For a minimum service it will need four locomotives. Two locos will be required to run passenger services, one will be required for goods/freight working, and one will be required as a station pilot to look after all stock movements within the station area.

Since the layout is not very large, train lengths will be rather short and the locos will have to be relatively small in size to match. Fortunately, the Midland Railway had a "small engine" policy and made great use of small tank locomotives for its local passenger and freight services. Therefore I can base my loco roster on prototype practice, and have a stud of locos which will match the small size of the layout.

The proposed stud at the present will be :-

Midland 1121 Class 0-6-0T - Station pilot
Midland 0-4-4T - Passenger service
Midland 0-4-4T - Passenger service
Midland 0-6-0T - Freight service

Possible additions, if I ever get the time, will be :-

Small 2-4-0 tender loco - Passenger service
Small 0-6-0 tender loco - Freight service
Midland Steam Railmotor - Passenger service

I prefer to scratchbuild my locos which can take a fair bit of time. Fortunately, the Midland locos are relatively straightforward locos to construct with uncomplicated outlines and inside motion. Rivets, in Midland days, were coutersunk and flush, so there is no additional problems of forming lines of rivets, and no problems with keeping an accurate count either :-)

On the technical side, the locomotives will be powered by coreless motors running on 12 volts DC with pickup using the split axle principle.

In split axle pickup, the loco axles are split in the middle and insulated. The axleboxes can be insulated from the frames, or the frames themselves can be insulated from each other with the axleboxes being non-insulated. The driving wheels are all metal and the current passes through the wheels and axle halves to the axleboxes or frames. Power is fed to the motor from leads attached to the axleboxes or the frames. The split axle method provides a very reliable method of pickup and avoid the problems associated with scraper type pickups bearing on the wheel tyres.