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The locomotive I plan to restore. A 2.5" gauge, 4-6-2 pacific class. |
Leslie |
Restoration of a Gauge 3 / 2.5" Locomotive
Gauge 3
Gauge 3 was a popular model train gauge back in the 1940's and 50's. Along with gauge 0, 1 and 2 it was designed for use in the garden. At 2.5" track pitch, gauge 3 was the largest garden railway gauge available and allowed the construction of fairly large, live steam locomotives which the driver could ride behind if he/she wanted to.
This Locomotive and history
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The locomotive I plan to restore. A 2.5" gauge, 4-6-2 pacific class. |
Leslie |
This man's pictured next to it was called Leslie and he was the builder of this locomotive, he was also my grandfather. Leslie was an office clerk by day, but a self-taught machinist and steam enthusiast by night. This locomotive was built by him some time in the 1930's and 40's. It ran on the 'Kingsley Road Railway' in Northampton which was in my grandfather's back garden. Unfortunately, the last time it ran, it was driven of the track by a young driver and the valve gear received a knock. It has not run since.
Later, Leslie went on to build a larger 3.5" gauge model of the "Royal Scott". This engine was completed after his death by a professional engineering company and is now displayed in the Derby Industrial Museum.
The Royal Scott in Derby Industrial Museum
I inherited the 2.5" locomotive about 15 years ago and it has been my ambition is to
see it back in working condition for some time. Finally I think I may I have the skills and equipment to be able to do it. I won't be starting this work for a few weeks while I clear the other projects from the workshop, but progress will be shown here as it happens. In the meantime here are some more photos showing the engine in it's current condition.|
Typical 3/4/ view |
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Here is an image of the Cab with my best guess at what the controls are. |
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The Valve Gear (Baker ?) |
Inside the Smoke box |
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Side View |
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The first thing do to will be to get the boiler checked. At 70 years old I suspect it is not up to current safety standards and so a replacement may have to be made.
If a new boiler is needed then I will pay to have one made rather than attempt to make one myself. This will give me time to sort out the running gear, clean and oil moving parts, re-pack glands and generally tidy things up. I may also re-paint the loco but I'm not a big fan of shiny clean locomotives, so I will be careful not to loose that nice 'used' look.
Update - 12th November 2004
I joined the 2.5" gauge society and exchanged letters with several helpful people. They suggested that the locomotive might have been based on a design called 'Fayette' by LBSC but that if must have had a customer tender made because Fayette in it's original design, had a U.S. style tender as shown in the sketch below.
Picture taken from the 2.5" gauge site.
I checked the dimensions given on this diagram and they all matched my locomotive, although mine didn't have the donkey pump shown here. I also found that drawings and construction articles were available through the club (
http://www.users.waitrose.com/~n25ga/) and also that castings were still available from GLR model supplies. (www.http://62.73.188.198/start.html)Final confirmation of the model's origin came from my Nan, who provided the following magazine article about my Grandfather. The article came from a publication called "NEWNES Practical Mechanics" written in 1945. This article also gave other details; the cylinder castings were home made, the boiler had a combustion chamber and the valve gear was of the Baker type.
Click on the article for a readable version.
