Manning Wardle 'L' Class 0-6-0

[rapidoandy]

Since Rapido Trains UK started we have been asked to produce a small industrial locomotive suitable for industrial and light railway use. With Andy’s interest in such things, we didn’t need asking twice.

 

Fifteen years ago, our General Manager Andy passed his steam loco driving test on “Matthew Murray”, an 'L' Class built by Manning Wardle in 1903 and residing on the Middleton Railway - a stone’s throw from its birthplace. The railway is also home to a sister L class “Sir Berkeley”. This type has never been produced in OO gauge in any form so it’s no surprise that we opted to produce this model.

 

 

The L class were dainty and attractive little locomotives with double-bossed wheels and a variety of bolt-on options the purchaser could add. The resulting engines were unmistakably Manning Wardles.

 

Our model is in the final design stages and will feature a number of tooling variants to allow for open and closed cabs, different pipework layouts, different frame styles and different wheels among others.

 

 

We are currently finalising the design and until then will keep the planned list of liveries, physical specification and prices close to our chest to provide a little more excitement later on. 

 

"But why does anyone think you are making it?" we hear you ask. Well, when we visited the Middleton Railway earlier this year to record the sounds of the Y7 we also recorded “Sir Berkeley”. Obviously, this drew lots of attention and we were even caught on camera which may have fed the rumours.

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by rapidoandy

[Quarryscapes]

Excellent choice of portotype, this is going to be very popular indeed! 

[BVMR21]

A very good choice, now to come up with a reason for a fictional heritage railway in Mid* Wales to have one.....

[JSpencer]

Bravo. Sir Berkley with DCC sound, firebox glow and smoke for me when she comes please.

[No Decorum]

1 hour ago, rapidoandy said:

 

We are currently finalising the design and until then will keep the planned list of liveries, physical specification and prices close to our chest to provide a little more excitement later on. 

 

Good! That’s probably as much excitement as I can cope with for now. Please don’t forget to make it easy to get into the mechanism for maintenance purposes!

[gpplumy]

Sir berkeley please, please, perfect for me with her visiting scunthorpe for railtours i the early years 

[Daddyman]

Very nice. Can almost be fudged into "Bamburgh" too, to go with the Y7 68089. 

 

[JShow]

I think both Sir Berkely and Matthew Murray will be produced. Another intriguing possibility is Bamburgh, motive power for the North Sunderland Railway. Rapido are doing a Y7, which also ran there, so it wouldn't be a surprise.

 

These models will be hard to resist, so I won't.

Edited August 25, 2023 by JShow

[PaulRhB]

Delighted, will it have some space for a stay alive to be added? Like the Hunslet did, (just 🤣)

[Daddyman]

7 minutes ago, JShow said:

I think both Sir Berkely and Matthew Murray will be produced. Another intriguing possibility is Bamburg, motive power for the North Sunderland Railway. Rapido are doing a Y7, which also ran there, so it wouldn't be a surprise.

 

These models will be hard to resist, so I won't.

Bamburgh was "L-Class Altered", though - with some considerable detail differences, the most obvious of which were: larger wheels (without the characteristic MW double-bosses); and splashers.  

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Daddyman

[Zunnan]

Hmmm...I am sorely tempted to butcher one into an 1890 build Hunslet. I reckon enlarging the tank width wise and rounding the top, plus altering the 'Sir Berkeley' spectacle plate to be an enclosed cab would get me halfway there. The double bossed wheels across both are only an inch away from one another too which can easily be brushed away as tyre wear. If construction is similar to the 16" Hunslet with a clip on saddle tank then it shouldn't be too much of a chore...unless Rapido are going to pull a blinder and have variations in cabs/tanks closer to those old Hunslets! Good Luck! *hint*

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

Very excited about these, it will be interesting to see if there’s a K style one. Regardless, the blue one will be on my list. 

[AlfaZagato]

Just what I need, another industrial...

[Moxy]

22 minutes ago, Rich Uncle Skeleton said:

Very excited about these, it will be interesting to see if there’s a K style one. Regardless, the blue one will be on my list. 

 

I think that has been discussed on the other thread

 

There are some differences in boiler/smokebox between the two, the L is a bit bigger than the K.

[AMJ]

MW 1601 Matthew Murray in blue at Middleton Railway

 

MW 1210 Sir B also at Middleton with the Logan and Hemmingway multiple shades of green rather than the Kermit green that it once carried.

 

I kept quite as I knew about the recording at the same time as NER 1310 was done.

 

I can imagine amongst the versions (over time) that 1601 will also carry the Arthur name when it was at KESR 

 

I may need to work a bit longer rather than dipping into the slush fund, unless the Premium Bonds pay out....

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

1 hour ago, Moxy said:

 

I think that has been discussed on the other thread

 

There are some differences in boiler/smokebox between the two, the L is a bit bigger than the K.

What I like about the Ks are the old fashioned cab and smokebox door, if there’s a version that has one or both of those features that’ll tickle my itch! 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Rich Uncle Skeleton

[The Johnster]

Pretty little things, aren't they?  Surefire seller for Rap, who are to be congratulated on them, especially if they are good slow runners! 

[PhilJ W]

There was one that operated on the Brill branch, a companion for the Metropolitan E class?

[Not Jeremy]

A great choice, I built John Dale’s superb kit a while ago in 1/32 scale, I managed to wangle a short “wrapped”  cab with an open bunker on “Spitfire”, a particularly winning combination even if I say so myself!

[papagolfjuliet]

20 hours ago, BVMR21 said:

A very good choice, now to come up with a reason for a fictional heritage railway in Mid* Wales to have one.....

 

The Gwili Railway had 'Aldwyth' for a while if that helps.

[Daddyman]

12 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

There was one that operated on the Brill branch, a companion for the Metropolitan E class?

Not really - the three (?) on the Brill Tramway were all "K" class, and the only Metropolitan locos to work the line were "D" and, later, "A" classes.  

[Michael Hodgson]

8 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

Not really - the three (?) on the Brill Tramway were all "K" class, and the only Metropolitan locos to work the line were "D" and, later, "A" classes.  

Yes, although they do look very similar.

If you're going to model the "Oxford & Aylesbury" line though, you really want the chain driven Aveling & Porters.

 

Love the weatherboard version of these, much prettier than the proper cab, especially with the full lining of Sir Berkeley.  The model will oviously need a great deal of attention to the backhead detail etc with no cab.

 

I think of it as a KWVR loco rather than Middleton, as it belongs to the Vintage Carriages Trust - but being associated for a long time with two presered lines should help with demand for it.  Not a lot of room to fit in the motor & DCC gubbins, but it still looks a good choice Rapido, well done.  Although I can't really justify it, looks like Rule 1 will have to be applied yet again.

 

 

[Not Jeremy]

Dear god, welcome to ready to run world and its stifling mentality.

 

as I recall, the slightest research into the subject of the lovely “L“ locomotives built by Manning Wardle of Leeds will reveal to any even half sentient being that most were built for contractors, of which there were very very many. They were then very often sold off to all sorts of other users, who did lots of really interesting things with them. In the context of which, please could somebody apply some bleddy imagination and wit and produce, or talk about or at the very least think about all the myriad possibilities that this presents to us all, think of the things that exist outside of “strict preservation” and all the interest it might contain. Or of course, feel free to continue to complain about the wrong sort of trailer for Sir Berkeley, argue the toss about wheel bosses, display your ever so boring knowledge of different shades of green, earwax or what-ever! Sorry, I’m in a place that causes one to reflect, and this thread is losing me the will to live!!

Edited August 30, 2023 by Not Jeremy
That’d be an L then, still on the medication….

[Wickham Green too]

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

... Not a lot of room to fit in the motor & DCC gubbins, ...

Not sure how they manage in N gauge - but the do seem to !

[James Harrison]

The GCR bought a number of Manning Wardle 0-6-0s for use at Grimsby Docks.  Frustratingly, the records given in Dow Vol 2 are incomplete.  I wonder if any of them were L type...