Florence Locomotive Works

A very good tool restoration if anybody's interested. I'm considering getting one of these to replace my 1950s Craftsman eggbeater drill. https://michael-parrish.com/2016/05/31/goodell-pratt-5-12-b-two-speed-hand-drill-restoration/ Douglas

I see I'm not the only one who chosen the difficult route of drilling holes with an eggbeater drill! Mine is an ancient Craftsman one from the 1950s, but at some point I'll invest in a nice edwardian Goodell Pratt one. The marvellous specimen below is a 1920s two speed model that has been very well restored. (https://michael-parrish.com/2016/05/31/goodell-pratt-5-12-b-two-speed-hand-drill-restoration/) Douglas

That is an interesting perspective Kevin, one which I had never thought of. I suppose clockwork would be more viable in my instance, as we are discussing my getting an apprenticeship with the firm, and they are full of ancient gears etc, so parts could be less of a problem. I do find clockwork to be the lesser of two evils, as live steam is, well, at least in my case, a constant battle with the engine. Ideally I’d like to have a clockwork Bing for Bassett Lowke Caledonian Dunalastair, but $2,800 is lot for a 4-4-0! Here’s a photo of one, for the amusement of everyone.

The simple answer to that is, I haven’t the slightest idea. As I’ve never had the opportunity to use either to its “full potential”, as my mogul has and still is plagued by mechanical issues, and I was never able to run my George on the garden line. But Jack Ray’s “A lifetime with O gauge” is slowly turning me towards clockwork.

A question for all those of this parish. Will I derive more enjoyment out of clockwork or live steam? As some of those on here know, I have my own "Old George" a Midland liveried version from 1912. And not very long after I acquired the engine, the spring snapped. As a result, we found by some miracle a clock repairing family business willing to take on the job of fixing it. That was on September 26th. On that day, a target date was set for the rebuilds completion of December 19th. However, it is entirely plausible (to be honest rather likely) th

Afternoon, This was purchased yesterday, a drain cock from the USA dealer of Stuart Models, a company originally founded by a dear friend of Henry Greenly. It will replace the pressure gauge and whistle on the backhead, as it is much more aesthetically pleasing than the aforementioned two. Getting back to Mr. H Greenly, I was recently gifted a birthday present from @Nortonville Phil containing many books, one of which was what appears to be the great mans biography, a very interesting read. Douglas

High noon all, One of these was purchased last night, a drain cock from the USA dealer of Stuart Models. It will be fitted in place of the rather ugly whistle on the Mogul, as a compromise between it and the pressure gauge. Douglas

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And his youthful assistant if memory serves.

I figured out the boiling water trick pretty quickly, after waiting around for 10 minutes to get steam up! I’ve considered a gas firing conversion, or even a spirit tank in the tender, but decided not to because the engine seems too historically significant to modify it in such a way.

The finished pie, consumed last night. I lay claim to the leaves on top. Douglas

I did try steaming it for its initial testing a year ago in the depths of winter outdoors, and it did run after a while, but also took ages to raise steam.

Well, the layout has now acquired a semi permanent setting in the spare room, with the blessing of higher powers. I have also been reading my copy of the Model Railway Handbook by W.J. Bassett Lowke, and it strongly recommends that all externally fired locomotives should be run indoors, which was surprising. Moving blankets haven been used as the underlay, and a 2ft sheet of steel has been placed underneath the track in the steaming bay. Douglas

Good to see another coarse scale layout emerging Andi, I shall be looking forward to seeing the progress! I too am in a similar situation, but my layout is on the floor of a spare room. Douglas

The PRR did own a 2-2-2 LNWR Dreadnought, which they had built for them to test compounding by Beyer Peacock Ltd. Around the same time they also purchased a De Glehn compound, for the same reasons. Here is an illustration of the Dreadnought. Douglas