Rovers

http://website.lineone.net/~cbwesson/GWR%20Rover.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Exquisite model locomotives of Victorian England, Brunell's Great Western Railway, seven foot gauge, eight foot drivers. My avatar shows an early one, before they gave the driver protection from the elements, or had power brakes.

This is to correct my spelling of Brunel's name.
These engines were designed by Daniel Gooch in 1846 and ran, with modifications, until the end of broad gauge on the GWR in 1892.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZL8hAQ ... an&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The above is a link to a copy of The English Illustrated Magazine, 1891 1892. The second article in it, titled "Broad Gauge Engines," is by a clergyman A.H. Malan, giving a first hand account of a ride on the footplate of one of these engines. Rev. Malan was the prototype of a railfan, with influential friends in the industry, and took many photographs of the rolling stock of the day.

Looking at the back of the tender on the unpainted model, there is something mounted next to the brake hose, that looks like a jack. Was that a re-railing tool that the prototypes carried, similar to the way today's Alps carry compromise couplers on the outside?
I'm not sure that "toy trains" is the right forum for these models. Pretty valuable toys.
In the 1950s Suydam made beautiful brass models of Pacific Electric cars, well beyond my means. I had to settle for Ambroid open vestibule wooden coaches, which were charming in their own way.

The English Illustrated Magazine linked to above has a story, "A Strange Elopement," by William Clark Russell, which anybody interested in nineteenth century sailing ships would find interesting, account of all the authentic detail in it. The author went to sea in 1857 at age thirteen and spent the next eight years in the merchant navy. Later, his novels on seafaring subjects were widely known.

Wandered into this thread after philipmartin mentioned it in a different thread.
Looked at the "The English Illustrated Magazine" link above, seems the A.H. Malan article is #1 and starts on page 14 (no active link to it).
Actually the article #4, Midland Railway Locomotive Works at Derby is rather cooler - for instance, turntables INSIDE locomotive sheds.

I know the "Iron Duke" originally from Railroad Tycoon 2, as it was one of the best engines you get until the 4-4-0 American is introduced (not sure if you ever get Americans in some of the scenarios, such as the Switzerland one). According to Wiki there seems to have been about 30 Iron Dukes, and only the first 3 were eventually converted into "Rovers" (the topic of this thread).

That English Illustrated Magazine 1891-1892 is a treasure trove in a lot of ways, contemporary British railroading being just one of them.
I had the impression that Rovers were just Iron Duke class engines with cab enclosures and power brakes.