GWR 7 CLASS

Ray Jones, a retired Rolls Royce employee, spent years building this, his own locomotive to the G J S Clarke design of the magnificent Gooch double framed 4-4-0s. Despite having access to only a few castings (even the wheels are machined from solid) the engine looks both formidable and elegant, having been displayed at the midlands model engineering exhibition at least once. This engine, named after the great engineer Ismbard Kingdom Brunel was one of four build to experiment with four coupled drivers – engines previously had been more often fitted with one large single driver. Jones became a well reputed commercial model maker in later years building several 7 1/4” and 5” gauge models, before retiring recently from the trade to work on his final model, a replica of the Guiness factory engine.