. Built from scratch by Walter (Wally) West circa 1972 with good quality wheels, probably by Miller, Swan & Co. This model has a wire drive at drawbar level, from the motor and gears in the loco through to a very heavy flywheel unit mounted in the tender, producing a powerful locomotive with very good slow running qualities. Superbly painted by Bernard Miller with hand painted lettering and crests, in the lined GCR mixed traffic livery. A twin of this model, no. 376 was built by Wally at the same time. That model has since had water scoop apparatus fitted to the tender by Geoff Holt and has also been repainted by Alan Brackenborough.
GCR Robinson class 8 4-6-0 no. 1067. Built from scratch by Wally West circa mid-seventies, using a JH motor and a double reduction gear unit, with wheels turned from good quality castings. probably by Miller, Swan & Co. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected from the tender wheels, via sprung plungers mounted on the front face of the tender, connecting with contact faces on the back of the loco. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco driving and tender axles have sprung hornblocks. Superbly painted by Bernard Miller with hand painted lettering and crests in lined GCR mixed traffic livery. An identical twin of this model, also numbered 1067, was built by Wally at the same time. That model has since been repainted in the same livery by Alan Brackenborough.
North Eastern Railway Worsdell class A 2-4-2T no. 187. Built circa 2000, from scratch by Walter (Wally) West using wheels turned from castings by Alan Harris (AGH). The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected through the wheels. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco axles have sprung hornblocks. Superbly painted in fully lined North Eastern Railway passenger livery by Alan Brackenborough, (The invoice from Alan to Wally in the sum of £200 plus £21.45 postage, dated 2/2/04 has been found). A superbly built and painted model in every respect, with full provenance.
NER class M1 4-4-0 no. 1620. Built from scratch by Walter (Wally) West. Signed on the underside “West 1971”. Good quality wheels, probably by Miller, Swan & Co. Superbly painted by Bernard Miller with hand painted lettering and crests in the fully lined NER passenger green livery.
Great Central Railway class 8 4-6-0 (Fish engine) no.1068. Built circa 1990 from scratch with fully working inside motion by Wally West. Wheels turned from castings by Alan Harris (AGH). The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected through the wheels. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco axles have sprung hornblocks. This model also features fine cab interior detail, is powered by a Portescap motor/gear unit and is in virtually unused working condition. Superbly painted by Alan Brackenborough in the fully lined GCR mixed traffic livery.
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Aspinal Highflyer 4-4-2 no. 1405. Built in 1986, from scratch with fully working Joy inside motion by Wally West, using wheels turned from castings by Alan Harris (Sales invoices from AGH in the sum of £44.92, dated 24th January 1986 have been found). The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected from the tender wheels, via sprung plungers mounted on the front face of the tender, connecting with contact faces on the back of the loco. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco driving and tender axles have sprung hornblocks. Superbly painted by as yet a person unknown, with hand painted lettering and crests in the fully lined L&YR passenger livery. This model also features very fine cab interior detail and is in superb working condition.
North Eastern Railway Tennant 2-4-0 no. 1467. Built circa 2005, from scratch in scaleseven and with fully working inside motion, by Wally West using wheels turned from castings by Alan Harris (AGH). The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected through the wheels using the American system. All brake blocks are made from non conductive material to eliminate shorting across the brake rigging. All loco and tender axles have sprung hornblocks. Painted in fully lined North Eastern Railway passenger livery by Alan Brackenborough. This model also features very fine cab interior detail, is powered by a Portescap motor/gear unit, is in superb (virtually unused) working condition. A superbly built and painted model in every respect.
GWR Saint class 4-6-0 no. 2932 Ashton Court. This brand new model loco, just completed by myself and painted by John Cockcroft, has used in the main the “Just Like the Real Thing” kit, Slaters wheels and Portescap motor and gear unit. Power pick up is via the American method.
