Braveheart is a 3.5” gauge Rob Roy locomotive designed by Martin Evans. This locomotive has sat idle for a number of years and the challenge is to return the engine to service.
A lot of work has been happening stripping the engine and cleaning the parts. The old steam oil on all mechanical components is being removed, new gaskets made and various fittings overhauled.
The engines name is taken from the film as the file was released at the same time as the first steaming of the engine. The builder thought the engine had a strong/brave heart for a small engine and the name was fitting.
We’ve decided that 3.5” gauge is the ideal ride on gauge for us. The models are large enough to pull a couple of family members yet small enough to not need any special handling equipment or trailers to get them to the local track.
We had a look around online for a diesel outline engine kit to build that would give us something simple to play with.
We found the ideal 0-4-0 Diesel outline engine kit produced by the Fair Weather Foundry. The model, rather like LBSC designs, is not a scale model is designed to do real work while capturing the look and feel of the prototype.
Test run at Maidstone Park Miniature Railway. The controller is sitting on the ride car.
The basic specifications of the model are:
100W motor
Sysren 25 speed controller
Commercial off the shelf radio controller
Length over couplers 470mm
Link and pin couplings
The Mack locomotive that the model has been inspired by.
Links
Unfortunately Fair Weather Foundry is no longer in business so this kit is no longer available.
Maisie is a 4-4-2 GNR Atlantic Tender Locomotive in 3.5″ gauge. The model was designed by LBSC as a miniature replica of the Great Northern Railway’s “Large Atlantic” class.
The prototype C1 Class was designed by Henry A. Ivatt as an enlarged version of what became the LNER C2 Class. The principle of the design was to produce a powerful, free-steaming engine to haul the fastest and heaviest express trains on the Great Northern Railway.
Construction of the model was described in Model Engineer Vol. 72-76 and the book Maisie Words and Music.
Over the next few months I’ll be working on getting this locomotive back into steam.
References and Links
LBSC. (1952). Maisie words and music. London: Percival Marshall and Co. Ltd.
Pine Valley Estate Railway 