BRITAIN’S BEST BANKERS

1 MIDLAND RAILWAY 0-10-0 No. 2290

Number built: 1 Builder: Midland Railway, Derby. Driving wheel diameter: 4ft 7½in. Cylinders: 16¾in by 28in (4). Tractive effort: 43,313lb. Duties: This is arguably the most famous banker of all time. Dubbed ‘Big Bertha’, it was designed by the Midland Railway - a railway known for its ‘small engine policy’ - specifically for banking the fearsome Lickey Incline. It entered service in 1919 and was withdrawn in 1956, although its famous headlamp was passed to its successor, ‘9F’ No. 92079. Model it: Quite difficult as DJH has stopped producing its ‘OO’ kit; nothing in ‘N’ or ‘O’. ‘Big Bertha’ was re-numbered 58100 by BR and was photographed in good condition and hard at work in 1955. C. BANKS COLLECTION/COLOUR-RAIL

2 BR CLASS 37 Co-co

Number built: 309. Builder: English Electric (Vulcan Foundry/rsh). Driving wheel diameter: 3ft 9in. Engine: English Electric 12CSVT. Horsepower: 1,750. Duties: Was there a duty that the ever-popular Class 37 couldn’t perform? The English Electric Co-cos were called on for banking power in South Wales, on stone trains around Peak Forest and, of course, on the Lickey Incline. Class 37s were prime Lickey banker candidates until the late 1980s. Model it: Graham Farish (‘N’), Heljan (‘O’) and Bachmann, Hornby and Vitrains (‘OO’). 37254 climbs the Lickey incline on August 2 1983 with a heavy train of oil tanks, assisted at the rear by 37180 and 37298. BRIAN ROBBINS/ RAIL PHOTOPRINTS

3 BR CLASS 13 0-6-0+0-6-0DE

Number built: 3 Builder: BR Darlington. Driving wheel diameter: 4ft 6in. Engine: English Electric 6KT (2). Horsepower: 700hp. Duties: The three Class 13s were created in 1965 from 350hp shunters D4187/88/90 and D4189/3697/3698, the latter becoming the cabless ‘slave’ units. 13001-003 were built for the new ‘hump’ yard at Tinsley, but were withdrawn in the 1980s, owing to the decline in wagon load freight. Model it: Olivia’s Trains offers a ready-to-run Class 13 in ‘OO’ using two Bachmann models. Class 13 13001 shoves yet another train over Tinsley’s hump on April 20 1979.