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| No 7714 on the SVR at Bewdley, a picture taken by Dave Hadley. Art by Salty, SIF |
CB Collett’s 0-6-0 shunter/light freight 57xx design for God's Wonderful Railway was introduced in 1929, but the distinctive “pannier tank” shape dates back to William Dean in 1897. This was a massively prolific engine with 863 running at their height. The number series was thus extended to 67xx, 77xx, 87xx, and 97xx, still being delivered new to British Railways in 1948. The extremely similar PTs 54xx, 64xx, and 74xx, another 115 locos, were better fitted for running passenger branch-lines.
At least 10 survive and run on lines such as the South Devon Railway and the Severn Valley Railway.
From Tony Grigg's notes on “The Island of Sodor”: The Arlesburgh-Tidmouth line is known as Duck's Branch line. Duck works it with Oliver, Donald and Douglas, and at Arlesburgh can be found the Small Railway. |
The Real Duck?: (Research Update 2008-03-24)
A recent side-excursion onto the web revealed that the GWR did indeed have a 0-6-0PT numbered 5741 in their locomotive roster! Confirmed on the Great Western Railway's website. 5741's history is described in an old Dec. 11, 2004 Sheffield Railwayana Auctions listing for the engine's workplate - text reads as follows: A WORKSPLATE “North British Locomotive Company Ltd. No.23859. Queen’s Park Works Glasgow 1929”. As carried by the GWR 5700 Class’ 0-6-0PT 5741 that emerged from Works in March 1929 under Lot 256 at a contract price of £2,888. Initially allocated to Aberbeeg, she moved to Newport Ebbw in 1934, Aberdare in 1952, and finally Newport Pill in 1956. She was withdrawn from the Swindon Pool on 3rd June 1957 after running 569,001 miles in service. She was cut up at Swindon by 14th June 1958. Diamond cast brass, 15¼”x6¼”, in fine ex-loco condition.We also found a reference to a photograph on a now-defunct website: Sid Rickard Collection (negative 4101) - copyright J & J Collection Whether ‘No.5741’ was the number that came with the Rev. Awdry's model of the engine, or was later added at random or by design is a mystery. Suffice to say that we're pleased to learn that a real ‘Duck’ once chuffed along the rails of the GWR! Research Update: 2008-05-14
Further recent research by JG has returned dividends! The pic below was taken by Richard C. Riley on 15 March, 1958. It is an enlargement of a larger photograph showing former NWR 0-6-0PT nos. 5710 and 5741 in queue awaiting break-up at Swindon Dump. The loco's number can be made out in the inset view. By June, the locomotive was gone. Note: The engines' BR logos are the legacy of GWR's absorption into British Railways during nationalization ( 1948).
Interested visitors may purchase a hardcopy of this photo (details below) from Janet and Barry Hoper's The Transport Treasury, who provide a valuable historic service by selling photograph prints from donated private collections. With our thanks to Barry for initially confirming the engine's identity, and for making and snail-mailing the prints, including an enlargement of 5741 to Jim (Image © The Transport Treasury from the C.R. Riley Collection for use on this website.)
Photograph Metadata: Collection: Richard C. Riley/The Year 1958 Negative Ref: 11510 '5710/5741 Swindon Dump' Date: 15/3/58 |
The Rev. W. Awdry's Model of Duck:
Duck
really known as Montague, no. 5741, first appeared in "Percy the Small Engine" (1956). However, his existence and nickname had been well-established prior to that on the Rev Wilbert's model railway, as he explains in the 1979 annual:
(with thanks to Ryan Hagan)
“DUCK was bought as a spare engine in 1949. I had promised to show the railway at a Fete, and I wanted to be ready for emergencies. He is a Great Western pannier tank engine made by Gaiety Models, a firm long since extinct. When we first tried him out, his wheels were not quite round. This gave him a waddling gait. My children promptly christened him 'Duck', and Duck he has remained ever since, even though he now has scale wheels and runs steadily. My children kept asking for stories about him, but it was not till I wrote "Percy the Small Engine" (1956) that he made his first appearance in a book.” |
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| The original “Duck” at work on Ffarquhar, 1959, in the pages of Railway Modeller (used with permission RM) | At Ffarquhar station 2006. Photo ©Martin Clutterbuck |
Modeller's Corner:
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Here is another Gaiety Models pannier tank, no 5700, from the pages of the excellent Binns Road website, which tells the story: Gaiety models, marketed by Castle Art Products of Birmingham, entered the model railway world in January 1950 with an LNER N2 0-6-2T and GWR 0-6-0 pannier tank. This company predominantly supplied the Rover Car Company with castings; the firm also made other diecast products including a good model of a Morgan 3 wheel car. The origin of the “JVM” marking (below tank tops) is unknown - maybe the initials of whoever undertook the diecasting? |
Hornby made a model of the 57xx from the 1970s-80s. The tool has been adapted to make the current version of “Duck”: |
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Hornby Duck |
 This green 57xx by Bachmann (above) has been bashed into Duck by the enterprising Gavin Rose of SiF. Read more about how he did it in Gavin's modelling page. |
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Collector's Corner:
| Classic ERTL Duck | LC's Wooden Duck | LC's Take-Along Duck (now a rarity) | Tomy Duck |
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Toby<---- |
---->Foreign Engine |