Saturday 10 May 2014

O GAUGE CLASS B4 (ADAMS) LSWR 0-4-0 TANK ENGINES

The London and South Western Railway B4 is a class of 0-4-0T dock tank.


LSWR CLASS B4 O GAUGE MODELS. BUILT BY MR GEOFF TYLER

 The London and South Western Railway's built twenty to a design by their Locomotive Superintendent William Adams at its Nine Elms Works during the 1891–1893 period. 



LSWR CLASS B4 O GAUGE MODELS. BUILT BY MR GEOFF TYLER
They were designed for shunting in locations with sharp curvature, and were used in places such as Southampton Docks (which the LSWR purchased in November 1892), the Poole Quay Line, and the Hamworthy Freight Branch.

I have 2 very similar models which were built by my late father in O Gauge and specifically based on two variations of the original design. 

LSWR CLASS B4 O GAUGE MODELS. BUILT BY MR GEOFF TYLERNo 81 [JERSEY] Class D6 - Built 1893

[note the all female driving crew, doing a grand job too ladies]






LSWR CLASS B4 O GAUGE MODELS. BUILT BY MR GEOFF TYLERNo 90 [CAEN] Class B4 -- Built 1891

Seems quite odd to me that Caen was built 2 years before Jersey yet is allocated a later number? 





LSWR CLASS B4 O GAUGE MODELS. BUILT BY MR GEOFF TYLER

Still there are a few differences between the pair which is evident in the models that Dad built and shown here in the pictures.



LSWR CLASS B4 O GAUGE MODELS. BUILT BY MR GEOFF TYLER

Further details are available about these and other Southern locos at this excellent reference site; 

http://www.semgonline.com/steam/b4class.html

OO GAUGE FELTHAM TRAM. [Completed Kit, motorised]

COMPLETE WORKING MODEL OF A FELTHAM TRAM
OO GAUGE FELTHAM TRAM BY GEOFF TYLER
OO GAUGE MODEL, Unsure of the exact kit involved though as I was born and raised in Feltham there is a connection there and nice to have a good looking model even if I never saw them run myself. 

There is a preserved Feltham Tram at Crich, and have visited their excellent tramway in the Midlands near Alfreton. Check out their website for more information at http://www.tramway.co.uk/ and arrange a visit for yourself. 

OO GAUGE FELTHAM TRAM BY GEOFF TYLER
[HISTORY] 100 Feltham Trams (so named because they were manufactured by the Union Construction Company in Feltham) were built in total, 54 for Metropolitan Electric Tramways and 46 for London United Tramways. 

They started to enter service in 1931.


OO GAUGE FELTHAM TRAM BY GEOFF TYLER

All the trams passed to the London Passenger Transport Board upon it's formation in 1933 and were allocated fleet numbers 2066-2165, the last examples were withdrawn from London services in 1951.

Most of the Feltham trams were sold for further service outside London between 1949 and 1951, a batch of 90 passing to Leeds City Transport where they were numbered 501-590 and remained in service until the closure of the Leeds system in 1959.



One of the three prototype Felthams built for Metropolitan eventually passed to Sunderland Corporation Transport in 1937, after the closure of the network it passed into the ownership of the National Tramway Museum at Crich, it's now been restored to it's original London Metropolitan condition.