From the MEWS archive, this 5” gauge Midland Railway Single by Granville Askham was exhibited at a Sundown Park exhibition.

The classic Martin Evans Midland Railway Princess of Wales design dates back to 1970. Martin described it as “the largest and best looking of all the ‘singles’.”

Johnson built just ten of these engines, numbered 22,23 and 2601 to 2608, with only 2601, Princess of Wales, being named. That locomotive won the Grand Prix for express locos at the Paris Exhibition of 1900, and has survived into preservation.

Despite their great size they were little, if any, better than the smaller earlier singles. They were built with large bogie tenders which, when fully loaded, weighed more than the engine, carrying 4000 gallons of water and 5.5 tons of coal. Such a large tender could make driving a 5” gauge version difficult, and Martin included an alternative version, the standard six-wheeled tender, which were fitted later to some engines.

Martin based his model design on original works drawings for both the engine and tender, and was clearly impressed with Johnson’s artistic bent which comes through in the model.