ScottishRailFanatic

I think the 17s could have been excellent if they weren’t given those god-awful Clayton engines. The single survivor has been re-engined and apparently runs like a dream compared to its original form. A Class 20-esque approach could have been taken, raising the height of the engine blocks to allow for a bigger engine. Maybe a smaller pair of EE power units? Or an extension to a Co-Co configuration to allow for yet more power, maybe just edging into the Type 2 category? Either way, I’m quite convinced that Harry Needle Railroad Company - who are re-engineering a whole fleet of former industrials - could find use for the Clayton design.

Ta-Da!

Eureka, that's it! To Photoshop!

A bit of a colour difference in this edit - the shade of crimson does seem to change from model to model - but the premise is the same. The cylinder block is now horizontally welded to the chassis of the coach, and it's been converted to a non-corridor unit for maximum people-moving efficiency, but the general idea remains unchanged, as does the boiler-room position. Still the clearance issue to sort out - maybe some modified thin bogies and the use of steel in the construction of the driveshaft so as to sustain durability while allowing for a thinner shaft?

That's an excellent point - I could maybe try and integrate the cylinders into the main body frame in the boiler room, or have them running under the chassis in a condensed format.

And voila! One Shay-inspired SMU mockup. If these were to work as 2-coach units, the shaft would be built as to articulate between coaches allowing for turning without ripping the whole mechanism to shreds.

I don't know whether to be amazed, shocked, or both. That's a pretty unusual design.

My idea was to use vertical cylinders with an articulated drive-shaft to all bogies, but with a gearing ratio allowing for higher speeds - a super-Shay style of mechanism, maybe?

Ooooh! Interesting... I'll have a photo-edited concept by 5!

Aye, you're right.

Idea: What if steam railmotors were developed further than a modified autocoach? Discuss.

That Crosti-Capproti Black 5 might have looked better with smoke deflectors - they'd have no functional value but they might look nice. On the subject of names, I think it would have been excellent if the first 9F was assigned a name. Maybe "Robert A. Riddles CBE"?

That's an excellent point - a mini Russian Decapod wouldn't be that different from a 9F...

That Mallet sure seems to be taking inspiration from a certain USA type... I think that would be excellent for long-distance freight - return of the 'CONDOR' service?

A very fine Creature if I do say so myself!

Origin story time! BR STANDARD 12F EXPERIMENT - THE CREATURE OF CONSETT "This was an experiment I thought would go nowhere. I was both right and wrong. Right in that they didn't build more of 'it' - wrong in that 'it' really was built. In combining two Standard 9Fs with a supersized boiler, Riddles created a monster. However, it was an effective monster." "A 2-10-0+0-10-2, the most monstrous Garratt ever. They carted her off to Consett Iron. The 9F assignments were soon shown their place, as the Creature of Consett, as it became known, would charge up the grade with 2500 tons in tow. She was kept in a dark siding within the works itself, showing her face once a week to take a single massive delivery from overseas. Nobody knew anything of her, other than that Riddles was severely drunk when he designed her." What do you all think? Is it feasible or do you have an alternative fate for the Creature of Consett?

Too right!

They’d sure do well in that regard! The Garratt 9F (12F maybe?!) could probably do a semi-fast 2000T+ train.

Not by any means - I just thought I’d go the Russian way with this odd design. Maybe to work at Consett? Or to get up the Lickey without a banker? I wonder if anyone else can find a purpose for any of my monsters.

It’ s official, I’ve gone mad with tractive effort. SOMEBODY, PLEASE STOP ME!!!

Mini-50 anyone?

Another one, this time a massive overseas-inspired track straightener of an engine.

Hello everyone! After a wee bit of time away from photo editing, I’ve gotten back into the swing of it with two designs based on the 9F. First is a 2-8-0 version, quite possibly passenger or mixed-traffic. It does away with the monstrous gap between the running board and the wheels. The larger wheel diameter could lead to a feasible way of running over 60mph without the serious wear-and-tear on its drivers and associated motion. Second is something I’m either proud of or terrified of. This takes the 9F to a new level with a Garratt format. The drivers would retain their full size, with the locomotive probably coming somewhere between 25 and 30 metres in length. Tractive effort estimates anybody?

Personally I love it - it’s a different and effective way of reusing an engine that unfortunately had no certain future in its original form. Couldn’t the same be said of Bulleid’s ‘Light Pacific’s when they were rebuilt? The only grievance I have with it is that monstrous Fowler tender behind it; the proportions are completely off! Maybe a custom-built smaller tender would be more effective, but just my opinion.

I’m incredibly late to the party here, but that engine was converted to look like Douglas from the Railway Series. Last I heard it was at the East Lancs. We do have one that was converted to a side tank to look like Thomas (the MHR seems to have a thing for conversions!). It’s affectionately called Dave but handles like a Hornby Pug on steroids! A friend and I still talk about trying to turn Dave back to its Austerity form.