Neil Robinson said:
In addition to Tac's information I felt sure that the Southern's (in the U.K.) "Lord Nelsons" had eight beats to the bar.
The link below confirms this and states that was due to the cranks being set at 135 degrees.
Interesting musical leanings there, Neil
Anything the Southern did would inevitably be far better than anything anybody else did, not that I am at all baised in any way. I had been under the impression that the Nelson's were unique in this respect ....but obviously not.
I seem to recall the one-off 90 degree experiment was someething to do about getting them to steam more eagerly - apparently it required a skilled fireman with some experience of the Nelsons to get them to perform well - but when they did, they did
Sadly, as tac's mentioned, nobody has seen fit to model one in large scale.
Back to the question of sound, I'm not a purist in this regard, more of an impressionist, and for what it's worth, the most evocative small loco sound that I have heard is from those Darjeeling 0-4-0s - they're something else
Edit: just read your link Neil - and see that I am regurgitating stuff that has already been given from a better authority - I'll go back to sleep
interesting though - how could I go about being 'almost unique'........................