The MTS Locomotive
The Design Centre has recently had an impressive addition to its front entrance, following the mounting of a 'Merchant Taylors'' sign made of brass. This is one of the two name plates that originally adorned a locomotive owned by Southern Railway as part of a group that had been named after the public schools. In total, there were forty locomotives, and the Merchant Taylors' (Number SR 910) was in operation from 1932 to November, 1961 along the Kent line. The other sign is currently mounted above the entrance to the Sixth Form Common Room.
Southern Railway named the locomotives after public schools as a good way of generating publicity, the naming ceremonies taking places as far as possible at stations adjacent to the schools, many of which were in their area of operation. Given that the school's playing fields were located in Bellingham, Kent it makes sense that the MTS locomotive should work along the Kent line. They were designed by Richard Maunsell as an intermediate sized engine, with (for those who understand such things) a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement which generated a lot of power. They were considered to be some of the finest locomotives operating and could attain a top speed of 95 mph.
What is, perhaps, less well known is that a scale model version of the Merchant Taylors' locomotive was developed for model railway enthusiasts. When the School moved to the current Sandy Lodge site, the model railway society was located in the space at the top of the stairs above what is now the Drama Studio. It is not known whether the School's layout ever included a model of its own SR-V class locomotive.
There are three public schools class locomotives surviving today and footage of the 'Repton' can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8BOcoS2KYQ