A spot of G3

Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
We haven't had much G3 content on here recently, so as I've just got back from my first G3 get-together, I'd thought I'd chuck some photos up.

As garden layouts go, this one is pretty big

TS1 Its a monster 1.JPG

Just over a scale mile in G3, it measures out at about 84 yards a circuit - its a lot of walking :)
The triangle at the bottom left of the photo leads down the garden to a terminus / storage / fire up area that the owner plans to scenic.

TS2 Its a monster 2.JPG

It was a fairly low key affair today which was why I went, without anything to run I didn't want to be getting in the way with lots of runners and with a small group its easier to remember names and chat as I'd not met anybody other than the owner before.

Loco wise, the oldest was this Bassett-Lowke 'Enterprise''Experiment' , tipping in at 96 years old :) Meths fired, two inside cylinders and sitting just right, she ran very nicely right up until one of the rubber pipes split and a small thermal event occurred. Nothing major was damaged, but the roof will require a spot of touching up.

TS3 Bassett Loake Enterprise.JPG

Coming in second place was Sir Nigel Gresley with a chassis and boiler that was built around 1926 and thought to be for an A3. The A4 body was an addition in the 50's but it never ran in that state until the current owner got hold of it a couple of years ago, converting it to gas fired (access for coal firing was virtually impossible) and sorting out the niggles. It was a bit fruity to start with, but settled down with a decent load on the back.

TS4 SNG.JPG

I didn't get to talk to the owner of this one much, he was busy getting his steam certificate and getting it running nicely. I know it took five years to build, is gas powered and the coaches it is pulling are scratchbuilt, almost entirely from wood....including the wheels :)

TS5 Mogul.JPG

As you can see, size wise, they are not what you would call 'small' - but they are manageable (and big enough to shovel coal in at a fair old rate).

TS6 Shovelling Coal.JPG

This coal-fired 4F is a baby at 7 years old, the same as the Atlantic above. Modelled on the full size loco that the builder used to repair for a living, it ran beautifully with a rake of wagons on the back.

TS7 4F.JPG

And to finish off, another shot of the Atlantic, just because I broke my G3 live steam duck and ran this one for 20 minutes or so :)

TS8 Duck Breaker.JPG

The best bit about these engines? They have pulled their owners around various tracks :) I don't doubt that there is some elasticity in some of the dimensions, but they were all imbued with a certain amount of character and charm so that the odd slight stretch here or there didn't matter to me. It was a good day out, everybody was very friendly and encouraging and I have invites to more meets, I'm looking forward to the next one already...
Steve
 
Neil

Neil

Western Thunderer
They're all very nice, but looking at the photos the Basset-Lowke Enterprise has something about it (yet to work out what) which lifts it above the rest.
 
Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Neil said:
They're all very nice, but looking at the photos the Basset-Lowke Enterprise has something about it (yet to work out what) which lifts it above the rest.
Click to expand...


It is very nice :) I have no idea what lifts it either, but here are some details missing from yesterdays post.
It was built to 1/2" scale rather than 17/32" scale.
All the platework between buffer beams is one piece per side and made in cast iron (splashers, cabside, the lot). Quite how they managed to cast that sweetly at such a thin section (with recesses on the underside) is amazing.
The current paint and lining is of unknown vintage, certainly not original, but nicely applied.
Steve
 
Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
That would explain it Adrian, hopefully I'll get to see it again for a closer look. The same engine (well, one just like it) appears in Marc Horovitz' book, A Passion for Steam and the outside is definitely the cast finish judging by the radii between surfaces.
Its all rather tempting....
Steve
 
Simon

Simon

Flying Squad
So what exactly is tempting you, is there a particular object of desire - presumably we are talking about live steam as opposed to electric power?

I agree that the Bassett Lowke has a certain something about it:)

Simon
 
Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Nothing specific :)
Just the slightly rose tinted notion of a coal fired live steam loco, pottering around with a couple of coaches in tow, the smoke lingering in the air with that wonderful essence as it heads off into the distance...

Similar to, yet not exactly the same as my G1 steam exploits basically - a bit bigger, a bit different, but with the same sort of camaraderie and enthusiasm. And the tea and cake of course :)

As ever, its tempered with the time / space / cash restraints that force a conservative approach.

Patience will hopefully pay off!
 
adrian

adrian

Flying Squad
Steve Cook said:
Nothing specific :)
Just the slightly rose tinted notion of a coal fired live steam loco, pottering around with a couple of coaches in tow, the smoke lingering in the air with that wonderful essence as it heads off into the distance...
Click to expand...
There is something romantic about a coal fired live steamer - but they are hard work. My Dad had a few O-gauge coal fired live steamers, they did require a lot of time and effort to get the best out of them, much like the full size ones. Plenty of time to prepare the fire , get it lit , warm everything up. Getting it running was then a great sense of achievement but then after the running session the cleaning up was a lot of work. With the smaller tubes they needed cleaning after every session, the smokebox filled up with a horrible tarry ash gunk etc. And then Clarry Edwards turns up with one of his meths fired loco's. Out of the box, fill the tanks with water and meths, a dozen pumps to fill the boiler, light the fire and he was up and running in less than 5 minutes!
 
Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
A huge amount of respect to your Dad for going for coal fired engines in O gauge Adrian :) That adds a whole other level of complexity and difficulty to the base challenges of coal firing in miniature.

I think the firing becomes easier as the grate size grows, but admit that it is whole lot more bother than meths - as you point out, the before and after maintenance being far more involved. I guess on a personal level one has to choose whether the extra effort justifies the smell and looks :) I'd like to try something more involving than the meths firing I'm used to, and gas can be almost hands off with the 16mm engine. My aim is to try all three methods (in three different scales :rolleyes: ) and see if it brings me any closer to choosing one thing to follow, or whether I am cursed to dabble in everything I see and like :D
 
flexible_coupling

flexible_coupling

Western Thunderer
I spent a good ten minutes ogling the Bachmann G-scale coupling-rod 44-tonner in the local shop today.... the big stuff sure does have something magic about it. I'd love the smell of miniature coal-firing....
 
adrian

adrian

Flying Squad
Steve Cook said:
A huge amount of respect to your Dad for going for coal fired engines in O gauge Adrian :) That adds a whole other level of complexity and difficulty to the base challenges of coal firing in miniature.

I think the firing becomes easier as the grate size grows, but admit that it is whole lot more bother than meths - as you point out, the before and after maintenance being far more involved. I guess on a personal level one has to choose whether the extra effort justifies the smell and looks :) I'd like to try something more involving than the meths firing I'm used to, and gas can be almost hands off with the 16mm engine. My aim is to try all three methods (in three different scales :rolleyes: ) and see if it brings me any closer to choosing one thing to follow, or whether I am cursed to dabble in everything I see and like :D
Click to expand...
He didn't build the loco's - he acquired them. I've mentioned them before but they were built in the 1950's by a father and son team, the Parkers (Tom and Peter IIRC).
The first he found was an Atlantic - it seemed to be a freelance loco, slightly large for a UK loco although painted in LMS Maroon. Being an Atlantic it meant that it could have a nice wide firebox over the trailing rear axle. It was fitted with Baker valve gear rather than Walchearts. This was a very nice loco to fire, probably about 90 minutes to get up to pressure, would run all day.
The second loco was based on a New Zealand Garrett 4-6-2--2-6-4, again the garrett configuration allowed the loco to have a wide firebox, again IIRC fitted with Baker valve gear. This was a little bit bit more temperamental and getting both power units working together wasn't that easy. As an aside he did display this on his trade stand at the GOG Silver Jubilee in Solihull - I remember it as one of the display lights fell off the framework and put a dent on one of the water tanks.
The third loco was a Mikado - based I think on a South African loco - again the wheel arrangement and prototype allowed for a wider firebox, again IIRC Baker valve gear. We only steamed this a couple of times before I left for Uni so can't really remember what it was like at steaming.
Unfortunately I never saw it but I believe their crowning achievement was a scale coal fired LMS 2P 4-4-0, this was published in Model Railway Constructor at the time and must have been an impressive bit of engineering.

Finally smells - I agree the firing method does give a significant difference to the experience - I have wondered if you could do Meths firing mixed with a suitable aromatic oil to simulate coal fired. A bit like the smell of Castrol-R perhaps you could add something to the meths to give that authentic smell!!
 
Steve Cook

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Good grief, ninety minutes to get pressure - against that background I can see why meths was appealing :D
Thank you for writing about the engines, you have piqued my interest.
When at the Llanfair Garden show a couple of weekends ago I stumbled on a book about O gauge live steamers from the O gauge guild - I put it back on the shelf because it was £20 - I'm starting to regret that now :oops: Does anybody know anything else about it? The only other thing that sticks in my mind was it had a blue cover.

Agree with the idea of welsh coal aromatherapy too :)
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
7mm Live Steam by Eddie Cooke, pub. Gauge 0 Guild. £2 + £1.50 p+p from the Guild itself (80 pages black and white) - a current publication.

Steph
 
JimG

JimG

Western Thunderer
Steve Cook said:
When at the Llanfair Garden show a couple of weekends ago I stumbled on a book about O gauge live steamers from the O gauge guild - I put it back on the shelf because it was £20 - I'm starting to regret that now :oops: Does anybody know anything else about it? The only other thing that sticks in my mind was it had a blue cover.
Click to expand...

Steve,

It's a good book and worth getting. The cover price on my copy is £7.50 and was got about twenty years ago so it looks as though the Guild have slashed the price from Steph's information. Your vendor at the garden show was certainly trying it on. :)

The first part of the book deals with the construction of 7mm scale live steam locomotives in general and the second part deals more with improving the Bassett-Lowke mogul but in this he discusses a replacement boiler and several replacement fittings which could be used on any small live steam design, so of general use.

Jim.
 
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