The London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) created the Royal Scot to boost its express service in the competitive London-to-Glasgow passenger market. The first batch of 50 engines was ordered from the North British Locomotive Works and delivered in nine months. The first of the 4-6-0s went into service in August 1927, and the railway itself built 20 more locomotives by 1930.
The LMS assigned the locomotives to the 10 p.m. train from London’s Euston Station to Scotland. LMS chose Royal Scot as the name of both the train and the 6000-class locomotives assigned to haul it.
A single 6100 locomotive handled the 15-car, 420-ton Royal Scot passenger train on a 300-mile journey from London to Carlisle, and a second engine and crew finished the 102 miles between Carlisle and Glasgow. The locomotive’s performance and reliability were so good that the entire locomotive class was eventually named Royal Scot. This would be akin to the New York Central Hudsons being renamed “20th Centuries.”
In 1933, LMS no. 6100 and an eight-car train were refurbished and shipped to North America for a display at the Chicago World’s Fair. A headlight, bell, and cowcatcher were added to conform with American railroad standards.
Reassembled in Montreal, the train began a tour that took it to Chicago and the opening of the World’s Fair June 1. On October 11, the train left Chicago for Montreal, via Denver, San Francisco, and Vancouver. In November 1933 it returned to Great Britain.
LMS began rebuilding the locomotives in 1943. The program was not completed until April 1955 by the then-nationalized British Railways.
While no. 6100 “lost” its American bell, headlight, and cowcatcher, the locomotive did retain a plaque commemorating its North American journey.
The railroad retired the Royal Scot class of locomotives between 1962 and 1966, with no. 6100 leaving service on October 13, 1962, with more than 2 million miles of operation under its belt. The only other surviving Royal Scot, no. 6115 The Scots Guardsman, was retired in 1966 with nearly 1,400,000 miles of service. In 2003, a British preservation group removed the Royal Scot from its public display in hope of returning it to service.
The model
You can see that this is an attractive piece right out of the box. Prewar-style construction doesn’t mean old-fashioned production techniques. Bassett-Lowke’s methods have resulted in a superb model. It’s flawlessly crafted; just look at those domes atop the boiler. Not too shabby for a product that began as a flat sheet of metal.
In British practice, steam locomotives tended to have cleaner, smoother lines than the typical American steam locomotive. Checking photo references, the model’s “clean” boiler and other surfaces reflect the prototype very well.
The boiler is shiny green with red-and-black stripes along the boiler bands. The smokebox, running boards, and cab roof have a nice, black satin finish.
There are additional red-and-black stripes on the steam chests, along the edge of the running board, and in a square on the cab side, containing the British Railways locomotive class and running number (“7P” and “46100”).
The front of the steamer is square and blunt, as is British practice. The bumpers are sprung (go ahead, poke ’em with your finger – they’ll move back), and there are functional link couplers and a very nice simulated air brake line. I absolutely loved the smoke deflectors.
Prongs for mounting three marker lanterns are on the base of the pilot. A fourth, for mounting either a lantern or a train name board, is on the top of the smokebox door. An engine number board is just above the simulated handle for opening the door.
The handrails are black, as is a pipe running the length of the left, or engineer’s side (remember – this is British), of the boiler. You’ll also find a reverse rod running from the cab down to a spot between the first and second set of drivers.
On the top of the smokebox is a double-tube smokestack. The locomotive has a Seuthe smoke unit. While smoke output wasn’t in the MegaUltraTurboMax category of an MTH or Lionel steamer, it certainly fits the prewar mood.
The cab is empty except for two pull-out controls. One allows you to switch from two-rail to three-rail operation; the other controls the smoke unit. You’ll also find a brass plate with the Bassett-Lowke name and the limited-edition number (our sample was no. 57).
The cab also features two grab irons and a fold-down deck, under which you’ll find the words “Bassett-Lowke, Leichester.”
The model’s paint and decoration are flawless, from the black satin finish on the smokebox to the early British Railways logo on the tender.
The tender is a slick-looking three-axle model that appears to be the LMS 4,000-gallon tender (holding nine tons of coal) that was assigned to the 6100s in 1935-36.
The locomotive comes with several extra simulated lanterns, mounted in various spots on the locomotive and tender to indicate the class of train it’s pulling. There are also red and gold train name plates for Merseyside Express, Thames-Clyde Express, Palatine, and Ulster Express.
Okay, so you’re convinced that a British outline steamer – especially one that has toured the United States – might work on your layout. Just what might you pull with this locomotive?
Prewar British rolling stock or new tinplate production by Ace Trains. Ace has produced cars in LMS red, and it has recently released British Railways coaches in red and yellow “Blood and Custard” sets, which look great behind this green locomotive. They are available from Ace Trains (acetrains.com), Railmaster Exports (www.railmaster.co.uk), and other Ace retailers worldwide.
On the test track
As with Bassett-Lowke’s Princess Royal-class 4-6-2 Pacific and N-class 2-6-0 Mogul (reviewed in the March and May 2003 issues), this locomotive is designed for operation on two- or three-rail O gauge track with DC power, (not the AC power used by most North American three-rail operators).
For a typical American O gauger, there are two ways around this. You can hook up a DC transformer to your layout or install a 4-amp full-wave bridge rectifier (about $2 at Radio Shack, part no. 276-1173 or equivalent) between the locomotive’s power and ground leads and its DC motor. (You may want to install an electronic reverse unit as well).
For our tests we used an Aristo-Craft 12 volt DC power pack.
The motor on this model was the quietest of three Bassett-Lowke locomotives that we’ve tested. It was responsive in all speed ranges and, under DC control, it was fun to simply reverse by flipping a switch on the power pack.
Our low-speed test average was 20.7 scale mph, and the high-end speed was 135.4 scale mph. Drawbar pull for the 4 pound, 12-ounce locomotive was 12.4 ounces, which should be enough to easily pull a rake of tinplate British outline coaches. Keep in mind that this locomotive lacks the cruise control and traction tires of many American locomotives.
The locomotive’s wheels feature scale-like flanges, rather than the deeper toy-train flanges common on other O gauge locomotives. This may have an impact on running on your layout.
The only track-related problems I noted were a few tender derailments when backing through MTH O-42 curves.
The locomotive is advertised as operating on curves as small as 36 inches in diameter. We tested it on Lionel O-42 and O-72 curves, Atlas O O-72 curves, and MTH RealTrax O-42 and O-72 curves. For electrical connectivity, the locomotive seemed to like the Lionel and MTH track a bit better than when running on the Atlas O track.
The Royal Scot is a first-rate product. I don’t know what percentage of Bassett-Lowke’s sales are to North America, but we hope it’s enough to justify offering an AC option on future locomotives headed for this side of the Atlantic.
