Gone all gauge 1 and building a new railway. Here are my new steamers

[artfull dodger]

Been away for a bit, traded my Regner Stainz to a gentleman on the west coast of the USA for an Aster Reno, then sold my modified RH Sammie to a gentleman in Florida and bought a Bassett Lowke GWR Court class 4-6-0. Here is my newest steamer that arrived via the big brown truck this morning. Bing for Bassett Lowke GWR Titley Court 4-6-0. Smithies boiler(professionaly reboilered a few years ago), fuel and water tank with hand pump in the tender. Slip eccentric reversion, twin cylindered. Cab has sight glass, blow down, throttle and blower control. Lubricator tank at the front has a pipe facing forward with a cap that can be removed to use the last of the steam at the end of the run to blow the oiler down. About the same size as my Aster Reno, but much heavier in weight. Cant wait to raise steam tomorrow. No more gas burners for me, all alcohol fired here now. Mike

Here is my Reno, you can also see the new raised railway under construction, its almost complete.

 

[dunnyrail]

Been away for a bit, traded my Regner Stainz to a gentleman on the west coast of the USA for an Aster Reno, then sold my modified RH Sammie to a gentleman in Florida and bought a Bassett Lowke GWR Court class 4-6-0. Here is my newest steamer that arrived via the big brown truck this morning. Bing for Bassett Lowke GWR Titley Court 4-6-0. Smithies boiler(professionaly reboilered a few years ago), fuel and water tank with hand pump in the tender. Slip eccentric reversion, twin cylindered. Cab has sight glass, blow down, throttle and blower control. Lubricator tank at the front has a pipe facing forward with a cap that can be removed to use the last of the steam at the end of the run to blow the oiler down. About the same size as my Aster Reno, but much heavier in weight. Cant wait to raise steam tomorrow. No more gas burners for me, all alcohol fired here now. Mike

Here is my Reno, you can also see the new raised railway under construction, its almost complete.

Not sure if you are in the Gauge 1 Society. In the latest Journal there was a nice piece by Peter Spoerer about Gas Firing. While the method is gaining popularity in UK with G1 ers there are some area’s of concern about both sides. With Alchohol or Meths to us in the UK it is worthwhile considering having a Steam Up Area that if Fireproof due to the issues of Meths spilling and as it burns Invisibly a small Fire can quickly take hold. At best you could end up with trashed Plastic Sleepers if you are not careful.

Like both Locomotives, but that Court to a UK eye is a cracker and of great Vintage as well.

 

[tac foley]

I recall that in the dim and distant past, Basset-Lowke actually had a number of these German-built locos reboilered with Smithies-type boilers. We are talking pre-WW2, BTW. Did the loco come from UK?

Broken link - The Station Masters Rooms

The Station Masters Rooms

thestationmastersrooms.co.uk

If you are not in G1MRA, then I recommend that you join up with the almost four thousand of us all over the place. Ernie Noah is your main man in the USA. If you are interested, give me a PM and I'll put you in touch. If you DO run with the gang, you'll need to have the boiler tested first. Rules are rules, y'know.

 

[artfull dodger]

Yes, the loco was bought from a large UK dealer, Station Masters Rooms. I have a Bassett Lowke catalog from the late '30s and the Titley Court was offered both externally fired with a vaporizing burner, and as a higher detailed model with a Smithies boiler, water tank with hand pump in the tender and fuel carried in the tender with a wick burner in the locomotive. This is the version I have. Question is, was she Bing built in Germany or BL built in the UK. I know after the first world war, the German builders were at first embargoed/cut off then frowned upon by the buying public. Forcing Bassett Lowke to produce their own models rather than import them from Bing, Carette and others in mainland Europe. I am in the USA, so no issues with that whole testing mess you have in the UK. Even with all of our liabity, sue happy society in the states, small low pressure boilers are not really messed with, even at public shows where our group runs its trains. We do have a couple builders in our groups, as well as the G1MRA contact for the USA. So no worries if the old girl gives me some issues, help is close at hand. I do not yet belong to G1MRA, but will join up shortly now that I have jumped in with both feet. I am planning a special area with a metal cookie backing sheet recessed into the table top as a steam up area, it will also have a cut out in the sleeps and metal to allow easier lighting up of alcohol fired engines. My layout is mostly for myself and a couple close friends. Live steamers in general are very wide spread in my part of the USA, so the more regular gatherings/steamups in the UK do not really happen in the states sadly.

 

[Northsider]

It sounds like you haven't just bought a loco, you've bought a piece of history! She certainly looks very fine.

 

[tac foley]

I am in the USA, so no issues with that whole testing mess you have in the UK.

In that case, you might find that the G1MRA is not for you.

Standards, Documents & Guidance

G1MRA publishes standards, boiler documents, guidance and various books including construction guides (click here for the Books page) Standards G1MRA Standards Sheet 1 – Track & Wheels G1MRA Standards Sheet 2 – General Dimensions ScaleOne32

www.g1mra.com

Sad, eh?

 

[artfull dodger]

And why would that be Tac, membership has all kinds of perks, the NL&J magainze, back issues and such. Lots of G1MRA members in the USA, the contact person, Ernie Noa is a member of a local steam up group. Its on my list of things to join yet this summer. We are just fortunate for now that in the USA we done have all this boiler testing issues with gauge one and 16mm live steamers. Cheers Mike

 

[tac foley]

The G1 association adheres to the rules of the G1 association, that's all.

 

[artfull dodger]

BTW, she runs great on steam. I will get the video on youtube later and post a link. Only had to replace the seal on the meths tank filler cap, the fiber washer seal had perished, a new O ring took care of that. Cheers Mike

 

[artfull dodger]

But over here, they really dont have organized "meets" over on this side of the pond. About the only organized G1MRA is the group photo of members at the steam ups. Even the larger events like Diamondhead, the National Summer Steamup in Cali and Cabin Fever out east do not require boiler certs on small scale steamers. Only thing our group gets asked is to not run coal fired at some indoor venues. But the alcohol and gas fired ones are fine. Now once you get into the ride on scale with what is classified as lethal boiler steam pressure, then yes, current boiler inspections are required as they should be. That all being said, as a proper steam locomotive driver/fireman, I do inspect my engines prior to every run and keep them clean and in proper working order.

 

[artfull dodger]

 

[dunnyrail]

Wow on full Regulator that is really going to whoosh round your circuit. Probably best to try it out on a Big Line with Big Curves?

 

[tac foley]

Jon, he HAS a 'big line with big curves.'

 

[Alec K]

Mike, 'Titley Court' follows the GWR's practice of naming some classes of its principal motive power after notable buildings in the area the Company served (except in the case of the 'Hall' class of locomotives, which was so numerous that the GWR ran out of Halls in its own territory and strayed over its borders!).

The actual Titley Court isn't too far away from me in American terms at least, as it sits in the midst of parkland on the borders of England and Wales near Kington in Herefordshire, reachable by one of the GWR's most isolated branch lines until the railway met its demise with so many others in the 1950s and 1960s.

 

[artfull dodger]

Been spending the evening cleaned, rewicking and general maintance on the Titley Court. She is indeed been reboilered, she has what is basicly a JVR Type C with 3 fire tubes as used by Aster on later models. The fire tubes can be seen up the rear of the fire box. This is not a pot boiler or water tube/Smithies boiler as originally fitted to the model. Going by the catalog descriptions, this was most likely a Smithies boiler as she lacks any ability to reverse the direction from the cab, as is listed as a feature of the pot boiler version but not the refit to internal firing done by BL. The Type C boiler will give longer run time that the Smithies type as it is larger in diameter as it does not need a flue space along the bottom of the inner copper boiler. You can see the center fire tube in the picture, there is one more on each side, same diameter as the center one.

 

[artfull dodger]

And the "Courts" were the same as the Saint class and sadly none were preserved. But a Hall class is being backdated to a Saint at Didcot and not to far from completion going by their website. According to the GWR site, the Saint and Court class set many standards by which later GWR engines went by for traction effort and style of construction. I cant wait for the other half circle of track to arrive so I can see how she does on the track vs the rolling road. Going to do a much longer run on the rolling road tomorrow while my wife is at work. She doesn't care for the smell of the alcohol burner. Should burn much cleaner with the new wick material. She was burning very rich last time, the stuff I use is less prone to that and doesn't get "burnt" when the fuel runs low or out. Mike the Aspie

 

[dunnyrail]

And the "Courts" were the same as the Saint class and sadly none were preserved. But a Hall class is being backdated to a Saint at Didcot and not to far from completion going by their website. According to the GWR site, the Saint and Court class set many standards by which later GWR engines went by for traction effort and style of construction. I cant wait for the other half circle of track to arrive so I can see how she does on the track vs the rolling road. Going to do a much longer run on the rolling road tomorrow while my wife is at work. She doesn't care for the smell of the alcohol burner. Should burn much cleaner with the new wick material. She was burning very rich last time, the stuff I use is less prone to that and doesn't get "burnt" when the fuel runs low or out. Mike the Aspie

The Saint is indeed finished and has been running at DIDCOT.

 

[David1226]

The Saint is indeed finished and has been running at DIDCOT.

Yep, I can vouch for that, rebuilt Saint Class 2999 Lady of Legend hauling passengers on the demonstration line at Didcot Railway Centre, 29.4.2019



David

 

[PhilP]

Wow! BIG driver's!

 

[JimmyB]

Wow! BIG driver's!

Big drivers what !!