Thank you for that link. Curious also to see on that page an offer, price reduced by 53%, for 10800, which must be one of the most obscure locos ever produced, even more so than the Tyneside electrics, also on that page, and Big Bertha, oddly in full red, which so far as I know, it never in its quite long life ever carried.
I actually saw 10800 at Derby, sort of in operation, i.e. it was not in the works but was not doing very much. Whatever colour its bogies might have been when it first appeared, they were ordinary grubby colour in use that day. In marketing terms, that must be a curiosity. There was only one. It did not do much. I've heard that mechanically it was a bit of a flop, and unreliable.
Manufacturers seem to be almost falling over themselves to produce models of obscure one-off locomotives! Some of these might have travelled around, but how do you justify Big Bertha on your layout, if you're not modelling the Lickey Incline? O I know - she's on her way to or from Derby Works...
Hornby have just released their new high-spec GNR J52 0-6-0ST, and Rapido are shortly following suit with different versions of the same engine - but how many people are going to want one? AFAIK they were humble shunters, so not especially useful for branch line passenger or local freight trains, although (of course) you can run your railway how you please.
If you were to build a model of Manchester Central, you'd need at least one to shunt the GN goods yard.
Which reminds me of an interesting factoid. A small engine shed was provided to house the shunters, but the end wall was high above the street and there were fears a loco might bash through it and fall on the street. So it was never used and the shunters lived at Trafford Park shed.
Well, a model of Manchester Central, or just the GN goods yard, would take up a lot of space - but a J52 would do nicely to work a minimum-space depot representing part of a much larger yard...
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I actually saw 10800 at Derby, sort of in operation, i.e. it was not in the works but was not doing very much. Whatever colour its bogies might have been when it first appeared, they were ordinary grubby colour in use that day. In marketing terms, that must be a curiosity. There was only one. It did not do much. I've heard that mechanically it was a bit of a flop, and unreliable.
Hornby have just released their new high-spec GNR J52 0-6-0ST, and Rapido are shortly following suit with different versions of the same engine - but how many people are going to want one? AFAIK they were humble shunters, so not especially useful for branch line passenger or local freight trains, although (of course) you can run your railway how you please.
Which reminds me of an interesting factoid. A small engine shed was provided to house the shunters, but the end wall was high above the street and there were fears a loco might bash through it and fall on the street. So it was never used and the shunters lived at Trafford Park shed.