Here we have a 5" gauge Hunslet Austerity,.... or J94 Austerity if you fancy painting it black! Manufactured commercially by SilverCrest/Kingscale, this is actually a really impressive and attractive little machine. Whilst the manufacturing methods employed by Kingscale, and the tolerances that they are able to achieve through them can cause all the well known issues with their larger piston valve locos, the smaller slide valve models tend to get away with it and ultimately perform extremely well. There's still a bit of manufacturing slop built into the valve gear and chassis, but the slide valves seat very nicely and the timing is superb. It's a free steamer too, with a decent sized firebox and a well designed and neatly silver soldered copper boiler,..... which will of course come freshly tested both on hydraulic and in steam.
This one has been steamed and run, albeit not excessively, and there's an injector fitted, as well as a mechanical axle pump, bypass and a hand pump in the cab. Lubrication is mechanical on this one, and tucked under the front running board. There's even a steam brake and a healthy nod toward a prototypically accurate backhead. Again, this is another loco that Kingscale has got right. An attractive prototype, ideally suited to their manufacturing methods, and as a result a really lovely model that sold well, and will, we expect retain it's value well like the equally excellent GWR 1366 they made.
As with most of our models, what you see isn't necessarily what you get!
We often photograph models pretty much as they come in to us, and then when someone phones to say they are interested we pull the model into our workshops and make sure everything is tested, sorted and ready to go. So if you see the odd model photograph with a fitting missing or a return crank in the wrong place, that's just how it came in and certainly not how it will leave.
For any more information please don't hesitate to give us a bell on 07816 963463
