Last updated November 2019

We currently have four Terriers, finished and available for service. They are:
A1X no 678 ex ‘Knowle’
A1 0-4-2 no 82 ‘Boxhill’
A1 no 655 ‘Stepney’
A1 no 662 ex ‘Martello’

A1 Terrier no 82 ‘Boxhill’ was constructed at Brighton Works, and outshopped in 1880, one of the last few to be built. The loco originally worked around the London suburbs on light commuter trains, and was later transferred to Midhurst to work the Pulborough to Chichester service. By the end of the 1890’s the Terriers were rapidly becoming too small to work many of these services, and a number were offered for sale.

Boxhill survived the cull and was given a second lease of life working motor trains - single carriages fitted out for push-pull working. The loco entered Brighton Works in March 1905 for conversion to a 2-4-0, alongside sister engine no 81 ‘Beulah’. Terriers proved themselves perfect for the task of working motor trains and subsequently many other Terriers were fitted out, although no others were converted to 2-4-0’s.

Boxhill survived in this form until 1913 when it was returned to six-coupled for employment as shed pilot at Brighton. It survived grouping, and was finally withdrawn in 1946, becoming an exhibit at Clapham Transport Museum, before being moved to the NRM York, and restoration in Stroudley ‘Improved Engine Green’.

My model represents Boxhill during the period 1905-1913, as a 2-4-0 hauling a scratchbuilt balloon trailer. Boxhill’s livery during this period is confused - Bradley states, in his introductory section on liveries, that in 1905 the engine was painted in experimental goods green, and elsewhere that it was painted in Stroudley green. Study of photos from the period show two distinct shades, and therefore that it cannot have been painted in goods green (dark olive green all over, lined out in black and red). There seems to be no definitive information but modified IEG seems the most likely colour (as set out in the HMRS publication ‘Southern Livery’). The only change from the standard Stroudley IEG appears to be the concave corners to the lining (compare photos left and right).

The loco body is a whitemetal kit bought second hand, but by an unknown manufacturer. The chassis is a modification of the original, with full compensation (single pivot on the leading axle, and side-beams between the rear two). The motor is a Mashima driving a High Level Models Roadrunner+ gearbox on the centre axle. Pick-up is by split axles.

The precise colour of IEG is a much debated point - this is finished using a tin of Precision paints at least 20 years old (the shade changed a little in subsequent batches). The loco has been weathered down to dull the colours as befitting a loco due for a repaint.