Tri-ang (Triang) Railways TT Directory
 

5" Gauge Boxhill

Meet the 'new kid on the block'. A part built 5" gauge Boxhill purchased from an auction site. 

The idea behind selling Butch was to purchase a 5" gauge tender engine in need of some TLC. However, 'sods law' cut in and much of the money had to be spent on fixing a rather poorly gearbox on my car!

Boxhill is a model of a London Brighton and South Coast Railway 0-6-0 A1 Terrier class locomotive. It is a live steam model designed by Martin Evans and published as a construction series in the magazine Model Engineer between August 1963 and July 1964. 

Boxhill is based on the famous design by William Stroudley. The first batch of Stroudley's Terriers (as they became known) were delivered to the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSC) in the autumn of 1872. They were designed for London Suburban service and in total 50 Terriers were built. They took their names from the places they served such as Wapping, Fenchurch, Tooting, Thames and perhaps the most famous names Boxhill and Stepney.

Boxhill is preserved in the National Railway Museum at York whilst Stepney was immortalised by the Rev. Audrey in his Thomas the Tank Engine stories. Stepney is preserved at the Bluebell railway. 

By the early 1900's the volume of traffic had grown to beyond the capabilities of the Terries. To cut a long story short, some where scrapped, others were sold but a few remained to be transferred into British Railways (BR) ownership. Some eventually saw service on the Isle of Wight railway and lasted in service into the 1960's, over 90 years after they were built, a fantastic achievement.

Below are some photos of the very impressive Dapol (now Hornby) model of Boxhill.

A 'real' Terrier loco called Freshwater located at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, taken during a family holiday in the summer of 2006. 

Boxhill and Freshwater have already met. Above is a photo of Boxhill on the running board of Freshwater. I believe it was taken in approximately 1996 when its builder Ron took it to the island. At the time of the photo, Freshwater was 'out of ticket' and the subject of a fundraising appeal such that an overhaul could begin. This was subsequently completed and I believe included a new boiler.

Two photos of Boxhill taken at our May Day Steam weekend 2008. It's basically complete but with lots of details such as cab surround, spectacle plates, handrails and tank breathers still to add. Now we strip it all down for painting!