NARROW GAUGE LOCOMOTIVES STEAL THE SHOW AT WARLEY EXHIBITION

Four narrow gauge locomotives took centre stage at the Warley Model Railway Exhibition on November 24/25. The UK’s largest model railway show, held at the National Exhibition Centre in the West Midlands, featured 15in gauge and 2ft gauge locomotives.

The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway supplied a pair of engines: 4-6-2 No. 2 Northern Chief and 4-8-2 No. 6 Samson, as well as the line’s unique 1927-built Clayton Pullman carriage.

Largest on display was the War Office Locomotive Trust’s Hunslet 4-6-0T No. 303, a fitting end to a year in which the engine was restored to pristine condition, some 13 years after it returned from Australia as a wreck. The trust is considering three invitations from railways in 2019.

Statfold Engineering’s stall highlighted the work the company is capable of by displaying 1924-built Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0PT Works No. 1172 Alpha.

The number of engines displayed at this year’s show matched that of 2017’s exhibition, which featured ‘14XX’ No. 1450, SECR ‘H’ No. 263, Statfold Barn’s 2ft gauge Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 No. 972 Fiji and North Bay Railway Engineering’s partly constructed replica Decauville 0-4-0T Edgar, which was completed earlier this year for bookseller John Sutton.

Resplendent in GER-style lined blue, RHDR 4-8-2 No. 6 Samson – which returned to steam in May after overhaul – is on the railway’s stand at Warley.

ALL: TIM EASTER Fresh from its restoration,War Office Hunslet No. 303 dwarfs the dozens of model railway layouts at the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition.

Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0PT Alpha cuts an unusual figure in the exhibition hall at the NEC.