5" gauge Stanier Duchess steam loco
Discussion
I *may* have one spare in the not-to-distant future.
My Dad won some prizes years ago with a 5" gauge "Twin Sisters" loco, which I am currently having finished, and some storage issues sorted.
He also built a 7.25" gauge Koppel rack-and-pinion engine, that the same guy is going to check over and get to boiler certificate stage.
Combined with the 3" scale Fowler ploughing engine, there will really be one too many rail locos, so I *could* be in the position to part with either of the two locos.
I don't need the money, but they will be at available market value, which currently is around £11,000 for the Koppel and £5000 for the Twin Sister.
Or I will keep them, I'm not sure.
maggit
My Dad won some prizes years ago with a 5" gauge "Twin Sisters" loco, which I am currently having finished, and some storage issues sorted.
He also built a 7.25" gauge Koppel rack-and-pinion engine, that the same guy is going to check over and get to boiler certificate stage.
Combined with the 3" scale Fowler ploughing engine, there will really be one too many rail locos, so I *could* be in the position to part with either of the two locos.
I don't need the money, but they will be at available market value, which currently is around £11,000 for the Koppel and £5000 for the Twin Sister.
Or I will keep them, I'm not sure.
maggit
Red Firecracker said:
RichB said:
an I ask what a Twin Sisters loco is? I've not heard of that one before...
One of these;
Powerful little buggers, I seem to remember.
Catweazle said:
Red Firecracker said:
RichB said:
an I ask what a Twin Sisters loco is? I've not heard of that one before...
One of these;Powerful little buggers, I seem to remember.
RichB said:
Catweazle said:
Red Firecracker said:
RichB said:
an I ask what a Twin Sisters loco is? I've not heard of that one before...
One of these;Powerful little buggers, I seem to remember.
The one in the photo is the detailed one.
Yertis said:
mrmaggit said:
3" scale Fowler ploughing engine
I'd like to see a picture of that!
Black Beauty was the first, then Black Bess, then Black Prince. Beauty and Bess were bought by a chap in Wells next the Sea, they are a matched pair, left and right hand. Prince is a left hand engine, and to be honest, is the most awkward of the three. I wish Dad had kept Beauty, but there you go.
I'm no good at putting piccies up on here, which is why I don't, but I'll email a couple over if you want.
maggit
Yertis said:
There's a similar, GWR pannier-type version of that engine for sale at Preston Services (a website I frequent too much).
There's also a Fowler ploughing engine, I wonder what that will go for?
Depends on scale, quality of build, and which model it is of.There's also a Fowler ploughing engine, I wonder what that will go for?
Dad's were of the model "V", the last of the single cylinder engines Fowler made. There are no full size V's left. The most popular full-sized ones are the BB's, which are twin cylinders. The singles have a habit of "stalling" which means the piston won't go either way, you have to move the flywheel by hand. Not too bad on the smaller ones, but do that to a full-size and you could be looking at a broken arm if you get it wrong.
The twins never had the same problem, which is why there are so many of them compared to the singles.
If the model is 3" scale (1/4 full size, weigh about 1/2 tonne), miniature rather than model, you are looking around
£12-16,000. If it's a model, same scale, £10-14,000. Miniature means that everything is to scale, if you were to enlarge it to full size, nothing would change. Model means it cosmetically looks like the original, but may have over-size bolts, etc. There are exceptions, as you can't scale water, steam or coal, but these are generally inside the boiler and fittings.
HTH
maggit
mrmaggit said:
It was called Twin Sisters because the designer (who wrote a very nice letter to my Dad after he won a medal for the chassis) drew two sets of plans for them to be built from. You could do the "Plain" one, or you could do the "detailed" one. No prizes for guessing which one my Dad built. The one in the photo is the detailed one.
Ah ha 
understand now, Twin Sisters is the name of the model loco not the original. That's why I was confused! mrmaggit said:
Depends on scale, quality of build, and which model it is of.
Dad's were of the model "V", the last of the single cylinder engines Fowler made. There are no full size V's left. The most popular full-sized ones are the BB's, which are twin cylinders. The singles have a habit of "stalling" which means the piston won't go either way, you have to move the flywheel by hand. Not too bad on the smaller ones, but do that to a full-size and you could be looking at a broken arm if you get it wrong.
The twins never had the same problem, which is why there are so many of them compared to the singles.
If the model is 3" scale (1/4 full size, weigh about 1/2 tonne), miniature rather than model, you are looking around
£12-16,000. If it's a model, same scale, £10-14,000. Miniature means that everything is to scale, if you were to enlarge it to full size, nothing would change. Model means it cosmetically looks like the original, but may have over-size bolts, etc. There are exceptions, as you can't scale water, steam or coal, but these are generally inside the boiler and fittings.
HTH
maggit
Many thanks for your replies maggit. My Dad helped restore the showmans engine Quo Vadis during the early 1970s, in fact I had a lot of his reference stuff for that restoration until quite recently when it was inadvertently binned (not by me). So I've always hankered after one of these things. The closest I got was hanging around at Stourpaine where Dad was a founder member. He would have dearly loved to have built models such as these (he was a highly skilled engineer) but sadly died before he got the chance. Maybe one day...Dad's were of the model "V", the last of the single cylinder engines Fowler made. There are no full size V's left. The most popular full-sized ones are the BB's, which are twin cylinders. The singles have a habit of "stalling" which means the piston won't go either way, you have to move the flywheel by hand. Not too bad on the smaller ones, but do that to a full-size and you could be looking at a broken arm if you get it wrong.
The twins never had the same problem, which is why there are so many of them compared to the singles.
If the model is 3" scale (1/4 full size, weigh about 1/2 tonne), miniature rather than model, you are looking around
£12-16,000. If it's a model, same scale, £10-14,000. Miniature means that everything is to scale, if you were to enlarge it to full size, nothing would change. Model means it cosmetically looks like the original, but may have over-size bolts, etc. There are exceptions, as you can't scale water, steam or coal, but these are generally inside the boiler and fittings.
HTH
maggit
We also have a 'projects page' on our website with loads of details on painting of the models and general rebuilding (again as the thread discusses,... I'll post a link below). interestingly as well, we have a couple of models built by Norman Lowe as mentioned in the thread! A very good builder of miniature locos. Small World! 
Just thought I'd post back here about what's happening with 46256
Hydraulic test passed, however steam test is being set back by small problems. I had it in steam twice - it was blowing off through the safety valves at 90psi and holding pressure.. it steams well, though we couldn't move it as the wheels had locked in place by a ring of corrosion in the inside cylinders - took a long (weeks) time to free them off.. Injectors didn't work, again because of crud inside them.
Stripped and cleaned injectors. Still didn't work. Latest is that i've Stripped and cleaned again - also the water blowdown valve is in a tricky place to access so I'm making a tool to get at it easier.
The tender hand pump water feed was plastic pipe which failed - I've replaced it with a length of copper pipe and associated fittings on both loco & tender. I'll be trying again in a week or so...
Here it is at the Wigan club track at Haigh Hall about a fortnight ago.
Hydraulic test passed, however steam test is being set back by small problems. I had it in steam twice - it was blowing off through the safety valves at 90psi and holding pressure.. it steams well, though we couldn't move it as the wheels had locked in place by a ring of corrosion in the inside cylinders - took a long (weeks) time to free them off.. Injectors didn't work, again because of crud inside them.
Stripped and cleaned injectors. Still didn't work. Latest is that i've Stripped and cleaned again - also the water blowdown valve is in a tricky place to access so I'm making a tool to get at it easier.
The tender hand pump water feed was plastic pipe which failed - I've replaced it with a length of copper pipe and associated fittings on both loco & tender. I'll be trying again in a week or so...
Here it is at the Wigan club track at Haigh Hall about a fortnight ago.
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