10.25” GAUGE GCR 11F IMPROVED DIRECTOR CLASS

One of the stars of the 2017 Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition was a mighty 10.25” gauge Great Central Railway 11F or Improved Director class. These good looking 4-4-0 engines were designed by John G Robinson, based on the earlier Director class. A variation was later built by the LNER to a reduced loading gauge with smaller boiler mounting to haul passenger trains in Scotland.

The 11F class worked fast express trains from Marylebone to Sheffield Victoria and other routes. Later they were used on shorter distance passenger routes until replaced by diesel engines in 1959/60.

A total of 35 were built between 1919 and 1924. One, No 506, Butler-Henderson, has been preserved in the national collection.

Don Young produced a design for the Improved Director class in 5” gauge. This, much larger, offering was on display to promote the Ten and a Quarter Inch Gauge Railway Society, which also caters for the rarer eight inch and 12.5” gauges. http://www.tenquarter.org has details of all the UK railways in these gauges, locos for sale and even complete railways looking for new owners.