This G.W.R.
locomotive distinguished itself in 1903 with an
extremely fast run from Bristol to London,
maintaining an average speed of 71½ m.p.h. The
'Duke of Connaught' was built in 1897 and was
number 3065, one of eighty numbered 3001-3080,
built between 1891 and 1899.
Like the Santa Fe,
the Yesteryear model is spoilt slightly by the
lack of rolling stock. The provision of a tender
would have produced a much more balanced model.
The model always appeared with a dark green body
and a brown chassis.
The picture shows
the first issue which has full gold trim,
including gold walkway boxes. This issue can
generally be seen for sale between £100 and
£130 ( I purchased mine for £40!). Other issues
can usually be obtained for between £60 and
£80. The amount of gold trim was reduced
throughout the life of the model. I also have an extreme example of this and is in fact a
negative variation. No gold trim has been applied
at all! Quite a scarce variation has a silver
boiler door rather than the more usual gold
version. This issue, the last to be produced, is
usually priced more than £100.
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