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Caledonian Railways No.123

'The last single wheeler'


Operation:

To operate this engine please:
Fill firebox with coal

Press ignition

Turn off breaks on engine and tender

Let steam build up

And drive off!

For achieving best speeds and keeping wheelslip to a minimum have the throttle up to about 0.30 max.

To shut off simply turn off the air intake valve and allow the engine to cool.



History:




Caledonian Railways No 123, or the "caley Single" Is a single wheeled locomotive built in 1886 at the Neilson & Co works to represent the railway and its head engineer Douglas Drummond at the exhibition of industries, science & art held in edinburgh of that same year.

She was built essentially as a show piece, as she was produced by a company who never adopted single drive engines as a standard design, and also was at a time when single drive wheel engines where considered obsolete and were being withdrawn to make way for engines with more sets of driving wheels which held greater traction and power for pulling trains.

In 1888 she was used for publicity in the "Races to the North" where rail companies both from the east and west competed to have the fastest traveling times from london to edinburgh. The engine serviced a 100 mile stretch of line between Carlisle and edinburgh pulling 2-3 carrages at around 50mph, and in one instance made the trip in 100 minuets.

She was also the Caledonian Railways favourite engine to be used as the Royal trains pilot, driving 15 minuets ahead of the actual royal train to ensure that the line ahead was clear when heading to balmoral castle. Requiring high speeds with no loads, the Caley Single was ideal for these duties.

in 1923 The Caledonian railway was merged and became a part of the LMS Railway, the engine was renumbered 14010 and was given the power classification of 1P. during the 1920s she was painted in LMS Maroon and allocated to working the directors saloon but was returned to mainline service for the Dundee to Perth Mainline in 1930 and painted in LMS Black.

By 1935 she was withdrawn, having become the last single drive wheel engine operating within britain, and was set aside for preservation.

in 1958 she was restored to running order and ran railtours and specials for enthusiasts until the end of steam traction in scotland.


She now resides in the Riverside Meuseum in glasgow, scotland in her CR Livery, and personally? Is well worth the trip to see.

There also exists models released by Tri-ang in the 1960s in 00 guage and was produced up until the 1970s, with other models in her LMS Black and Maroon liveries produced, also with DCC capabilities as well as a couple train packs, those being: "The Caledonian" & "The last single wheeler"

Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBDKcSWtcXc

https://youtu.be/_0R8uERY-Yk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Railway_Single


Notes:

Hi! I really hope you enjoy this little pet project that I have had going on, recently revived after sitting in my save files for over a year before brining it to life with some help from a couple other builders on here for pointers and advice. The engine itself is a favourite of mine, having grown up seeing her a fair bit throughout my childhood.

Hope you enjoy!