The Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway opened its line in the English Midlands in 1851. The railway soon gained a reputation for unreliability and was nicknamed the ‘Old Worse & Worse’. No. 34 was one of its earliest locomotives, one of nine built by E B Wilson & Co of Leeds between 1854 and 1856 as 0-6-0 goods engines. The driving wheels were 5ft 3ins in diameter and the two inside cylinders 16ins x 24ins.

In 1862 the OW&WR was taken over by the Great Western Railway and the locomotive was renumbered no. 252. It was finally withdrawn from traffic in 1910. Parts of the engine were then used to produce an instructional model at the GWR’s Wolverhampton Works. This comprised the frames, cut back to create a 0-4-0, the cylinders, connecting rods and valve gear. All structures above the frames, including the boiler and cab, were scrapped. The model was mounted off the ground so that by manually turning a handle the wheels and motion could be turned.

When the works closed in the 1964 the model was presented to Shrugborough Hall in Staffordshire which then had a collection of steam locomotives. When this collection was dispersed in the 1980s No. 34 was given to the Armley Mills Museum at Leeds which has a number of steam locomotives built by the various builders in that City.

Although the model was intact on arrival, it has since been dismantled and is awaiting funds for its restoration.