Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: steam engine

This photo will stick out like from my photostream like a sore thumb, ha! Definitely odd man out! This is a large, heavy, working model of the Stephenson's Rocket, 3 1/2" gauge, made by Hornby, and is absolutely beautiful. The engine and the tender measure 18" in length! It also comes with a very fancy carriage, which I guess I should also photograph. It has taken me so long to get it out of its box and photograph it (using Impressive Art effect), but I need to get it to my oldest daughter in the next little while. My Father, an exceptional photographer, was also a lover of steam trains, travelling all over England and Europe photographing them many years ago. When he died, he left a large collection of model trains (a curse for my Mother, lol, and also for my friends, Linda and Tony, who so generously went through everything when my Brother died!), including this real beauty. He also had a much smaller version, which I will keep for myself, but my oldest daughter inherited her Grandpa's love for steam engines and she was so eager to have this. So, my good friends in England sent these out to me when my Brother died, along with all the other personal things. "Stephenson's Rocket was an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement, built in 1829 at the Forth Street Works of Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle Upon Tyne. It was built for, and won, the Rainhill Trials held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 to choose the best design to power the railway. Though the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years. In 1862 Rocket was donated to the Patent Office Museum in London (now the Science Museum) by the Thompsons of Milton Hall, near Brampton. The locomotive still exists, in the Science Museum (London), in much modified form compared to its state at the Rainhill Trials." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephenson's_Rocket For anyone who is interested, this is a link to a YouTube video of one of these models in action. This was a test run for the Hornby live steam Stephenson's Rocket at the KMYCA track in Antwerp. youtu.be/pQhOUbB7378 Ha, just HAD to share this YouTube video (thanks, Dave!). It never pays to tease a frog! youtu.be/QzXM58qR1Es

This small model train was one of several that were sent over from England to me, after my Brother died last Christmas. My Father was a keen collector of model trains and also did a huge amount of photography of the various steam trains of the UK and a few parts of Europe. Will be giving each of my kids one of these models to keep, as a reminder of their Grandpa. "The Dean Single, 3031 Class, or Achilles Class was a type of steam locomotive built by the Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1899. They were designed by William Dean for passenger work. The first 30 members of the class were built as 2-2-2s as the 3001 Class. The first eight members of the class (numbers 3021-3028, built April–August 1891) were built as convertible broad gauge 2-2-2 locomotives, being converted to standard gauge in mid-1892, at the end of broad gauge running on the Great Western Railway. A further 22 were built in late 1891 and early 1892, this time as standard gauge engines. Due to their long boilers these engines were unstable, particularly at speed. It was decided that future members of the class would be constructed to a 4-2-2 wheel arrangement to reduce the weight on the front wheels. 3001-3030 were also quickly rebuilt as 4-2-2s. In 1900, George Jackson Churchward replaced the boiler on number 3027 Worcester with a parallel Standard 2 boiler. Twelve further engines were similarly converted in 1905 and 1906. Despite the locomotives' speed, the 4-2-2 design was soon found to be outdated and unsuitable for more modern operation. Although Churchward proposed converting them to more modern 4-4-0s, they were scrapped between 1908 and 1915." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_3031_Class