'Lindow' has arrived

A new toy arrived yesterday!

It's a Ride-on-Railways 'Hercules' battery-electric locomotive named 'Lindow'. I might add a bit of detail - brake hoses on the front buffer beam, cab-roof horns, exhaust stack. But first, we'll see how she runs on the track.

It's heavy and powerful (4 big motors, 2 car batteries) so should pull a fair load at the track. I've run her on rollers and all seems well, so I look forward to taking her to Urmston.

'Lindow' on rollers yesterday

A rear view of the loco. The curly lead is for the hand-held controller.

I have been planning to have a battery electric locomotive to supplement my 5" gauge live steam fleet ('The Wildfowler' and 'Warspite') for about a year. I first considered 'scale' models of main line diesel locomotives, in particular a lovely model of a BR Western Region diesel hydraulic 'Western' class locomotive. The 'Western' has always been a favorite of mine, and by chance a superbly constructed 5" gauge model of 'Western Champion' was for sale locally.

'Western Champion', which I considered buying at one point

The problem I discovered with scale models of main line diesel locomotives is their size; 'Western Champion' is over six feet long, far too long to fit in a car for transport to the track, and very difficult to store on a mobile trolley at home (these locomotives have to be wheeled around on a trolley to get them to and from the car as they are far too heavy for even two people to lift). It's true that my Jubilee main line steam locomotive is also around that length, but the tender detaches from the locomotive so they can be stored and transported side by side.

So with scale main line locomotives ruled out, I looked for an alternative. As well as being small enough to manage it would need to have good traction with as many 'driven' wheels as possible, be powerful enough to pull a fair passenger load, and heavy enough to put down the power without slipping.

I looked at several alternatives and decided on a non-scale generic design, the 'Hercules' from Ride-on-Railways in Romford, Essex. It didn't look as elegant as the 'Western' but it did tick all the other boxes. At three feet long, less than half the length of the 'Western', transport and home storage would be no problem. It has two 4-wheel bogies, with each of its four axles powered by a 150watt motor. It also has fly-cranks so the wheels on each bogie are inter-connected, much reducing the chance of wheel-slip.

I enquired if any 'Hercules' locos lived locally so I could see one; none came to light (though I later learned of at least two), but a member of the Mid Cheshire club offered to show me his 'Trojan', based on one of the two motor bogies of the 'Hercules'.

The little 'Trojan' at wooded Mid Cheshire track

Driving the 'Trojan' at Mid Cheshire track

The little 'Trojan' impressed me with its eager performance and good build quality, so I ordered a 'Hercules' from Ride-on-Railways. Lead time to delivery would be a few months, which gave me time to choose a colour scheme. Ride-on-Railways offer their locomotives in a range of standard colours, the bodies being painted all-over in one colour, but customers can choose custom colours if they please, at extra cost if more than one colour is specified to cover the cost of time consuming masking-off during painting.

A 'Hercules' in one of the standard colours, and without the cranks and coupling rods on the bogies (an option). I specified the bonnet hand rails to be positioned on the sloping part of the bonnet rather than the standard position shown here, in order to allow space for the 'Lindow' name plates on the bonnet sides.

The 'Hercules' has a slight look of the BR class 14 'Teddy Bear' locomotive, with its centre cab and two bonnets, one longer than the other, and I rather like the dark green and lime green scheme some of those locomotives carried.

The BR Class 14 'Teddy Bear' locomotive

Using MS 'Paint' on the computer I set about constructing 'artists's impressions' of 'Hercules' locos in various schemes. After many abortive trials, I came full circle to my first thoughts, and  settled on a scheme inspired by the Class 14.

Final 'artist's impression' of the colour scheme for my 'Hercules'

Ride-on-Railways use Halfords car paints and ask customers who want a 'custom' paint scheme rather than a standard offering to choose their colours from that range. After some trial and error, I found the two from the Halfords range that were closest to the colours I wanted; Vauxhall Reed Green for the cab, Rover Brooklands Green for the bonnets.

My loco gets its etch prime undercoat in the paint shop at Ride-on-Railways

Hardening-off the paint under the heat lamp. This picture sent by Ride-on-Railways gave me my first opportunity to see my chosen colours applied to the body. I was not disappointed; it looked good.

Nearly ready; just needs name plates and builder's plates fitting

Opening rear doors give access to the battery master switch, on / off switch, speed reduction switch (limits maximum speed for use of inexperienced drivers), and battery condition and fault indicator panel. The hand held controller plugs into the socket lower right so the body can be lifted off the chassis without having to disconnect it.

Stumpy rear bonnet, doors closed

Side view of the almost complete locmotive

The final job was to chose a name. Several were considered based on geographical features of the area, such as 'Bosley Cloud', 'River Dane', 'Redesmere', 'Shutlingsloe' etc. I also considered 'Lindow Lady' or 'Lindow Moss', but in the end decided simply 'LINDOW' would be best. You can't get more local to where we live than Lindow. Our children attended nearby Lindow Primary School and the loco, as well as celebrating our local area, is in part a tribute to the late Peter Helliwell, inspirational head of that school. The name also gives a nod to the narrow gauge railway system that ran on Lindow Moss as part of the peat digging operation, though nothing larger than a tiny 4-wheel rail tractor ever ran on that railway.

The 'Hercules' has about the same power as the 'Western' I considered, having four 150 watt motors driven through an electronic control system from two car batteries. It also has regenerative braking, so as the controller power setting is reduced, the motors are used as generators to slow the train and put power back into the batteries while so doing.

 The chassis with batteries, viewed from the front. Note the quick release battery connectors and twin horns.

Rear view with the body off. Behind the batteries is the electronic control module. Behind that is the control panel with the battery isolator switch on the left, the on / off switch next to that, and the half-speed limiter selector switch to the left of the battery condition / fault indicator panel. The hand controller is resting on the chassis base plate. 

The 'Hercules' is a similar weight to the 'Western' but is far easier to transport. As well as being about half as long, it dis-assembles very easily into smaller units for transport. The body simply lifts off the chassis, the batteries have 'quick release' connectors and carrying handles so are easily removed and replaced for transport, and if required, undoing one nut on each bogie pivot and one electrical plug per bogie allows the bogies to be removed.

Weight breakdown of a 'Hercules'. The loco is designed for easy disassembly so it can be broken down into easily carried units for travelling between home and the running track.

All that's left to do now is to run 'Lindow' at the club track, pulling passenger trains after trying some loaded test trains to see what sort of passenger loads the loco is happy with. Christmas and New Year will delay that, so it'll probably be early January before she gets a chance to show her paces.

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Christmas lunch at Urmston club

Sunday 3rd December was a dull day, and with Christmas shopping in full swing as well, there were fewer than the usual number of passengers wanting train rides at Urmston track.

That was perhaps as well, as it was the club's Christmas Lunch day and it meant all our members, including those who usually drive the passenger trains, could tuck into the spread. This event was held a week earlier than usual as the chairman and his wife would be away the following weekend. Probably not much point being chairman if the post didn't carry some privileges!

Excellent pictures by Jason Lau, as usual. Please click on a picture for a larger image.

Trevor takes his wife for a trip on his lovely Polly tank loco

Me on Keith's Polly tank loco, wondering where all the passengers are!

Frank on his Sweet Pea

A very nice A2 Pacific

Still no passengers. I think I did a solo circuit of the track in the end.

Youngsters are always fascinated by our steam locomotives

The club room tables groan under the weight of the Christmas buffet. Plenty for everyone, and very good it was too! The wine is for raffle prizes - the lunch is strictly 'dry' as we may be driving passenger trains afterwards.

Plenty of club members, very few customers

Keith gives Tony some driving tuition on the Polly

Lee's turn on Trevor's Polly

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The Wildfowler at Urmston today

The Jubilee is off down south again tomorrow to the supplier for more attention to hopefully get it performing as it should, so today it was The Wildfowler's turn for a run at Urmston track. The weather was fine, the locomotive was steaming like a witch, the passengers were waiting for rides.... so a great day was had by all.

These excellent pictures are, as usual, by Jason Lau. Please click on any picture for a larger image.

Billy enjoying my loco, The Wildfowler. This is a five inch gauge model of a 2 foot gauge industrial locomotive, so it's more than 1/5 full size. That makes for a big model in this gauge.

Dave driving his Venezuelan Beyer Peacock tank loco  

Malc on Jim's Venezuelan tank. These two locos were built as a pair by Dave and Jim, as were their Black Fives. They are delightful to drive; very similar to The Wildfowler., being free steaming and powerful.

A young passenger (with his mum) exchanges smiles with Billy, his driver for their trip around the park behind The Wildfowler 

Stuart with Keith's Polly tank loco. 

 Billy picks up his next batch of passengers with The Wildfowler

 I run The Wildfowler with the entire back of the cab removed, which allows easy access to the controls and the fire. The pink tin (an M&S shortbread tin) carries the coal. Water is, of course, carried in the loco's side tanks and topped up after each run. The Wildfowler has an axle-driven pump to put water into the boiler, and an injector which has to be used occasionally as well, as the pump's capacity is insufficient. For emergency use, there is a hand pump in the right hand side tank the detachable handle for which lives on the left hand side of the cab floor.

Malc on Jim's Beyer Peacock waits his turn to enter the station to pick up passengers

Rogue's gallery outside the clubhouse; L to R Tony, Eddie, Bob, George 

Billy ducking down for a clear view of  The Wildfowler's pressure gauge, while I look on 

Bob's turn on Jim's Beyer Peacock 

Malc has a drive of my loco, with Tony as passenger 

Many's the time I've had a drive of Keith's Polly or 'Beast. Now it's his turn to drive my engine. 

A budding steam enthusiast watches with interest as I top up The Wildfowler's left hand tank after a run around the park 

Here he is again. definitely a future potential member of Urmston club  

...And he's far from alone. These miniature steam locomotives, alive with hissing steam, incandescent fire, and gurgling dripping hot water fascinate youngsters of all ages.   

Billy tops up the right hand tank. The engine must be close to blowing off, as he has left the fire-hole door open to allow cool air to be drawn into the boiler tubes to keep the steam pressure below that which will lift the safety valves. 

Malc on The Wildfowler, which is blowing off vigorously through the safety valves as the maximum allowable boiler pressure is reached

Stuart on Dave's tank loco, with yet another fascinated young enthusiast 

Me on my engine! 

Keith driving his own Polly tank loco

But we don't take ourselves too seriously. There's nothing better than Super Trouper by ABBA for keeping warm on a frosty Sunday at Abbotsfield Park. Driver Frank Gibson with his fabulous dance moves.:

Click here for 'Sunday Fun'

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A sad day in aviation

My thoughts tonight are with the families of the four people who died in a mid air collision between a light aircraft and a helicopter, near Aylesbury.

Both aircraft had originated their flights at Wycombe Air Park near High Wycomb, the Cessna 152 on a local pilot training detail, and the Cabri G2 light helicopter on a flight to an as yet unannounced destination, the crash taking place some 15 miles north of the airfield. Both aircraft were 2-seat, and all 4 occupants died in the accident.

Weather conditions are reported to have been 'perfect', a superb flying day with excellent visibility. Unfortunately excellent visibility makes aircraft crews less likely to see each other in the air as ground features stand out clearly and the aircraft blend into this cluttered background. On less clear days other aeroplanes are more easily seen against the misty sky.

The crash took place in uncontrolled airspace where most small aeroplanes fly, on a see-and-be-seen basis. Commercial traffic flies in controlled airspace under radar surveillance by air traffic control who keep them safely separated.

There is nothing inherently dangerous about uncontrolled airspace. I flew mostly in that environment for well over 30 years. The sky is a big place and the chance of two aircraft being in the same place at the same height at precisely the same time is infinitesimally small.

But very occasionally it does happen. And today, sadly, it did.

Light engine move.

It's the Churnet Valley Railway 25th Anniversary Steam Gala this weekend, and I was signaller at delightful Consall on Friday and Saturday. Here, photographed (by Jon Kerr) from just in front of my signal box, 7820 'Dinmore Manor' (train 0F02 in the Working timetable) waits in the up loop at Consall to cross with the down train to Ipstones (2W01).

This was the second of many movements I signalled from Consall 'box on each of the last 2 days. Long days for a retired old git like me, leaving home before light and not getting back until about 8pm. Thought those sort of days were behind me.... But really, great fun!

'Dinmore Manor' is one of two visiting locomotives and is normally resident on the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway (which I know well through visiting our elder daughter Claire in Broadway in the Cotswolds where she is a vet). These Collett-designed locomotives, together with earlier Churchward Swindon designs, have a lovely sharp 'bark' when working hard.

Our other visitor is also an ex-Great Western loco, 2-8-0 tank no. 4277 from the Dartmouth Steam Railway. The resident S160 No.5197 and class 33 diesel 33102 'Sophie' are also participating.

4277 was in unprototypical GWR lined green when she arrived at Cheddleton earlier this month. She was repainted in correct unlined black by the CVR at Cheddleton, where she will remain until her boiler certificate expires in February next year.

Here's a video I found on YouTube. It has some nice scenes around Consall, including (7 minutes in) your truly collecting the Froghall - Consall staff from the Western Tank as it runs in past the waiting Manor.

Click here for CVR 25th Anniversary Steam Gala

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'The Wildfowler' passenger hauling at Urmston yesterday

It's been a few weeks since 'The Wildfowler' had an outing, so with Sunday's fine weather forecast it seemed only right to take him to Urmston track for a spot of passenger hauling.

Lovely Manchester Ship Canal locomotive built by Don 

Don used to work for the Ship Canal, and has written an excellent book on the Railways of the Manchester Ship Canal  

Proud owner / builder 

'The Wildfowler' during lighting up

Last Wednesday Professor Ian Morison (with the mug of tea in the picture) from Jodrell Bank gave a talk on that radio telescope to our Probus group. I know Ian from attending his astronomy lectures at Wilmslow Guild some years ago and last saw him at Rudyard Lake Steam Railway. I had a chat to him before his talk on Wednesday and it transpired he is about to take delivery of a live steam 5" gauge 'Alice' locomotive.

He was unsure where to run it, so I mentioned Urmston which he had not heard of. I was delighted therefore when I arrived at the club yesterday to see Ian there. He is impressed with the club and its facilities and is going to join and run his loco here.

'The Wildfowler' in the queue to pick up passengers at the station 

Stuart on Dave's Venezuelan Beyer Peacock tank loco. This was the loco I passed my 'driving test' on at Urmston and it was good to see it back in steam after an extended absence.  

A 'Sweet Pea' generates an interest in steam among a couple of young onlookers  

Aaron on Trevor's Polly tank loco 

The fine weather brought out plenty of customers for train rides 

Bit of a stretch over the tenders of these big express engines! 

Keith and Don take Don's MSC loco for a spin round the inner track 

More young enthusiasts, this time admiring Dave's Venezuelan tank loco, driven by Stuart

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