GWR 3150 Class

By Keith Wilson's own admission, his best work were the series of eight 7 1/4” gauge large prairie '3150' class engines built between 1983 and 1990. It is clear to see, with an astute level of detail and bags of power for a Class 4 engine. To that end, he built one for his son, Alan and another he kept to use as his own personal engine. The other six were distributed around the country but have all seen good service over the last 30-40 years. The engine is built to Swindon works drawings, with GA sketches still surviving. In service, the 3150 class were designed by G J Churchward as heavy duty mixed traffic tank engines, with many ending up on banking duties around the Devon banks or Severn Tunnel Junction. None of these engines survived into preservation, though quite a few of the smaller boilered 5101 class, the 3150's successor engines, are in operation across heritage lines today.