AlfaZagato

Take your time. Gives me more time to find a Caley pug the wrong side of the pond.

Perpetuating the current drift, everything I've had was full synchro or auto. Thought Muncie 3-speed in my '78 Chevy truck bore no fools. Drifting back, would any of the known 'Standard' parts amongst the Big 4 or BR have worked on the gaggle of NG lines that were absorbed?

The problems with geared steam, as in the American logging types, is both with the quality of machining available, and the use of grease as the lubricant. Even the best mills of 19-ought-whatever can't match todays CNC milling. They couldn't make a 'transmission,' as it were, that could handle the forces at work at the speeds needed. Grease isn't the best lubricant, either. Enclosed drives, with thinner oil lubricants, are needed for higher-speed running.

Careful saying 'whatever you want.' I have a friend with an LS sitting in his garage. ...I'll see myself out at that.

In reg the use of track cleaners with coreless motors, I'd imagine you not use both at the same time. Probably still ok to use the track cleaner when the loco is off the line.

My limited research showed post-1928 for Improved Precedents in black, up to retirement in 1933 for Talavera, one of the last to go.

May want to try using the HO part, with some detailing to fudge the scale?

Starting to drift the thread, but Chaos Black has nothing special about it to make it a primer. Citadel just markets it as such. @john new That being said, one or two coats of Chaos Black should be fine, if a little stark.

I'd second a vote for a Jones Goods. Or a G&SWR 540. Or my 812 to ship before New Years, but I am sadly American.

I forget the class number, but there was an odd Italian compound from the turn of the century that had both HP cylinders on one side of the loco, paired, and both LP cylinders on the other, also paired. Apparently an OK runner after drivers figured out how.

You could have a difference with four cylinders. GWR just didn't. What were the pairs? If it were inside with each other, and outside with each other, I could see that assisting launch. If they were paired left-hand and right-hand, I could see some amount of torqueing causing wheelslip anyways.

That's a shame. I was getting excited.

I'd imagine the bogie tender was for range, not so much for some aggressive hunger. I don't know the operating climate in Nigeria with any detail, though. Probably had longer uninterrupted runs with no chances to replenish fuel or water than is practice in the UK. UK service could probably afford a three-axle tall tender. In re my suggestion of a 4-8-0 King, @The Johnster, my suggestion was more to increase the King's viability for regular service. Even taking the King down to Red availability increases her access twofold. As @JimC mentions, just the basic math for another axle dividing the same weight down brings the King under by 125lbs/axle. Admittedly, additional frame and another set of 6'6" drivers weighs more than 1500lbs. So, also by his suggestion, reducing the wheelsize to something like 5'8" could maintain the desired performance, while keeping the total weight within the axleweight limit.

I wonder if the extra axle would have taken the King down to Red availability?

Seconding the vote for Brave. It's free, and has some added protections beyond the ad-blocker.

Those issues sound distressingly like those I encountered with my Heljan 1366. Makes me wonder if both makes sourced to the same factory. Or if such misses in quality are the new standard... BTW, @chuffinghell I would actually recommend the 1366, if you had use for it on your layout. Once sorted, a very decent runner - and puller.

I never saw such before, but I love that Thunderer is geared, on top of the rest of the nonsense.

Long boilers only add to overall capacity, to my knowledge. Shorter, broader boilers are superior for steaming. Larger diameter allows for more tubes, which results in more surface area to heat water. Has been brought up before, but how much broader could a Garratt boiler get with the American loading gauge?

It was inevitable. The UK lines never bought 'off the shelf' after grouping, for the most part. I'm kind of curious, now, if there were any great mechanical minds at the builders who had no chance to shine?

Looking at the pics of the real things you posted above, it looks like there isn't any large fitting on the jackshaft flycranks. Could you swap the bushing that looks to be outside the fly on the model? That might bring it flush.

I'll pass on the insulated handrails, thanks. I don't fancy working near pneumatics at all inside metal boxes. Our air compressor used to wake the dead.

I'd imagine you're aware of this, but a lot of very old electrics I've been inside will have surprisingly exposed machinery. One preserved dump motor I've seen had a bank of rectifiers (I think) right behind the driver's stand, protected by chicken wire.

Yeah, how you send power to the cleaner is trash. Alligator clips, either to the track or to the outputs straight off of your power. Then you get thin metal strips to actually transfer power to the locomotive. No good for deep cleaning. I see OK results after use on well-maintained loco in N. N is a lot more sensitive to continuity than OO or HO, though.

I have the N scale version of the Tidy Track. It works alright. The loco kind of needs to work in the first place. Very much scaled for common American diesels. It's been so long since I had an idea of your roster, I couldn't say if you have anything that it might not accommodate.

Y'all got to quit with those negative vibes, man.