One advantage of being sociophobic is that I can say what I like and blame it on my ‘condition’.
……hurrummmmph…..back to the blog.
Did you miss me? Did you wonder if I had fallen off the edge of the Universe? No posts for so many months. I’ve been a touch busy and the summer months are mostly spent outside. However, as the clock strikes minus twenty Celcius, my blood congeals and brain activity slows sufficiently to be able to write more nonsense for this blog. So to welcome you back, I would receive no greater pleasure than to introduce you to none other than the Duchess of Montrose herslef (I rather like the word ‘herslef’, so it remains uncorrected).
Queen of the railroad, this Princess Coronation Class locomotive was designed by William Stanier and built by London Midland and Scottish Railway between 1937 and 1948. A total of thirty eight were built, but only 3 remain intact: The Duchess of Sutherland, Duchess of Hamilton and City of Birmingham.
If you so desire, you can read more details about this beautiful machine under the Duchess of Atholl post.
As for this Dublo model of the Duchess of Montrose, she is a real slinky baby. To study her lithe body snaking around the room with a long train of LMS coaches is a treat, matching even Kate Winlset at her callipygian best. Damage to her paintwork is minimal – just a few minor chips and she is in good running order. The Duchess was one of the most popular locomotives on the Dublo mainline in the late 1940’s and 50’s. It’s beautifully crafted and represents one of the favourite classes of locomotive running at the time.
If you head over to Wikipedia there is a story about one of the early record breaking attempts almost ending in disaster when insufficient braking time was allowed before hitting the Crewe changeovers. The Duchess remained on the rails, but the bumps caused more than a little consternation and broke a lot of crockery (that’s back in the days when tea was served in china cups!! Hahaha… now the tea is served cold so you don’t scald your hands through the thin plastic cup.
Anyway, here she is again, so please put your hands together and give her a welcome that will ignite the coals in her scuttle:
The Duchess of Montrose --------------------------------------
I once had her (or should I say she once had me) back in 1956, we were parted but I never forget her ..... she is now once again winging her way to me, what a joyous reunion that will be!
ReplyDeleteI had her upto '63 when Isent her to Hornby to be Refurbished, Hornby sent me one of those nasty plastic Duchess of Sutherland Back.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know the green that the duchess of montrose was i think it was Apple green
Hornby kept your priceless die-cast and gave you plastic body instead? eucchhh!
ReplyDeleteI have a Hornby Dublo Dutchess of Montrose setup in the box with two coaches & tender plus an oblong circle of three rail track that i got off my parents for Christmas.
ReplyDelete