Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
I simply had to pay tribute to Sir William A Stanier - all of his locos are long term favourites of mine. They sound great, look "just right" and by most accounts were superb machines. Whats not to like?
As modellers, we are extremely lucky in that we have some excellent ready to run models, and here is a small selection that can be regularly found plying their trade around Neville Grove.
So we have a Hornby Princess & Bachmann Jubilee, both with custom "in use / polished" finishes, and a "heavily weathered" Hornby 8F. Each of them are seen earning their keep on Neville Grove, and heading the sort of trains that they were designed for way back in the day by the great man and his team.
Stanier's first LMS design was the Princess, which was designed for the heaviest and fastest Anglo - Scottish Expresses. They were introduced in 1934 and incorporated many aspects of Churchward's GWR designs. They were also much bigger and radically different to the locos they replaced - the Royal Scots.
The last five locomotives of Henry Fowler's Patriot were built with Stanier's taper boiler and paved the way for the Jubilee class. 113 locomotives were ordered straight from the drawing board. Although an initial disappointment, changes to the blastpipe and chimney dimensions helped to transform them and they lasted right up to the last years of steam.
The 8F was another superb machine designed for heavy freight work, and was subsequently chosen by the War Department as a standard locomotive until a cheaper, austerity equivalent was designed later in the campaign by Riddles. This 8F is a visitor, and had been dispatched to Neville Grove for the "heaviest of heavy weathering" by Bluffers to Bluffers. Affectionately know as Colin, he is often seen romping through West Scrowtham and RKE Junction, and really looks the part on their excellently grimy and rapidly progressing layout. Check it out here:
youtube.com/channel/UCJ1aBGgFdFxKvALoCzd8_FQ
A little on the man himself:
Stanier was born 27th May 1876, and became an apprentice with the Great Western Railway at the age of 16.
A talented engineer, by 1920 he had became Works Manager of the massive Swindon complex, and as such accompanied Collet's new King George V to the centenary celebrations of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the USA.
In 1931, the Swindon man was approached by the LMS to solve their motive power problems. This proved to be a masterstroke as bitter rivalry between the constituent parts of the company had been causing many problems ever since it was formed. The LMS was formed by the amalgamation of numerous smaller railway companies that were previously bitter rivals. The internal struggles had not been resolved eight years after the Grouping in 1923, so bringing in a completely new leader in the form of Stanier undoubtedly helped the LMS to turn a corner.
On 1st January 1932, Stanier became the LMS's Chief Mechanical Engineer and hand picked a close team to help with designing the LMS's much needed locomotive designs.
Stanier took up an advisory job with the Ministry of Production during World War 2, and his work with the LMS virtually stopped in 1939 but didn't retire until 1944. He was knighted in 1943, and made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1944. He died at Rickmansworth in 1965.
I simply had to pay tribute to Sir William A Stanier - all of his locos are long term favourites of mine. They sound great, look "just right" and by most accounts were superb machines. Whats not to like?
As modellers, we are extremely lucky in that we have some excellent ready to run models, and here is a small selection that can be regularly found plying their trade around Neville Grove.
So we have a Hornby Princess & Bachmann Jubilee, both with custom "in use / polished" finishes, and a "heavily weathered" Hornby 8F. Each of them are seen earning their keep on Neville Grove, and heading the sort of trains that they were designed for way back in the day by the great man and his team.
Stanier's first LMS design was the Princess, which was designed for the heaviest and fastest Anglo - Scottish Expresses. They were introduced in 1934 and incorporated many aspects of Churchward's GWR designs. They were also much bigger and radically different to the locos they replaced - the Royal Scots.
The last five locomotives of Henry Fowler's Patriot were built with Stanier's taper boiler and paved the way for the Jubilee class. 113 locomotives were ordered straight from the drawing board. Although an initial disappointment, changes to the blastpipe and chimney dimensions helped to transform them and they lasted right up to the last years of steam.
The 8F was another superb machine designed for heavy freight work, and was subsequently chosen by the War Department as a standard locomotive until a cheaper, austerity equivalent was designed later in the campaign by Riddles. This 8F is a visitor, and had been dispatched to Neville Grove for the "heaviest of heavy weathering" by Bluffers to Bluffers. Affectionately know as Colin, he is often seen romping through West Scrowtham and RKE Junction, and really looks the part on their excellently grimy and rapidly progressing layout. Check it out here:
youtube.com/channel/UCJ1aBGgFdFxKvALoCzd8_FQ
A little on the man himself:
Stanier was born 27th May 1876, and became an apprentice with the Great Western Railway at the age of 16.
A talented engineer, by 1920 he had became Works Manager of the massive Swindon complex, and as such accompanied Collet's new King George V to the centenary celebrations of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the USA.
In 1931, the Swindon man was approached by the LMS to solve their motive power problems. This proved to be a masterstroke as bitter rivalry between the constituent parts of the company had been causing many problems ever since it was formed. The LMS was formed by the amalgamation of numerous smaller railway companies that were previously bitter rivals. The internal struggles had not been resolved eight years after the Grouping in 1923, so bringing in a completely new leader in the form of Stanier undoubtedly helped the LMS to turn a corner.
On 1st January 1932, Stanier became the LMS's Chief Mechanical Engineer and hand picked a close team to help with designing the LMS's much needed locomotive designs.
Stanier took up an advisory job with the Ministry of Production during World War 2, and his work with the LMS virtually stopped in 1939 but didn't retire until 1944. He was knighted in 1943, and made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1944. He died at Rickmansworth in 1965.
