Come In No. 4
The finished Tattoo waits for the passenger to board at Wheal Ponder. We all have our favourite locos, mine are the Kerr Stuart 0-4-2 tank locos. I’m lucky enough to be able to drive my favourite one and now, finally after a gestation period of twenty five years, I now have a pair of them in model format with the completion of my Wrightlines Talyllyn / Corris No 4 ‘Tattoo’ kit build. My first encounter with Talyllyn No 4 was as a child at the campsite gate on our summer holidays. The Hackworth style valve gear has always mesmerised me and was notably different to anything else I’d seen. The loco also has two whistles that appealed to the child in me (and some might say still does!) Talyllyn No 4 was also the first loco I worked on as a volunteer. The design has the advantage of all the moving parts being easily accessible, with a firebox and boiler that will steam on any old coal, and a really nice to the touch regulator (unless you forget to turn the lubricator on). Plus the 0-4-2...
