Builder: Orenstein & Koppel
Works number/year built: 5926/1935
Previous bases: New to Cape Universal Products Ltd, Uxbridge; Amberley Chalk Pits museum; Abbey Light Railway; Welsh Highland Heritage Railway; Great Bush Railway, tinkers park, Essex.
Notes on the prototype: The O&K arrived at the ALR with one wheelset regauged to 2’ gauge, and the other remaining at 2’3” gauge from it’s time at Cape Universal Products Ltd. For many years it sat awaiting restoration with one end on a small trolley. When restoration did finally come around in the 00’s, progress was hampered by the theft of the flywheel and gearbox sump, both huge cast iron items that would have been difficult to move, let alone run away with. Replacements were fabricated and progress was being made sorting out teething problems with getting the single cylinder diesel engine to run properly when the railway closed. The loco left the railway partially completed, but happily it’s new owner at the Great Bush Railway has completed the job.
Notes on the model: The model was originally built from the Nonneminstre kit by the late Rod Allcock. In conversation with him about all things narrow gauge and my plans for this layout he very kindly offered it to me. Of course I accepted! The kit depicts a slightly different type of O&K, but the only discearnable difference to No.7 is the larger bonnet. I modified the model to have the shorter bonnet and exposed engine, which (mostly) hides the motor. As No.7 was part way through restoration when the ALR closed I finished the model in an imagined ‘what if’ condition as a complete working loco.
