Here we have a 5" gauge GWR 14xx manufactured by Kingscale. Another brand new and unsteamed model. Most of us know the score with the Kingscale models by now, and this one is no exception. It's a very pretty looking model with loads of nice detailing, the boiler is professionally silver soldered copper and very neatly done. With the Kingscale models, everything essentially seems to work straight out of the box, so you can just get straight out on track and it'll all do what it was designed to do,..... however,.... (and we know you could sense the 'but' coming),.... the machining tolerances, the general fit of the bushes and valve gear, and indeed certain of the material choices on the bottom end are not quite the same as you'd expect from a new model built by a traditional model engineer.
That all said, it's a relatively inexpensive route into 5" gauge model engineering, and we think that as long as you know what you are buying they represent very good value for money. So there's an injector fitted, a crosshead pump with footplate mounted bypass valve and of course a hand pump in the tank. Lubrication is simple displacement type,.... the addition of a simple sight feed regulator in the footplate would be a definite improvement, but again, as it stands it does work and will run and work well enough as it stands.
To sum up. If you want to load it up with lead for grip and pull 10 people with it every weekend, it will be broken before Russia! But if you just want a pretty little loco with a good boiler that doesn't cost the earth to pootle around with for a few hours on a Sunday, then this might very well be just the thing for you.
For any more information please don't hesitate to give us a bell on 07816 963463
Stock Code: L051149
