LWA14. Aster Gauge 1 Live Steam BR ex- Southern Railway Bulleid 'Battle of Britain' Light Pacific 4-6-2 Loco and Tender No. 34051 'Winston Churchill'. In lined British Railways green livery with shedplate 72B Salisbury. This is factory built by Aster Hobbies of Japan as their 30 Year Anniversary Model (number 223 of a Limited Edition of 250 as shown on the box and on a maker's plate inside the cab). As can be seen from the mint condition shown in the photographs, it has never been steamed and in fact has only been removed from its packaging for inspection and for the photographs below. The scale is 1:32 (45mm) and overall length is 64.9cm over buffers. The model is in brass and stainless steel with a copper boiler, spirit fired (Methyl Alcohol), and fitted with a host of features including - Working inside motion, modified Walschaerts valve gear, Axle Driven Pump, 3 Cylinders with a Bore: 11mm x Stroke: 22mm, 2 x Safety valves, Pressure gauge, Water gauge, Blow-down valve, Regulator valve, Blower valve, Superheater, Roscoe Displacement type lubricator, and Tender mounted hand water pump. See the full specification in the photographs below. The model comes with its original inner and outer Aster boxes, all internal packaging, manuals, spare parts and tools (unopened), touch-up paint and display track. If the next owner plans to steam it then it is recommended that it should first be checked over by a live steam engineer as a safety precaution. Due to the box size and value, insured shipping (UK and International) is by DHL only at cost price. The prototype was into service from Brighton Works in December 1946 as SR No. 21C151 and appears to have gone first to Salisbury where it became BR No. 34051 in 1948. It went to Nine Elms for just over a year in 1950 then moving to Exmouth Junction in April 1951 and back to Salisbury 2 months later where it stayed until withdrawal in September/October 1965. Having hauled Churchill's funeral train it was earmarked for preservation and after being moved around for several years (Hellifield, Brighton, Didcot) it went to the National Railway Museum in York in 1983 as part of the National Collection. It is one of few (perhaps 2) preserved Bulleid Pacifics never to have been steamed in preservation having only been cosmetically restored. £4500.
