Winner of the Coomben Cup at the 2011 Guildford Rally was this model of a Southern Railways Q Class locomotive by Ivan Hurst. This model of the Maunsell engine is as running on British Railways in the early 1950s, built to Ivan’s own designs and drawings, the result of considerable research and measurement of 30541, now preserved on the Bluebell Railway.

The model sports the Bulleid/Lemaitre 5-nozzle exhaust arrangement to which all the Q Class were converted, although a number, including 541, were later converted back to conventional drafting. The original ‘big chimney’ was found in a stores van on the Bluebell, and measured.

The model’s boiler was based on the successful Minx/Maid of Kent design by LBSC, but with appropriate changes dictated by scale. Motion was based on Don Young’s Pom-Pom, modified and including a steam reverser.

Tender is the standard Maunsell 3500 gallon and the model was scaled from one on the Watercress Line.

This is a super and unusual model, designed and built for passenger hauling and not to live in a glass case, and is well-used.