Locomotives

In total, six different locomotives were used during the construction and operation of The Biggest Little Railway In The World (BLR). Four locomotives travelled on the railway itself, while two others were used for testing purposes.

All of the locomotives were built by Roundhouse Engineering Co. Ltd. The company supplied five locomotives for the project, along with engineer Chris Lee as support. Chris also carried various spare parts to allow for damage or loss as the journey progressed.

   The following classes of locomotive were used for the project:

* Silver Lady (x2)
* Lady Anne (x1)
* Little John (x3)

Versions of all of the locomotives featured in the programme can be purchased from Roundhouse Engineering. The live steam models are not inexpensive; a Silver Lady currently retails at £1915.

## Silver Lady

Silver Lady on display at The National Garden Railway Show (7th April 2018).

Silver Lady II on display at Bught Park, Inverness.

### Max. Speed

3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h)

   Silver Lady is the main focus of *The Biggest Little Railway In The World*, the ultimate aim being to transport her from Fort William to Inverness. This locomotive covered around 80% of the total route.

Silver Lady was specially adapted by Roundhouse for the challenge. She was fitted with a modified lubricator, simulated drain cocks were removed and a cog wheel supplied by Love Productions was fitted to her centre axle, to allow her to climb steep gradients using a rack-and-pinion arrangement.

Silver Lady started the journey at Corpach hauling a wooden coach, built for the challenge by Paul, Team C's leader. This coach was removed part way into the journey to allow Silver Lady greater stability.

The locomotive was briefly submerged in the Caledonian Canal at Neptune's Staircase when the Train Ferry capsized. Despite this, no damage was suffered to the electronics or the servo motors.

    A number of the volunteers had a great deal of affection for Silver Lady. Katie (Team A) described her as "cute", while Dakota (Team D) described her as having "the personality of a fox". Matt A (Team C) stated while climbing Invermoriston Hill that Silver Lady was "temperamental", although he added that he was surprised that she wasn't "sulking constantly" given what she had been through on her journey. Dick Strawbridge also acknowledged the volunteer's love for silver lady, observing at one point during the programme "this train's getting some love, you know".

Silver Lady completed the journey into Inverness on 1st July 2017. According to Roundhouse, she "still runs" and "with a few parts and bushes [SIC] being replaced she would be capable of more".

Following the broadcast of *The Biggest Little Railway In The World*, Silver Lady was displayed at the The London Festival of Railway Modelling, which took place at Alexandra Palace on the 23rd and 24th March 2018. The Model Railway Club stand featured Silver Lady and talks with a number of participants from the show. Lawrence, leader of Team A is a prominent member of The Model Railway Club.

    ​​​​​​​Silver Lady was also put on display at the National Garden Railway Show in Peterborough on 7th April 2018. Several of the show participants attended the event, including all of the team leaders. Silver Lady was steamed and demonstrated on the 16mm Association's modular layout by Andy (Special Build Team). Unfortunately, due to the addition of the cog wheel on her central axle, Silver Lady kept derailing on points and areas of high ballast. This led some of the volunteers to quip that the demonstration was "an authentic Biggest Little Railway experience".

## Silver Lady II

Although the programme only refers to one Silver Lady, a second model was provided by Roundhouse as a spare. Silver Lady II had a knurled pattern machined into the tyre profile of the wheels, allowing her to climb steep inclines more efficiently on the rubber-coated rails.

Silver Lady II appears on several occasions in the programme, but is always referred to as the main locomotive. Notably, Silver Lady II was the locomotive used to cross the Laggan Locks Truss Bridge.

The two models only appeared together on screen once, during the sequence at the Inch Mountain Counterbalance Railway. Silver Lady II was brought in as a "sister loco" to counterbalance the main locomotive, assisting her climb up the incline.

## Lady Anne

### Max. Speed

3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h)

Silver Lady is described by Roundhouse as "a deluxe version of the venerable Lady Anne locomotive". Lady Anne and Silver Lady are visually very similar in design, but Silver Lady features a number of subtle differences, including "extra rivet detail, twin slide bar cylinders with dummy combination levers, glazed spectacles, copper capped chimney, ornate polished brass steam dome and a whole host of other detailing items".

    Lady Anne was used as a test loco for the Special Build Team and as a stand-in for Silver Lady when required by the camera crews. The locomotive is seen on screen for one shot in Episode 4, when the Special Build Team were using her to test the radius and incline of curves required for the construction of the Caledonian Helix. Use of the locomotive allowed the team to take into account the locomotive dimensions and climbing ability when planning their design.

Lady Anne also appears as a stand-in for Silver Lady, crossing Aberchalder Viaduct. The shot, recorded by a drone, is used repeatedly in the programme, particularly in the opening sequence and in promotional trailers.

## Little John

### Max. Speed

Variable

Little John is a battery powered electric locomotive. The outline is a freelance design typical of a small diesel shunter. Two Little John locomotives were provided by Roundhouse for the programme; one in yellow and another in blue.

The yellow version of Little John was first used on the 28th June, due to the challenge being several miles behind target. Little John made the journey across Aberchalder Viaduct, much to the disappointment of Andy from the Special Build Team. Shortly afterwards, the train team decided to switch back to using Silver Lady, which proved to be much faster and stable on the track than Little John.

        Both of the Little John locomotives were used by the night train team on 30th June due to both Silver Lady and Silver Lady II needing urgent repair work. Although the blue version does not appear on screen, the yellow Little John is seen reaching the 64 Mile marker of the BLR.

Matt A (Team C) described Little John as having "no personality" when compared to Silver Lady. Martin (Team B) attempted to rectify this by putting a toy rhino named Ronald into the cab section.

A third Little John locomotive was brought to Scotland by Andy (Special Build Team). His version of the locomotive was named James after his grandfather. Andy used James and two wagons to test the final build of Inchnacardoch Trestle Bridge. James was also displayed alongside Silver Lady at The London Festival of Railway Modelling in March 2018 and The National Garden Railway Show in April 2018.

## References

1. ↑ Roundhouse Price List & Catalogue Companion. (2019). [ebook] Doncaster: Roundhouse Engineering Co. Ltd., p.1. Available at: http://www.roundhouse-eng.com/pdf/prices.pdf [Accessed 22 Feb. 2019].
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lee, C. (2018). *Silver Lady - Scotland Trip*. [online] Roundhouse Engineering Co. Ltd. Available at: http://www.roundhouse-eng.com/slscotland.htm [Accessed 15 Feb. 2018].
3. ↑ World-of-railways.co.uk. (2018). *The London Festival of Railway Modelling - Warners Railway Shows & Events - World of Railways*. [online] Available at: https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/shows/show/the-london-festival-of-railway-modelling/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2018].
4. ↑ Huss, R. (2018). *Behind the Scenes with Britain’s Biggest Little Railway - National Garden Railway Show*. [online] National Garden Railway Show. Available at: https://www.nationalgardenrailwayshow.org.uk/what-to-see/behind-scenes-britains-biggest-little-railway [Accessed 19 Apr. 2018].
5. ↑ *Silver Lady*. [online] Roundhouse-eng.com. Available at: http://www.roundhouse-eng.com/silverlady.htm [Accessed 15 Aug. 2018].