BASSETT-LOWKE LITTLE GIANT STARS IN RAVENGLASS EXHIBITION
Little Giant, the first 15in gauge ‘Atlantic’ built by Bassett-Lowke and designed by Henry Greenly, is the star of a new exhibition at the Ravenglass Railway Museum. Entitled ‘Little Giant to Gigantic’, the exhibition tells the story of the 15in gauge Bassett-Lowke locomotives built between 1904 and 1913, the development of which culminated in the sole ‘Class 60’ 4-6-2 Colossus, which was built for the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway’s cofounder Captain J.E.P. Howey. The project is a partnership between the museum and the Gigantic Locomotive Company, which is building a replica of Colossus, Britain’s second ever ‘Pacific’ (see SR465) and is spearheaded by LMS-Patriot Project engineers Jordan Leeds and Kevin West. David Rounce, the museum’s project & activities manager, says: “The Gigantic Locomotive Company will be running an exhibition from June until the end of the year in the museum’s Community Exhibition Gallery, detailing their plans to replicate Bassett-Lowke’s unique ‘Class 60’, which worked on the RER in the 1920s.” Little Giant was released from its long-time home at the National Railway Museum in York on June 11 and transported to Ravenglass where it is displayed alongside the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society’s Synolda – Little Giant’s larger classmate – and steam-outline petrol 4-4-4T Blacolvesley, the world’s first petrol-mechanical locomotive. It is the first time these locomotives have been united in 23 years. Both Little Giant and Blacolvesley will remain at Ravenglass until the end of the year, and appear courtesy of the NRM and the Tebb family respectively.