Model collectori s bitten by'The Bug'
A ONE- OFFL ondon& SouthW estern Railwayc ombinedt ank locomotive and coachw asi n the spotlighta t a Vectisv intaget oyss alea tThornaby on April3 0, when an electricO - gauge modelo f the uniquec reationt opped the trainc ategoryw ith a realisationo f £ 500.
Theo riginalo n whicht he kit- built model was based emerged from Nine Elms Works in Battersea, south- west London, in April 1899 for the use of locomotive superintendent Dugald Drummond and his senior staff.
Nicknamed ' The Bug, it was classified Class F9, numbered 733, and was officially a 4- 2- 4T, although the rear axle supported a small gas- lit saloon, which contained a table, easy chairs, a tiny buffet attendant's compartment, a small lavatory, and an opening hatch for communicating with the locomotive footplate crew.
A second nickname was'Mr Drummond's car, and it was in effect his personal chauffeured company transport often for travel from his home in Surbiton to the works at either Nine Elms or Eastleigh. It also travelled far and wide over the entire LSWR system with the autocratic Drummond on board, and one account records it as having covered 361,000 miles by 1912.
Another claim sounds rather less credible, that the little locomotive, which had a tractive effort of 52851bf t, was capable of more than 80mph, which if accurate must have produced
a most lively ride for Drummond.
After his death in November 1912, at the age of 72, ' The Bug'was rarely used, a lthoughi t survivedi n Southern Railwayo wnershipn, umbered5 8S, until withdrawal in 1940.
Thatw asn'tt he end, howeverf, o r the frames and leading and trailing wheels were used to transport heavy loads aroundE astleighW orksu ntil 1957, while the saloon became an inspector's officei n the carriagew orksu ntilt he late- 1960sa, nd isb elievedt o survive today as a garden shed in Swanage closet o the town'sh eritagel ine.
Becauseo f Covid- 19r estrictions the auction was held as an online, telephonea nd commissions ale, w ith no livea udiencei n the saleroomT. he model'sr ealisationo f £ 500 excludes buyer'sp remiumo f 25% ( incVAT).
Ancient and modern: Southern Railway B4c lass0 - 4- 0T No. 3 0102b eing preparedf or preservationa t Eastleigh Works on August 5, 1964, while in the backgrounda locomotivef rom a totally different era - Class9 F 2- 10- 0 No. 9 2135- ist he objecto f attention. The tank engine was built at Nine Elms in December 1893 and withdrawn in September 1963, its service life of70 years being in stark contrast to that of the 9F, which emerged from Crewe in June 1957, and was withdrawn just 10 years later, in June 1967. The former LSWRw orksa nd depot at Eastleigh frequently played host to a unique locomotivea nd saloonc ombination usedb y locomotives uperintendent Dugald Drummond in the first decade of the 1900s. BEN BROOKSBANK/ CREATIVCEO MMONS.