Today's post, 12th June 2016, features photographs of two jigsaws, each one showing a different example of a London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) tank locomotive.
The first picture shows a 300-piece puzzle from Arrow's 1985 'Age of Steam' series, simply titled LMS 2085. The locomotive is a Fairburn 2-6-4T type, No.2085 (BR No.42085) one of a class of 277 built between 1945 and 1951 (either side of the birth of BR in 1948). The loco is pictured in early preservation days on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway (L&HR) when it was liveried in Caledonian Railway blue, or 'Caley Blue' as it was known. It is one of a pair of class '4P' Fairburn tanks owned by the L&HR - 42073 and 42085.
Our second jigsaw featured today is a 500-piece example from the Falcon 'Fond Memories' series. A Fowler class '3F' 0-6-0T engine, No.7119, is shown in the vignetted jigsaw titled Waiting Time. The vignetting adds a nostalgic touch to the picture of a small passenger train standing in a picturesque branch line station, with vintage coach and car in the foreground car park. A popular name for this class of 422 examples, built between 1924 and 1931, was the 'Jinties'.