Description
This is the Rapido Sirdar Leonora DCC fitted model. The Kerr, Stuart & Co. Sirdar was a small 0-4-0 side tank steam locomotive built in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with 58 examples constructed for both export and home use, including two that joined the South African Narrow Gauge Railways as ‘NG1’ class locomotives. Sirdars saw work on industrial, quarry and contractor’s lines across the world, and several examples survive today in preservation.
Leonora is a similar Long-Tank Sirdar, built in 1901 for the Sons of Gwalia, a mining company in Western Australia, and delivered there in 1902. She hauled trains of firewood used to fuel the mines, and was herself fired on wood rather than coal, fitted with distinctive ‘cane bin’ style rails over both her tanks and boiler top to suit the role. Remarkably, Leonora was delivered to the Sons of Gwalia by horse and cart over a considerable distance before ever turning a wheel in service.
A sandbox mounted on the boiler, a standard chimney and a backsheet with doors are all featured on this model, along with a short ‘Hook and Loop’ compatible coupling fitted as standard. A detail bag of optional parts, including a full-length Hook and Loop coupling, is supplied for customisation, and the model runs on curves of first radius (228mm) or greater. Finished to a museum quality paint standard with highly detailed NEM coupler pockets, this DCC Fitted version arrives with a movement-only DCC decoder already fitted and a smooth, powerful mechanism, ready to run out of the box.
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