A watercolour painting of 'Abigail' by railway artist Jonathan Clay prepared from the design drawings produced by Steam Loco Design.
15" Gauge 2-8-0T 'Abigail'
'Abigail' is an attractive high performance 15" gauge 2-8-0T locomotive design created to meet the demanding operating requirements of the Bure Valley Railway at lowest total cost of ownership. This modern superheated design will be capable of developing 104.4 KW (140 hp) at the drawbar at the maximum line speed of 20 mph over the undulating nine miles between Aylsham and Wroxham in North Norfolk. With long switchback gradients as steep as 1 in 76 the line offers little respite to the locomotive fleet which regularly work trains of up to twelve carriages weighing four times the weight of the locomotive.
More details of the design of 'Abigail' are given in the final part of Ian Gaylor's article about the development of the BVR ZBs: A New Design.