LJSW10. London & North Western Railway Webb 'A Class' 0-8-0 & Tender No. 1843. In fully lined LNWR blackberry black livery. This is handbuilt by Geoff Holt (with his maker's plate on the underside of the loco and tender), and painted by Alan Brackenborough. Fitted with fully working inside motion, brass loco wheels with steel tyres and a sprung second axle, flangeless wheels on the third axle (for negotiating tighter curves), turned steel tender wheels, a worm & wheel drive, American pickup system, and with excellent cab detail and crew. The model is lightly used and is a touch noisy in reverse (fine going forward). The LNWR Class 'A' was a 3-cylinder compound 0-8-0 tender loco designed by Francis Webb of which 111 were built by Crewe Works between 1893 and 1900. Due to problems with the compounding, in 1904 George Whale began rebuilding the class to simple expansion locos. 15 were converted to Class 'C' (1904 to 1906), 62 to Class'D' (1906 to 1909), with 34 rebuilt by Charles Bowen-Cooke to Class 'C1' (1909 to 1912). All Class 'D' locomotives were later rebuilt to Class 'G1'. Some of them, rebuilt to Class 'G2A', were still running as late as 1962. The prototype No. 1843 entered service from Crewe Works in October 1898 and was rebuilt by Whale into a Class 'D' 2-cylinder 'simple' in 1908. It became LMS No. 9048 and was subsequently rebuilt as a class 'G1' (1933) then a 'G2A' (1939) by the LMS. As BR No. 49048 it was withdrawn from Crewe South in November 1959. £2750.
