I've posted this photo of my acquisitions to show what progress has been made.

The first loco bought out of those three in this photo is a pre-owned GER J17 0-6-0 bought off an auction site about two years ago. It's a BEC white metal kit using a Triang-Hornby chassis, painted in GER passenger/mixed traffic livery by its previous owner. This was bought for my collection because the preserved J17 was based at Norwich in its final years of service when my mum and late gran lived at the time.

A Hornby Terrier, and more recently the same firm's M7, fitted with screw links and weathered by its previous owner, are more recent additions.

At the moment the J17 looks lonely without a train to pull, but I'm looking into buying or building a suitable GER brake van as I already own quite a few private owner coal wagons. On the other hand I can call upon my Hornby Maunsell carriages to go behind my M7 and Terrier.

Most of my locos that are planned to appear in pre-grouping liveries will be freight or mixed-traffic types as I can then arrange appropriate brake vans to suit.

My latest thinking is I'll group together the ex-NER J72, GWR 28XX and ex-LNWR G2 0-8-0 locos to carry the "Big Four" liveries. Because the Wirral Rly was intertwined most closely with the Great Central Rly, the ex-L & Y 2-4-2T and the GCR J11 0-6-0 will both be in their appropriate pre-grouping liveries.