Coronation locomotive 6220 (Bassett-Lowke)
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Coronation locomotive 6220 (Bassett-Lowke)
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| Arch Three , Area 1 1930s Model Railway Layout |
This exhibit was on display between November 2012 and early 2013
Contemporary Bassett-Lowke catalogue from around 1937/38. The same image was re-colorised to red and yellow for the version of the catalogue released in 1939 [image info]
6220 Coronation, at home on the layout [image info]
Coronation Scot Exhibition
the locomotives
trains: 1937 - 1939 - 1940
greatest? - streamlining - advertising - trivia - models and kits
A sleek, futuristic, gauge 0 model of the streamlined, bullet-nosed 4-6-2 "Pacific" LMS "Coronation" locomotive 6220 in "coronation blue" with silver lining, built by Bassett-Lowke in the 1930s.
Manufacture
Bassett-Lowke produced their gauge 0 model of Coronation 6220 in 1937, and it appears proudly on the cover of their gauge 0 catalogues in ~1937/38 (colourised in blue) and 1939 (colorised in red and yellow. The model was also heavily promoted in those years' advertising as their new "flagship" piece (see example above).
These locomotive models were handmade and hand-finished and handpainted, including all the lettering. They also had factory numbers stamped into or scratched into their undersides, presumably so that the builders could work on a few items at a time, and not confuse which parts had been hand-tailored to fit which locos.
The Museum's Director, Chris Littledale, has restored a number of examples, and so far the highest number encountered has been "twenty-five", which suggests that perhaps only around thirty were made.
The original locomotive
This class of locomotive was known as "Coronation" class The first batch of Coronation Class locomotives was designed to haul the Coronation Scot train, and their blue and silver lining ran along the full length of the train.
Number 6220 "Coronation" was built in 1937.
![[image info]](/index/File:BTMM_Coronation_6220_quarterview_TRD2012.jpg){kind=link}