BRITAIN’S BEST BANKERS

COLLETT ‘5101’ 2-6-2T Number built: 180. Builder: GWR Swindon. Driving wheel diameter: 5ft 8in. Cylinders: 18in by 30in (2). Horsepower: 24,300lb. Duties: You wouldn’t consider Charles Collett’s ‘Large Prairie’ a natural banker, but those 5ft 8in diameter driving wheels could put down a lot of power. They were a popular choice at Severn Tunnel Junction, in the West Midlands and operating out of Newton Abbot to give trains a helping hand. Model it: An old Farish model in ‘N’ and the equally ancient ex-airfix model from Hornby (‘OO’), plus a new ‘O’ gauge model from Heljan. LMS ‘3F’ 0-6-0T Number built: 422. Builder: LMS Horwich plus Bagnall, Beardmore, Hunslet, North British and Vulcan Foundry. Driving wheel diameter: 4ft 7in. Cylinders: 17in by 24in (2). Tractive effort: 16,530lb. Duties: Henry Fowler’s ‘Jinty’ is not the biggest locomotive you’ll ever see, but it provided useful banking power on not only the Lickey (often in pairs or even coupled in threes and mixed and matched with WR ‘94XX’ 0‑6‑0PTS) but also as the Radstock banker on the Somerset & Dorset. Model it: Excellent models from Farish (‘N’), Bachmann Branchline (‘OO’) and a new ‘O’ gauge version to come from Dapol.

EWS/DB CLASS 66 Co-co

Number built: 250. Builder: General Motors EMD. Driving wheel diameter: 3ft 6in. Engine: EMD710. Horsepower:

3,300hp. Duties: You’d think that an archaic practice such as banking would have been consigned to the railway history books, but no - DB specifically allocated 66055-059 to banking the Lickey and they’re easily identified by their extra headlamps. Model it: Dapol and Farish in ‘N’, Bachmann and Hornby in ‘OO’. ‘O gaugers’ will have to build the PR Model Railway Products (www.prmrp.com) kit. BR ‘9F’ 2-10-0 Number built: 251. Builder: BR Crewe/swindon. Driving wheel diameter: 5ft 0in. Cylinders: 20in by 28in (2). Tractive effort: 39,670lb. Duties: The massive proportions of Robert Riddles’ 2-10-0 made it an ideal banking locomotive. No. 92079 is probably the most famous as it replaced ‘Big Bertha’ on the Lickey, but the most awesome spectacle would have been Tyne Dock-consett ore trains top-and-tailed with ‘9Fs’. Model it: Dapol (‘N’), Bachmann and Hornby (‘OO’), with numerous offerings in ‘O’ to come from the likes of Finescalebrass and Masterpiece Models.

Ex-works ‘Jinty’ No. 47502 drops down the Lickey Incline, about 250 yards behind a southbound freight, in July 1956. Permissive working like this saved southbound paths. COLOUR‑RAIL

GWR ‘5101’ No. 4173 helps a goods train as it approaches Old Hill tunnel on the steep climb from Cradley Heath to Rowley Regis on August 30 1962. MICHAEL MENSING

‘9F’ No. 92062 banks an unidentified classmate past Annfield Plain in 1963 with a Tyne Dock-consett ore train. All sorts of motive power could be used to bank these trains, from old North Eastern Railway designs to Class 40s. PETER J. ROBINSON

DB’S Lickey banker 66057 - note the additional headlamp - climbs towards Hampstead Heath summit on September 27 2013 with a Marks Tey-brentford Town freight. These ‘66s’ are often used away from the Lickey. ANTONY GUPPY