GER S46 (Claud Hamilton) Class 4-4-0 no. 1885

Claud 1885
Claud 1885
GER S46 (Claud Hamilton) Class 4-4-0 no. 1885. Built in the mid 1980’s from scratch by Wally West using a John Hart RM (short) type motor no. 1352 and wheels turned from extremely good castings, probably by Alan Harris (AGH). 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 Alan Brackenborough in 1986 at a cost of £100, in the GER fully lined passenger livery.

Great Eastern Railway Holden 4-6-0 no. 1501

Great Eastern Railway Holden 4-6-0 no. 1501
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.

GCR class 8B 4-4-2 Atlantic no. 1086

Jersey Lily 1086
GCR class 8B 4-4-2 Atlantic no. 1086. Built from scratch by Wally West using non-insulated wheels turned from extremely 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. A system that I have never seen the like of before. 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 (in 1980 at a cost of £36) by Les Richards in fully lined GCR passenger livery.

LNER D49 (Shire) class no. 234 Yorkshire

234 Yorkshire
LNER D49 (Shire) class no. 234 Yorkshire. Built circa 1968, from scratch by Wally West using rim insulated wheels turned from extremely good castings, probably by Miller, Swan & Co. The driving wheel axles are telescopic and pinned to set the quartering. Power is collected by plunger pick-ups on both the driving wheels and bogie wheels. 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. This model is unusual for a Wally West tender loco build as it does not rely on the tender to collect the power from the track. Superbly painted (in 1970 at a cost of £20) by Bernard Miller in fully lined LNER passenger green livery, with hand painted lettering and numbers. In the Gauge O Guild Gazette of April 1967, Wally replied to a letter, about another D49 of his “The Oakley” which had been on display at the A.G.M. of 1966, “I had hoped to have at the meeting a second D49 “Yorkshire” which is fitted with a Pittman DC91 mechanism with 12:1 gears, to compare the running. However it was not finished in time”.

GCR Robinson class 8K 2-8-0 no. 1185.

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.

Great Central Railway class 8 4-6-0 (Fish engine) no.1067

Great Central Railway class 8 4-6-0 (Fish engine) no.1067
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.

Great Northern Railway Ivatt class C1 4-4-2 no. 990 Henry Oakley

Great Northern Railway Ivatt class C1 4-4-2 no. 990 Henry Oakley
GNR Ivatt class C1 4-4-2 no. 990 Henry Oakley. Built in 1966 from scratch by Walter (Wally) West, using a Pittman DC81 motor and gear unit. With the knowledge of the friendship between Wally and Bernard Miller at the time of build, it is very likely that the wheel castings are from the Miller Swan & Co. range. The split axles and insulated spacers between the frames allow power to be collected from the tender wheels, via sprung plungers/tender buffers, 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 numerals in the fully lined GNR passenger green livery.
I have a dislike of collecting models of preserved locos, but as the model is in it’s short smokebox (saturated) condition and the preserved loco has a long smokebox it is not a model of the loco as preserved. In fact the preserved loco wasn’t superheated until 1923, so I think I’m correct in saying that it would not have carried the GNR livery, as it has since it has been preserved, whilst it had a long smokebox.
A letter has come to light dated March 10th 1966 where Bernard tells Wally “I am delighted to hear about the GN Atlantic and shall look forward to seeing it very much indeed. Wally M. (Mayhew) tells me that you are also building one for him”.
This model, according to Wally’s widow Mary, was his favorite and for it’s age has been rarely used. The paintwork has needed no repairs and it still runs like a dream. The Gauge O Guild Gazette of January 1968 lists a “GNR 4-4-2 (Mr. West)”, on display at the A.G.M. of 1967 and of January 1969 a “GNR 4-4-2 Klondyke by W. West”, is listed as being on display at the A.G.M. of 1968.

North Eastern Railway Worsdell class A 2-4-2T no. 187

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.