Gooch was one of four Armstrong class locomotives designed by William Dean just before the turn of the century. They started life as broad guage 2-4-0's before being converted to standard guage and rebuilt as 4-4-0's. Even after these locos were rebuilt they still carried driving wheels measuring seven feet in diameter. The 3,000 gallon tenders employed a simple form of water-condensing apparatus, taking exhaust steam and condensing it as water back into the tender.
This class is considered by many as one of the most aesthitically balanced and beautiful of all steam engines. I certainally agree. Later on the four engines were incorporated in the 'Flower' class and carried four digit numbers.
This model comes with an unused boiler made by Trevor Trimble of Swindon Boilers fame. The boiler was built in 1978 I believe to original blueprints. This meant it was shorter than the drawings of the model that are still available from Reeves. As I dont have a copy of the original blueprints the boiler now has a spacer ring at the front which moves the backhead back to where it should be. Recently the bores in the cylinder block has been honed, the crosshead slides machined and extra locating lugs added to site the frame that holds the slides at the opposite end to the pistons. This should ensure perfect location of the cylinders and slides during the remainder of the build. The full regulator assembley is another recent addition. Since the picture has been taken most of the frames have been stripped and primed as has the front bogie. The frames for the tender are in progress. The safety valve cover has been polished and the dome has been started.
New pictures to follow soon as this one is a couple of years old.
