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A web-site by Rob Speare

   

A Live Steam Bulleid Pacific in Gauge One

        'Winston Churchill'   -   assembled by Andrew.

I'm a Great Western and a Southern fan, and just remember the Halls and Castles shunting in Redruth, and have always liked the Spam Cans and the rebuilt Pacifics.  However, to develop and construct a model of this standard would be financially challenging considering the cost of materials and the time required to build it, so when the Aster kit appeared I opted to buy one.

This is a proper 3 cylinder, fully machined locomotive kit;  the original Bulleid's had the motion inside the frames, so there's not much to see externally, but although not chain driven, the model does sport three sets of gear.  Inevitably it was made in Japan, to 1/32 scale, as opposed to the older standard of 10mm to the foot.

The kit arrived in a big box with lots of small plastic bags containing the parts.  My experience of building miniature steam locos paid off here as the parts needed to be matched to the drawings supplied.  Other than being quite complicated, the kit went together well, and no tweaking in the workshop was required.

Part of my reason for moving to Gauge 1 is that unlike larger scales, tracks tend to be in private gardens, so there are not the unruly kids and public liabiliy issues that plague public running, and they're much more portable.  That said, any steam locomotive is a potential hazard, and the Gauge 1 Society recommends fully silver soldered boilers, and boiler certificates if not running in your own garden.  Unlike larger scales, you cannot be watching the water level the whole time, so it's best not to have a soft soldered boiler in case the whole lot runs dry.

The larger (tender type) Gauge 1 engines with a larger boiler are often fed by an axle pump, but these need an increase in fire power to cope with the cold water being put in.  And just like larger engines, meths and coal fired Gauge 1 locos need a blower when stationary, so this makes stopping and starting at signals more problematic.

Gauge 1 is in my opinion the smallest practical size for running main-line live steam locomotives, but unless you have the ability to make your own parts, Gauge 1 tends to be a bit of an exclusive club in the hands of just a few suppliers, making everything comparatively expensive.

Putting it together, it helped to have had larger scale modelling experience, but I have heard of many kits being farmed out to be assembled.  I also have a feeling that many of the locomotives bought will never actually run, but just be built to be admired.

Both the loco and tender are fully sprung, with side control on the front bogie; all apart from the centre driving axle which is fixed to ensure constancy of the valve gear settings.  The cylinders are nicely C.N.C. machined from bronze, and pistons are fitted with rings.

Gauge 1 is in my opinion the smallest practical size for running main-line live steam locomotives, but unless you have the ability to make your own parts, Gauge 1 tends to be a bit of an exclusive club in the hands of just a few suppliers, making everything comparatively expensive.

Putting it together, it helped to have had larger scale modelling experience, but I have heard of many kits being farmed out to be assembled.  I also have a feeling that many of the locomotives bought will never actually run, but just be built to be admired.

Both the loco and tender are fully sprung, with side control on the front bogie; all apart from the centre driving axle which is fixed to ensure constancy of the valve gear settings.  The cylinders are nicely C.N.C. machined from bronze, and pistons are fitted with rings.

It took about 4 hours to assemble the valve gear which forms a cassette which is dropped into the frames, and about 40 hours to assemble the whole loco.  The valve gear is well constructed and cleverly fits 3 sets of pseudo Walshaerts gear driven from eccentrics, with strips of teflon on the eccentrics to ensure smooth running.  Teflon is also used in the main axleboxes.  Considering the complexity, I'm surprised they didn't use slip eccentric gear which would have been cheaper and more robust.

The boiler itself is a 'C' type, that is with centre flues, so the casing stays cooler, fired by a triple meths burner.  Controls include regulator, screw reverser, pressure and water gauges, a blower and a water bypass valve.  There is also an oil tank fitted at the front, which works by the displacement method.

The locomotive casing is very well etched, showing up rivet detail, and nicely pre-painted in some form of epoxy paint which resists oil and meths marks well; this and many items are neatly attached using small metric cross head screws.

The smokebox door is not hinged, but the front of the smokebox can be removed to access the exhaust; 4 nozzles, one from each exhaust, and the blower jet.

The tender is folded from steel sheet and spot welded, it's up to the builder to seal the tank corners with a touch of silcone sealant (supplied).  The removable drip feed type meths tank drops in, and in much the same way as larger gauges, a brass handpump sits behind with a removable handle in the water space.  I've made a lift out top piece for the tender with coal on top.

The major enhancement I've made is to properly insulate the boiler.  I glued some bacofoil onto a sheet of ceramic fibre insulation; when dry this was cut out to a template to wrap around the boiler and secured with wire bands, and seems to make a difference (a major improvement in some of my other locos), and easily fits under the boiler casing.

Although it does need handling with care as there are many intricate parts - and is certainly not a toy - the finished loco looks the part, performs well and has a soft three beat exhaust.

It takes about 20 minutes to oil up and prepare for a run, and once the balance has been worked out between the burner and axle pump settings, the loco can be left to run for 40 minutes hauling my 5 Bulleid coaches, during which there is time to sit back, enjoy a drink and watch the trains go by.  Bliss.