Hi there everyone and welcome back to the railway. In today’s Trackside video we have No. 1003 “Western Queen” pulling the Green Set of coaches along the tracks on the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway. Video recorded on the 29th of March 2024.
1003 Western Queen was built by HCS Bullock in 1933 and was virtually identical to 1002 The Empress. She had piston valve cylinders and 12” driving wheels like the other 1000 series Bullock locomotives. The Empress was sold to Mr. Cookson for his private railway but Western Queen was hired out to a new miniature line built at Burnham-on-Sea which opened in 1934. After two seasons she was returned to Bullock after he discovered that she was not being looked after properly and then ran on his new private railway at Fox Hill, Farnborough.
Alexander Kinloch went into partnership with Bullock and Western Queen pulled the first trains on their public line at Fox Hill, The Farnborough Miniature Railway. Kinloch had some alterations made to Western Queen, the GWR fittings were removed and coal rails fitted to the tender. The locomotive returned to Fox Hill painted black and lettered LNER.
1003 was transferred to the new Surrey Border and Camberley Railway and was paired with the bogie tender from Edward VIII. She ran there until the SBCR closed upon the outbreak of WW11 and after the war was sold to Charles Lane, ran briefly at Hilsea and was later sold to Archie Dingle in Cornwall who ran her at Lowestoft and Plymouth. In Dingle’s ownership she was renamed Tamar Queen and then rebuilt by George Woodcock, fitted with new slide valve cylinders and sold to Maurice Densham for his private line at North Tawton, Devon.
In the late 1950’s Densham sold Tamar Queen along with Princess Elizabeth (previously Bullock’s EdwardV111) to a private owner who had a line around his house in St. Austell and she was then moved to the owner’s farm where a very impressive line was built deep in the country.
Tamar Queen was stored for many years alongside Princess Elizabeth before being sold to Eastleigh Lakeside Railway in 2016 where the locomotive joins the four Bullock Pacifics already on the roster there.
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