I had completed building a 5" gauge 'Pansy' pannier tank to a published design, and found the drawings somewhat wanting, and the design poor particularly in the areas of steam flow and valve arrangements.

Whilst looking for a new project, and discussing matters with other modellers, I found that the general consensus was that model engineering drawings were generally poor.

The other aspect of my search was that I did not want to build another model of which there were already plenty.

Originating from the Greater London area and taking an interest in railways in the late 50's and early 60s, I found there was not a published design nor a completed 7.25" Q1, so I decided to do the research, draw and build a Q1.

I found among those I had previously discussed my choice of project with, that feelings were quite rigidly divided between the "what those ugly so & so's", and "yes I've always quite liked those very powerful machines".

In my favour for this choice was that the National Collection 'Q1' was then in service with the Bluebell Railway, easy access for me.

Word having got around that this was my project choice, I was put in contact with a gentleman who had some Southern Railway copy drawings of pipe runs for both loco and tender; these of course had all the frame stretcher positions, wheel outlines etc.

These were a great help with scaling photos. So I purchased the right to copy and return said drawings, and also some frames and wheel castings ultimately not used by me.

A downside of others knowing in advance is getting "while you are doing one can you do another for me", hence the decision to make six.

So far the project has taken about two years, and by no means are all the parts designed. Having decided on material outlay, the next thing is the repetitive nature of manufacturing the parts.

Whilst I served my apprenticeship as a Machinist tool fitter in the aerospace industry, I didn't really appreciate how bored the operators of the machines I was repairing must have been !

To reduce it somewhat, at least I have had all the frames and stretchers laser cut, worthwhile when doing six sets.

The frames are cut from 4mm steel and the stretchers have tabs which locate in slots in the frame sides; this automatically aligns everything in the right place and allowed the frames to be free standing before fixing with angle.

Anyway, most of the repetitive work is mostly completed, only the leaf springs are still to be sorted; I had some difficulty locating strip spring steel at a reasonable price.

The cylinder castings set was cast using my own set of patterns.

Next, there's the boilers - I had intended to make my own from copper, but as regulations have now changed and I would need to be a registered manufacturer (too expensive), and the price of commercial boilers is also too expensive, I have opted for steel, the supplier yet to be decided.

Having made a large number of components it came to the valve gear, so before committing to a further large number of parts all to be proved, I decided to put one chassis together, and after minor adjustments this has now run on air and proves the valve arrangement.

I intend for the Q1 model to have a working steam reverser and steam sanders. The axles, coupling rods and connecting rods will all have rolling element bearings, the axle bearing sealed for life.