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George England 2-2-2


5&9Models

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I appreciate this little locomotive has graced the pages of RMweb before thanks to the excellent contribution by chris p bacon, however, thanks to the aforementioned gent sending me a set of etches to aid the scratch building of my own attempt, I thought I'd share the progress here. 

 

The Railway Chronicle for December 16th 1848, carries an article on 'a specimen of a light locomotive, called the 'Little England', which, with its tender on the same frame, will work the ordinary stock of a company. The 'Little England' and tender weigh together when roadworthy 9 tons 5 cwt. It has a 7-in. cylinder, a 12-in. stroke, and 4 ft. 6 in. driving wheels. The diameter of the leading trailing wheels is 3ft. The distance between the extreme centres is 14ft.'  The article goes on to describe the journey from New Cross to Brighton station with three first-class carriages containing 31 persons of note. Its sprightly performance was much praised and George England went on to produce several versions at his Hatcham Iron Works just off the Old Kent Road.

 

In the Summer of 1849, George made his first sale of his little 2-2-2 engine to the Dundee, Perth & Aberdeen Railway. Before the year was out, a further example (named Dwarf) went to the London & Blackwall, and the following year six more were sent to a variety of destinations. Of these, three (named England, Samson and Hercules) went to the L&B, one (also named England) travelled north to the Edinburgh & Glasgow and another to the L.C&S.Rly. (although what that stands for I'm not sure - help me out someone)! A further locomotive (named Little England) was prepared for the Great Exhibiton, becoming exhibit no.509.

 

A charming contemporary illustration apparently shows 'Little England' and is probably the Great Exhibition engine with a wheelbase of 15ft. Clark also illustrated one of George's engines with a 12ft. 6in. wheelbase, so there were different versions along the same theme sometimes with the same name. Finally, a photograph of 'Dwarf' on the Sandy & Potton confirms the 15ft wheelbase version.

 

The aforementioned etches provide a good basis for what is essentially a scratch build. Motorising such a tiny loco is always a challenge and I chose to hide an H&S mini motor in the bunker and drop the gears down under the footplate, up into the firebox, to a 40:1 worm and pinion on the driving axle. The gears themselves were robbed from an old toy engine from my childrens wooden train set, (don't worry, the motor was burned out beyond redemption - I'm not that mean)! It all seems to run very sweetly and does the job at a total of 90:1. I'm going with the 15ft wheelbase for my model although I'd like it to be 14ft to represent the original 'Little England' I can't face 'cutting and shutting' the etches and it's not obvious where to loose the 4mm without making it look very odd indeed. I suspect I would need to steel 2mm from behind the drivers somewhere and 2mm in front which is just too much hassle!

 

I've assembled the boiler and firebox, lathe turned the necessary round bits, and am now starting out on the rest of the chassis and bodywork. More to follow in the next post.

 

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My grand-children love the red and yellow version!

 

i admire the dropped drive between coal space and driving wheels.  I wondered if you considered placing the worm below the axle but perhaps it would have been too low.

 

I suppose these engines were the 'Terriers' of the day/.

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13 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

My grand-children love the red and yellow version!

 

i admire the dropped drive between coal space and driving wheels.  I wondered if you considered placing the worm below the axle but perhaps it would have been too low.

 

I suppose these engines were the 'Terriers' of the day/.

 

Yes, perhaps I should add that the Brio is not the finished article!

 

Unfortunately the drivers are only 4’6” so if the worm was underneath it would be scraping the sleepers. Stepping it back up into the firebox gave the opportunity for a further small reduction to take it from 80:1 to 90:1.

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I've found one L C and S R, the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway, incorporated in 1847, becoming part of the L&YR fully in 1855, following earlier negotiations in 1850. 

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1 hour ago, Nick Holliday said:

I've found one L C and S R, the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway, incorporated in 1847, becoming part of the L&YR fully in 1855, following earlier negotiations in 1850. 

Ah, could be that one, thank you.

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Of these, three (named England, Samson and Hercules) went to the L&B,

 

Chris 

I assume that, in this context, L & B is the London and Birmingham, notwithstanding the earlier mention of a trial run to Brighton?

Best wishes 

Eric 

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27 minutes ago, burgundy said:

Of these, three (named England, Samson and Hercules) went to the L&B,

 

Chris 

I assume that, in this context, L & B is the London and Birmingham, notwithstanding the earlier mention of a trial run to Brighton?

Best wishes 

Eric 

Sorry no, the London & Blackwall, there’s so many L&Bs to choose from!

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I admire how you’ve ingeniously laid the gear drive out for such cramped conditions.

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Boiler more or less done and some of the ‘sticky-uppy bits’ added. 
The gearbox under the boiler is clearly evident at the moment but should be hidden once the drivers and splashers are in place.

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WOW!. That is superb Chris.  I really like the gear drive, very ingenious. I'm happy with how mine works but it did mean sacrificing the floor of the cab. I'm guessing you turned the valve and chimney out of bar as you mentioned using the 3D parts as casting masters.

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20 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

WOW!. That is superb Chris.  I really like the gear drive, very ingenious. I'm happy with how mine works but it did mean sacrificing the floor of the cab. I'm guessing you turned the valve and chimney out of bar as you mentioned using the 3D parts as casting masters.

Thanks very much.

Unfortunately the 3D prints didn't survive the mould making process (note to self - do not use 3D prints as masters without waxing them first!). They stuck in the mould like they'd been superglued in! I had intended to turn all the round bits anyway, I've done a nice copper firebox top and brass bonnet as well as the breather pipe behind the chimney and the funnel top of the dome.

I'm really enjoying the build, there's quite a lot of modification going on but that's only because of the way I've chosen to motorise it (and because I'm a fussy old sod)!

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So, a wee update. Bit of a jump from the last pic but I’ve almost completed the body. There are still a few details to attach and some of the bits are just balanced in place for the photo.

 

All soldering is complete and de-greasing is done, so a bit of filling, glueing and painting to follow.

 

Then I can finish off the chassis, which to be fair I should have done before getting too carried away with the top half, but what the heck. Sometimes you just gotta live life on the edge!

 

 

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She's a real beauty! You've made an excellent job of her and those turnings look superb.

 

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Thank you. It’s getting there and I’ve loved every minute of it, so thanks again for the etches. I wanted to make on for ages and the availability of your etches gave me the excuse to pull my finger out and get on with it.

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