A Brief Guide to The Sutton Collection

This unique Douglas Clayton Atlantic (based on a Henry Greenly/Bassett Lowke Class 30 Little Giant design) arrived at the Sutton Miniature Railway in 1948. Originally built in 1915, weighing in at 3-tons and named Douglas Clayton it was acquired from the former Hardwick Estate Railway.

It is currently undergoing a major re-build and is hoped to be completed before the end of 2025.

Another unique locomotive, this Hunt Brothers Atlantic (based again on the Douglas Clayton version of the Henly Greenley/Basset Lowke design) is a sister engine to Sutton Belle. It also arrived at Sutton Miniature Railway in 1948, but in a kit of parts. It was finally reassembled and developed by the Hunt Brothers Foundary in 1952 and weighing in at 3-tons 10cwt is slightly heavier and has slightly smaller driving wheels than Sutton Belle.

It is currently awaiting funding to commence a full assessment and re-build

Our third unique locomotive, was originally built in 1946 by G & S Light Engineering in Stourbridge as a Bo-Bo petrol engine railcar (in the form of a GWR design) for the Dudley Zoo Miniature Railway, and was acquired by the Sutton Minature Railway in 1957. It is powered by a 20 hp, six-cylinder Morris Commercial petrol engine believed to date back to the time of the 1st World War.

We are unaware of any other such 15" locomotive, making it another rare survivor of historical importance.

It is currently suffering from a few mechanical issues which necessitates further work on the engine, as well as taking the opportunity to refurbish its bodywork before it can re-enter service.

Our fourth unique member of the Sutton Collection dating back to 1931 is this historical railcar originally built by Parkinsons for the Yarmouth Miniature Railway. It was a revolutionary petrol-electric, 2-coach set powered by an Austin 7 petrol car engine, driving a 6 kW electric generator, powering 2 x 2.5 hp electric traction motors. When puchased by the SMR in 1937 the powered set was converted to ordinary "dumb" coaching stock.

It is our aim is to seek funding to ultimately revert both carriages back to a self-powered, 2-car set, but this time using modern battery-powered technology.

Rather amusingly it can be seen here alongside a full-size West Midlands Train's 4-car diesel set at Tyseley.

Excluding the two Yarmouth Miniature Railway railcar set we have a total of 8 coaches from the Sutton Miniature Railway - four "toast-rack" open carriages built by Hunt Brothers and four closed coaches, three of which were made by Hunt Brothers to the same design as the "Parkinson" 2-car railcar set.

We have completed the overhaul of open coach No.10 and are curently working on closed coach No.3. The rest, which are in various states of decay following years spent in the open air, await their turn in the queue, subject to raising the required funds and having the volunteer manpower to work on them.

This historic, unsprung, drop-side coal wagon also dates back to the days of the Hardwick Manor Railway and came to the Sutton Miniature Railway along with Sutton Belle and Sutton Flyer.

An unsung member of the rolling stock set we have already restored it, and have brought it back to life for a multitude of support roles.

Take a look at this informative video produced by Railfilms and provided courtesy of Telerail on YouTube

Some  fabulous Pathe newsreel footage of Mr and Mrs Douglas Clayton's garden  railway at Bredons Hardwick Manor in 1933. The loco was built using  Bassett Lowke castings and H.Greenly drawings and took around 20 years  to complete. Finished in GWR Green livery the loco was named after its owner 'Douglas Clayton'.
In 1948 when the railway was lifted, the loco was sold to the Sutton Miniature Railway and renamed 'Sutton Belle'.

This video on YouTube originally produced by the Austin Motor Co (as a promotional film for its Austin 7 engine) gives a brief but tantalising view of the original railcar in action on the Yarmouth Miniature Railway in 1932.