A well-engineered live steam 5 inch gauge model of a L1 Class Southern Railway 4-4-0 tender locomotive ‘Maid of Kent’ No 345

A well-engineered live steam 5 inch gauge model of a L1 Class Southern Railway 4-4-0 tender locomotive Maid of Kent No 345, built by the late Mr F Wainwright of North Wales to the design by LBSC, with silver soldered parallel round top copper boiler having super-heater and fittings including pressure gauge, water sight-glass, regulator, direction control, brake, drains, simulated planked flooring to cab, clack and safety valves. Chassis having twin inside cylinders with Stephensons valve gear, cylinder drains, fluted motion and injectors. Six wheel tender with fitted water hand feed pump, brakes, water cock, steps and hand irons. The model finished in Southern Railways green lined livery with fitted steps and hand rails. Length 152cm. Cab width 24cm.
The model described in Model Engineer Volumes 97-101.
* The locomotives were used on express trains on the South Eastern main lines from London to Dover, Ramsgate and Hastings They remained on these duties until the mid-1930s when they were gradually replaced on the heavier trains by the newer King Arthur and Schools classes. They continued to be used on the former London Dover & Chatham main line to Dover and Ramsgate until after the Second World War and the nationalisation of British Railways in 1948. The transfer of Bullied Light Pacifics' to these services in the early 1950s made the class largely redundant. Some were briefly transferred to Eastleigh and to replace worn out locomotives on cross-country services, but most spent their careers between London and the Kent coast. Withdrawal began in 1959. The final locomotive was withdrawn in February 1962. None remain.