1001 Sir A Montgomery at Littlestone

What, when or where? Images from the SLS collections. (Last updated - 12th December 2011)

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Image name jacobs_6.jpg - Number 1001 "Sir A Montgomery" at Littlestone.

The image below is from the SLS Library (Stanford Jacobs Collection) and was presented to us over the winter of 2008/9. Some photographs were annotated but others were not. Some of these have previously been featured in the What, When, Where? page, this is one of those with the history behind the image now researched and written up. Thank you's go to Andrew, David Colley, Dave Holroyde, Richard Pearson, Chris Krupa, Jez Kirkwood, Simon Moore, SteveK, PLD and Stationmaster for the information supplied either directly or through an on-line forum.

The image is one of a set of three all of locomotives that have surviived into the C21 and all having the common connections of having run previously at the Dudley Zoo miniature railway.

Image jacobs_6

Image name jacobs_6.jpg The print is stamped with a name G A Barlow and it has also been endorsed by hand (probably by Stanford Jacob) as SLJ Littlestone Miniature Railway, Lt Col R B Turrell (81) at the regulator. With cruel enlargement of a scan the name plate is sufficiently legible to confirm the locomotive is Sir A Montgomery, There is a code entry also on the back of 1851 - 25/3/1956 and whether this is the acquisition date of the print by SJ or a taking date we don't know but it does give a latest possible date for the image.

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Investigative work started with this entry on the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway web site -

"Formally Sir A. Montgomery 4-4-2 was built in 1937 by G&S Engineering It ran at Dudley Zoo before the war ending up at Weymouth. In 1990 it was sold and left in store until 2000 when it changed hands again and brought to Eastleigh Lakeside Railway. Eastleigh Lakeside Railway purchased the engine in February 2002 since then it has been totally rebuilt and renamed in October 2005".

About the locomotive

Investigative work continued via several internet fora and confirmation obtained that two locomotives, numbered as 1001 and 1002, were built by G&S (Guest) for use at the Crown Wychbold railway and then moved on to running at Dudley Zoo. Harold Judd then bought the two locos in 1945 and reopened the Southsea line with themwhere 1001 became Sir A Montgomery in 1946. It is beleived they were then used in Reading.

Additional background information is that the Wychbold line opened 11/09/37 and that at Dudley Zoo on 14/07/1938. Harold Judd's ownership of the Southsea line ceased at the end of the 1951 season and numbers !001 and !002 were eventually purchased by Maurice Densham of North Tawton, although whether this was direct from Harold Judd's estate or via another owner is not known as it is not listed in the prime source book. ( A History of the Thames Side Promenade Miniature Railways. - By Peter Scott). From that source we know that 1001 left by 1956 but there was a gap in the book supplied timeline until the much later arrival at Eastleigh. Thanks to the contributors credited above we now know that 1001 got to Eastleigh as set out below and was photographed by G Barlow whilst at Littlestone. Sister locomotive 1002 left Southend circa 1956/57, later running at Carlyon Bay. 1002 was sold by 1995 and is now privately owned in Cornwall.

Although some date gaps still remain the following is a a chronology of known movements of the locomotive. Gauge is 10 1/4 inches

Chronological timeline for 1001

1937 to ???? - Crown Wychbold - Number 1001
???? to 1945 - Dudley Zoo Railway
1945 to 1951 - Bought by H Judd and moved to Southsea (Named Sir A Montgomery in 1946 at Southsea)
1951 to ???? - Reading ? still owned by H Judd.
??? ? to 1954 - North Tawton MR, Devon
?? - 1955 - ?? - Littlestone on Sea. Known to be at Littlestone in 1955 and possibly through March 1956 as photo above,
/??? to ???? - Chippenham, Wilts
circa 1960 - S Monk, Notts
?? - 1963 - ?? C Gilbert, Warks
?? - 1970 - ?? - Creed, Worcs
???? to 1979 - J Williams, Chepstow
1980 to ?? - Drayton Manor Park
circa 1982 to ?? Weymouth Bay MR
March 1990 - Severn Lamb
3/93 to July 2000 - K Horn, Hants - in storage out of use
7/00 - Eastleigh
2000 to 2002 - Eastleigh Lakeside Railway
2002 to 2005 - Eastleigh Lakeside Railway - under new owners being rebuilt and then renamed
2005 to date - Eastleigh Lakeside Railway - running in rebuilt form as 1908 Ernest Henry Upton.

Info still needed - Anything to fill in more of the ownership/location gaps with details.

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About the people named -

G A Barlow - George Barlow had a long association with miniature railways being the driver of 'Green Goddess' for many years. Having joined the RHDR shortly after the war he spent so long driving one engine that he made the Guinness Book of Records. He was also honoured by the Queen. He was an authority on miniature railways as well as an accomplished engineman in the wider field and he made it into the book 'Ace Engineman'.

Lt Col R B Tyrrell (Possibly Tyrell) - The spelling as Turrell is believed incorrect. Col Tyrrell bought Greenly's cottage near the line and ran a miniature railway (s?) in the area close to the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch line. One of these was the 10 1/4" Littlestone Miniature Railway Littlestone on Sea and in addition to 1001, as in the picture, Colonel Tyrrell had a Carland Royal Scot.

To conclude this page of information relating to number 1001 Sir A Montgomery is an image of the rebuilt engine running in current guise as 1908 Ernest Henry Upton at the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway. Taken by and © John New 2nd May 2009. More of John's photo's of the ELR including two more of number 1908 are here.

1001 as now rebuilt

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