Ayesha (2.5 Gauge)

Overview
Ayesha was an early design by LBSC made famous by the "Battle of the Boilers". She was used in competition with Henry Greenly and proved to be capable of pulling 200lbs of weight compared to the 30lbs of a Greenly designed Basset-Lowke. She was 4-4-2 configuration with inside valve gear and two outside cylinders. Photos of the original Ayesha can be seen here.

History of the name "Ayesha"
Ayesha was named after the Heroine of a novel by H. Rider Haggard published in 1905.

Drawings and Publication
LBSC wrote a constructional series for the magazine English Mechanics and Reeves 2000 still hold the copyright for this design although castings and drawings have not been available for a very long time. Later examination of LBSC's Ayesha in the early 2000s showed that in-fact his own locomotive bore little resemblance to the published design.

Updated design
The design was updated in 2007 following LBSC's original concept and dimensions which allowed construction of either an externally close replica of LBSCs own locomotive, or a replica of a more prototypical GNR or LBSC (the railway company in this particular case!) Marsh Atlantic. A construction series complete with drawings by Tony Wheal was printed in Model Engineer (UK) magazine commencing with Volume 198, issue number 4923, page 203.

Drawings and castings are available from the National 2 1/2" Gauge Society.