Sexton Blake, the "other" Baker Street detective, and his young assistant, Tinker, need no introduction to readers in Britain and the Commonwealth. Or to readers in at least half a dozen countries where his stories have appeared in translated editions; I have one Sexton Blake book in Hindi and several in Scandinavian languages! But "The Case of the Stolen Locomotives" is in plain, sometimes quaintly dated English. It appeared in 1923 in the Union Jack, which had by then become "Sexton Blake's Own Paper."
"Fine, guv'nor!" said Tinker, enthusiastic at the prospect of the promised excitement. "You can do the coal-shovelling while I drive it."
This novella is a feast of vintage derring-do, with several illustrations in the style of the times. PLUS the UJ offers courtroom fun and much, much more for the social and criminology historian in its regular Detective Supplement. The advertisments are fascinating, too. I think I could use that "Mento-Nerve Strengthening Treatment" with its guaranteed cure or money refunded! Look for the topline "ARE YOU HAPPY" on page 28.
CB+'s Sexton Blake stories are filed in two places. This one should be appearing soon under the Union Jack heading in Pulp Fiction.