Above: The model that started all this nonsense. Built over thirty years ago, my first attempt at the Bagnall locomotive EXCELSIOR was less than accurate. The scale was 1:48 and there were lots of shortcuts taken. A set of driving and trailing wheels came from an old HOn3 0-4-2T and were re-axled to suit 1/2 inch gauge. Power was provided by a Minitrix motor fitted vertically at the front of the chassis, driving onto the leading axle via a set of Williamson 30:1 gears intended for model trams. A major gaffe was the firebox, at the time I (and others, it has to be said) thought that all Bagnall products were fitted with the distinctive marine firebox that characterised their later products. Not so, this feature was introduced only after EXCELSIOR was built. She had a conventional locomotive type firebox like her earlier sisters. Although the above photo hides the fact, my model had the wrong firebox type. Despite its shortcomings I was very pleased with the model at the time and wrote an article about it. This was published in the September 1974 issue of Model Railways magazine (later re-printed in an early issue of Narrowlines). If there was a problem it was definitely the 0-4-2 wheel arrangement. The overhang caused by the pony truck displaced the rear coupler to an unacceptable degree. This was most noticeable on a small layout with sharp curves. If modelling another of this type I would certainly look at some way of articulating the truck to the coupler mount.
