Lot Essay
PROTOTYPE DETAILS
The model is clearly representative of a style of outside-cylinder six-wheel locomotive adopted in Scotland as early as 1839-40 when the Arbroath and Forfar Railway placed in service some 2-2-2 locomotives built by Messrs Stirling of Dundee, the principal of the firm being uncle of the soon to be celebrated Patrick Stirling, later of Great Northern Railway fame.
These early machines displayed fairly steeply inclined outside cylinders but later examples of the genre saw the adoption of horizontal cylinders (as in the model) and in this modified form seem to have found more widespread acceptance in Scotland than elsewhere, being built in numerous locations. A particularly noteworthy user of the type was the Glasgow Paisley and Greenock Railway (GPGR), a fore-runner of the Caledonian Railway, which put a considerable number of similarly configured locomotives into service between 1848 and 1855 under the supervision of Robert Sinclair, who later held the same post on the Caledonian system.
The types built were 2-2-2, 0-4-2, 2-4-0 and 0-6-0 configuration and numbered amongst them were two diminutive 2-2-2 well tanks in 1851 which seem almost certainly to be the prototypes on which this model is based. The original engines were tiny even by 1850's standards, having but 9in. x 15in. cylinders, 2ft 8in. diameter boilers, 5ft driving wheels and weighing only 26½ tons in full working order.
The dimensions of the model support this prototype in most significant respects at a scale of 1½in.:1ft, strongly reinforced by the fact that the two prototype engines are the only well tanks on record to have had this particular form of outside cylinder arrangement; while the well tank itself was somewhat rare in any form. There are, however, one or two discrepancies which need to be mentioned in the interests of accuracy.
Firstly the boiler diameter seems a little too large on the model. Even allowing that there would be a few inches of cladding on top of the quoted 2ft 8in. prototype diameter, the actual model diameter scales at 3ft 10in. on the outside, but this could well be explained by the need to generate enough steam at the relatively low 'model' pressure adopted (35-40psi at best) to enable the model to function at all.
Secondly, the model track gauge at strict 1½in. scale is 5ft 3in. This could suggest an Irish prototype, it being known that a considerable number of Scottish-built locomotives were sent across to Ireland. However, extensive searches of the records, together with enquiries in both Scotland and Ireland themselves, indicate that no 2-2-2 well tanks of the type in question were ever operated there. On the whole, knowing that mid-19th Century modelmakers were frequently less precise in these matters than in the present day, it seems far more likely that the track gauge is simply wrong - or conceivably a further example of 'modeller's licence', possibly linked to the somewhat over-size boiler already mentioned above.
Finally the name 'Fairey Queen' cannot be traced in the records. However, it is known that the GPGR did name a number of its engines at this tme (not always recorded) and that the nameplates were styled and positioned much as on this model, so it is not inconceivable that the name was applied at the time of building but subsequently removed and overlooked in the records. But whatever the explanation of these relatively minor discrepancies, what can be said beyond reasonable doubt is that this model is a very fine contemporary representation of a significant Scottish contribution to locomotive history.
The model is clearly representative of a style of outside-cylinder six-wheel locomotive adopted in Scotland as early as 1839-40 when the Arbroath and Forfar Railway placed in service some 2-2-2 locomotives built by Messrs Stirling of Dundee, the principal of the firm being uncle of the soon to be celebrated Patrick Stirling, later of Great Northern Railway fame.
These early machines displayed fairly steeply inclined outside cylinders but later examples of the genre saw the adoption of horizontal cylinders (as in the model) and in this modified form seem to have found more widespread acceptance in Scotland than elsewhere, being built in numerous locations. A particularly noteworthy user of the type was the Glasgow Paisley and Greenock Railway (GPGR), a fore-runner of the Caledonian Railway, which put a considerable number of similarly configured locomotives into service between 1848 and 1855 under the supervision of Robert Sinclair, who later held the same post on the Caledonian system.
The types built were 2-2-2, 0-4-2, 2-4-0 and 0-6-0 configuration and numbered amongst them were two diminutive 2-2-2 well tanks in 1851 which seem almost certainly to be the prototypes on which this model is based. The original engines were tiny even by 1850's standards, having but 9in. x 15in. cylinders, 2ft 8in. diameter boilers, 5ft driving wheels and weighing only 26½ tons in full working order.
The dimensions of the model support this prototype in most significant respects at a scale of 1½in.:1ft, strongly reinforced by the fact that the two prototype engines are the only well tanks on record to have had this particular form of outside cylinder arrangement; while the well tank itself was somewhat rare in any form. There are, however, one or two discrepancies which need to be mentioned in the interests of accuracy.
Firstly the boiler diameter seems a little too large on the model. Even allowing that there would be a few inches of cladding on top of the quoted 2ft 8in. prototype diameter, the actual model diameter scales at 3ft 10in. on the outside, but this could well be explained by the need to generate enough steam at the relatively low 'model' pressure adopted (35-40psi at best) to enable the model to function at all.
Secondly, the model track gauge at strict 1½in. scale is 5ft 3in. This could suggest an Irish prototype, it being known that a considerable number of Scottish-built locomotives were sent across to Ireland. However, extensive searches of the records, together with enquiries in both Scotland and Ireland themselves, indicate that no 2-2-2 well tanks of the type in question were ever operated there. On the whole, knowing that mid-19th Century modelmakers were frequently less precise in these matters than in the present day, it seems far more likely that the track gauge is simply wrong - or conceivably a further example of 'modeller's licence', possibly linked to the somewhat over-size boiler already mentioned above.
Finally the name 'Fairey Queen' cannot be traced in the records. However, it is known that the GPGR did name a number of its engines at this tme (not always recorded) and that the nameplates were styled and positioned much as on this model, so it is not inconceivable that the name was applied at the time of building but subsequently removed and overlooked in the records. But whatever the explanation of these relatively minor discrepancies, what can be said beyond reasonable doubt is that this model is a very fine contemporary representation of a significant Scottish contribution to locomotive history.