Locomotives
“Black Five” 5”g Class 5 mixed traffic engine
“Speedy” 5”g 0-6-0 tank engine
“Doris” 3½”g Class
5 mixed traffic engine
“Juliet” 3½”g 0-4-0 tank engine
“Black Five” 5”g Class 5 mixed
traffic engine
This engine
took 3 years to build and 1000 hours in the workshop.
(Click for
a larger view)
There's a
lot involved in making an engine. Here is a very quick tour...
Boiler making, in copper and silver
solder...
Fly cutting on the mill...
Milling...
Turning on the lathe...
Reaming...
Assembling (That's me folks)...
And
finally, testing (my good friend
John Lyas)...
You might
be interested to know that the Black Five is being adopted as the basic layout
for a new, modern design of steam locomotive, called the 5AT .
“The 5AT is
a totally new steam locomotive design, incorporating the latest proven steam
locomotive technology, for hauling main line steam charter and railcruise
trains. With a 100% increase in thermal efficiency over "classic"
steam, and 3500 horsepower available from the cylinders (more than a
"Deltic"), its perfomance will amply demonstrate what could have been
achieved had steam locomotive development been fully exploited in the 20th
Century." (Courtesy 5AT project)
“Speedy” 5”g 0-6-0 tank engine
(Click for
a larger view)
"Speedy" was designed, and named, by the
well-known live steam author “LBSC”, following a Great Western Railways (UK)
prototype. She weighs 70 kg and runs on 5" gauge track. This was a three year project also, and I
booked about 600 hours in the workshop.
Speedy has been around, here shown in her original colour
at Penfield with the dynamometer car.
“Doris” 3½”g Class 5 mixed traffic engine
"Doris" also was designed and named by “LBSC”, and she is also a “Black 5”. Yes, I really like Black Fives except for the
colour! I built Doris over ten years,
starting as a high school student, and taking long breaks while I studied and
travelled.
These days, there is a trend to build larger locomotives and
7¼ “ gauge is very popular. But when I
started 5”g was considered large and 3½” was the dominant gauge even for public
passenger hauling. I’m still an avid
supporter of the smaller gauge because it embodies the real spirit of classical
model engineering, and in some respects it’s more satisfying because there are
different challenges in building and driving.
Other advantages of the smaller gauges are that engines are easier to
transport, they are cheaper and faster to build, and require smaller workshop
resources. Therefore, they are more
accessible to beginners to the hobby, particularly the young or those with
limited resources, as I was at the time.
Doris still sees regular public passenger-hauling use at
SASMEE. The photo was taken at Cobden,
Victoria during a model engineers’ convention.
“Juliet” 3½”g 0-4-0 tank engine
This is a
picture of "Juliet", my first successful passenger-hauler. She is 1/16 scale, weighs 15 kg, and runs on
3.5" gauge track. I finished Juliet when I was 16 years old. Juliet is an ideal beginner's locomotive and
building her taught me invaluable skills in my father's workshop. I took her along to a job interview when I
was in matriculation, and was offered a cadetship to study mechanical
engineering. So she has had a profound influence on my career.
Now, after
building all the above engines, and with the benefit of experience, better
tools and more skill, Juliet has been refurbished and is a startling performer
as well as a great crowd-pleaser. I
entered her in the 2007 efficiency trials and you can see detailed dynamometer
records under the “dynamometer car” page.