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Lot Essay
The Prototype
The model is based on the full-size locomotive No. 3312 Bulldog which emerged from Swindon Works in October 1898. It was officially a member of a class of double-framed 4-4-0s with modest-sized driving wheels (5ft 7½in. diameter) which William Dean had designed in 1895, principally for work on the steeply-graded lines in Cornwall and Devon soon after the abolition of the broad gauge in 1892. Taking their class name from the first example to be built, No. 3252 Duke of Cornwall, they were generally known as 'Dukes', though apart from No. 3252 itself, the rest of them were all given non-ducal names to a variety of themes.
Bulldog itself was actually the 41st member of the Duke Class to be built, but when it emerged in 1898, it wa also used as a test bed for the up-and-coming George Jackson Churchward's new ideas on boiler construction. Churchward himself was to take over formally from William Dean in 1902, but for several years prior to that event he had been the leading innovator at Swindon, and Dean's official role gradually became more titular than anything else.
The boiler fitted to No. 3312 when built was in effect the prototype Churchward 'Standard No.2' type and much bigger than those hitherto fitted to the Dukes, the upper surface of its larger firebox being raised prominently above the boiler top proper. However, the locomotive was built to a 'Duke' order and since it still carried a large dome, the only Standard No.2 boiler to do so, this made it look somewhat similar albeit not identical to the main class. There were other changes too: the cab was made much wider, its roof being extended rearwards and supported by vertical pillars in similar manner to many later GWR types in the twentieth century. The left-hand side of the cab spectacle plate was fitted with a door which allowed forward access to the running plate, thus allowing footplatemen to pass through without fouling the structure gauge if need arose.
When built, Bulldog had the same pattern of straight nameplate fixed to the firebox side as the rest of the Dukes, together with steam reverse and a 3000 gallon tender with coal rails. In 1899 it received several modifications, while in 1905 it went in for a major overhaul at Swindon where it received what were now the normal pattern curved nameplates above the splashers and a 3000 gallon tender with coal fenders. However, it still retained the pillared cab and large dome, looking much the same as when first built.
The model represents the locomotive in this 1905 condition, which was to be short-lived as it turned out. In 1906 it again went into Swindon Works whence it finally emerged with a drumhead smokebox and what was by now the orthodox GWR Standard No.2 boiler, i.e. domeless and tapered. As such it eventually gave its name to a large new class of 156 small-wheeled double-framed 4-4-0s which were developed from the Dukes as early as 1899-1900 and which had received their more typical Churchward No.2 boilers from the outset. Why the 'Bulldog' class name should later have been assigned to this new type is obscure, for well over 100 examples were in service before Bulldog itself was modified to match them, not to mention a further 20 examples which were rebuilt from Dukes during 1902-9. A possible reason is that since Bulldog was the very first engine to receive a No.2 boiler, albeit not quite in the form finally adopted, its name was an appropriate choice for the class as a whole.
The model is based on the full-size locomotive No. 3312 Bulldog which emerged from Swindon Works in October 1898. It was officially a member of a class of double-framed 4-4-0s with modest-sized driving wheels (5ft 7½in. diameter) which William Dean had designed in 1895, principally for work on the steeply-graded lines in Cornwall and Devon soon after the abolition of the broad gauge in 1892. Taking their class name from the first example to be built, No. 3252 Duke of Cornwall, they were generally known as 'Dukes', though apart from No. 3252 itself, the rest of them were all given non-ducal names to a variety of themes.
Bulldog itself was actually the 41st member of the Duke Class to be built, but when it emerged in 1898, it wa also used as a test bed for the up-and-coming George Jackson Churchward's new ideas on boiler construction. Churchward himself was to take over formally from William Dean in 1902, but for several years prior to that event he had been the leading innovator at Swindon, and Dean's official role gradually became more titular than anything else.
The boiler fitted to No. 3312 when built was in effect the prototype Churchward 'Standard No.2' type and much bigger than those hitherto fitted to the Dukes, the upper surface of its larger firebox being raised prominently above the boiler top proper. However, the locomotive was built to a 'Duke' order and since it still carried a large dome, the only Standard No.2 boiler to do so, this made it look somewhat similar albeit not identical to the main class. There were other changes too: the cab was made much wider, its roof being extended rearwards and supported by vertical pillars in similar manner to many later GWR types in the twentieth century. The left-hand side of the cab spectacle plate was fitted with a door which allowed forward access to the running plate, thus allowing footplatemen to pass through without fouling the structure gauge if need arose.
When built, Bulldog had the same pattern of straight nameplate fixed to the firebox side as the rest of the Dukes, together with steam reverse and a 3000 gallon tender with coal rails. In 1899 it received several modifications, while in 1905 it went in for a major overhaul at Swindon where it received what were now the normal pattern curved nameplates above the splashers and a 3000 gallon tender with coal fenders. However, it still retained the pillared cab and large dome, looking much the same as when first built.
The model represents the locomotive in this 1905 condition, which was to be short-lived as it turned out. In 1906 it again went into Swindon Works whence it finally emerged with a drumhead smokebox and what was by now the orthodox GWR Standard No.2 boiler, i.e. domeless and tapered. As such it eventually gave its name to a large new class of 156 small-wheeled double-framed 4-4-0s which were developed from the Dukes as early as 1899-1900 and which had received their more typical Churchward No.2 boilers from the outset. Why the 'Bulldog' class name should later have been assigned to this new type is obscure, for well over 100 examples were in service before Bulldog itself was modified to match them, not to mention a further 20 examples which were rebuilt from Dukes during 1902-9. A possible reason is that since Bulldog was the very first engine to receive a No.2 boiler, albeit not quite in the form finally adopted, its name was an appropriate choice for the class as a whole.