Locomotives you might see on a visit to the Railway
Class 12A (Class 12A)
The Great Central Railway 12A was built and designed by Charles Sacré, the locomotive first carrying a MSLR livery prior to becoming the Great Central Railway in 1897. 28 of the class were built in 3 batches between 1875 & 1885, being a typical Sacre design with double frames and a round top firebox.
This 7 ¼ model of the GCR class 12A was completed in 1991 by Geoff Billington and was originally named after his wife, Lorna. The 12A was a regular runner at Bentley Miniature Railway until around 2005 where the boiler developed some leaks in the tubes & stays.
The locomotive changed ownership at the start of 2019, up to this point, the locomotive was non-running and required a major overhaul. In March 2019, a full overhaul & rebuild began. A replacement copper welded boiler has been fitted, pipework has been replaced, new injectors have been fitted, new piston rings were put into the cylinders, cab fittings were replaced and a full repaint was completed into the period Great Central Green livery with Deep India Red frames.
The 12A returned to traffic in July 2021, since then it has been a regular runner on events and occasional weekends.
