Introduction
We'd had a 2.5" gauge rally at my local model engineering club in September and one of the guys was running a 3.5" Loco and it went really well. I got to thinking I'd like a nice 3.5" gauge locomotive.
Browsing the interwebs, I saw an advert on the http://www.classifiedsteam.co.uk/ for a part built 3.5" Gauge Britannia with boiler. It looked nicely built so I arrange to visit the seller in Uttoxeter. Lorna was the daughter of the man who started this loco.
The late Alfred Cyril Beardmore had started an apprenticeship with his father making Clocks and Watches but eventually moved into slightly heavier engineering at Avery in Birmingham eventually ending up as their Chief Engineer. He is co-inventor of a mechanical measurement patent : https://www.google.com/patents/US3647010.
Here is a picture of Lorna and Cyril at Great Central Railway in front of 70013 Oliver Cromwell. Cyril passed away in 2011.
A visual inspection showed the work to have been to to a very high standard which is not surprising given his background.
The design was produced by the prolific model Loco designer Lillian "Curly" Lawrence who had the pen name "LBSC".
It is based on the BR Standard Class 7 Britannia in 3 1/2 inch gauge. Described in Model Engineer Volumes 104 - 109. The design was a bit of a coup for Curly as the design was ready by the public unveiling of the full-size prototype. He apparently recieved double rates for the series because of this!
The main pieces of work are to check the chassis runs okay on air, hydraulic check on the boiler, pipe the two together and finish the tender.
Sounds easy but the plumbing on the Brits is all exposed and very distinctive, the boiler design is to 1950's standards so I need to have a good chat with my boiler inspector.
I have a 50 year unbroken collection of Model Engineer Magazines and luckily it reaches back just far enough to have all the Britannia Series. First job will be to scan and print these out.
Browsing the interwebs, I saw an advert on the http://www.classifiedsteam.co.uk/ for a part built 3.5" Gauge Britannia with boiler. It looked nicely built so I arrange to visit the seller in Uttoxeter. Lorna was the daughter of the man who started this loco.
The late Alfred Cyril Beardmore had started an apprenticeship with his father making Clocks and Watches but eventually moved into slightly heavier engineering at Avery in Birmingham eventually ending up as their Chief Engineer. He is co-inventor of a mechanical measurement patent : https://www.google.com/patents/US3647010.
Here is a picture of Lorna and Cyril at Great Central Railway in front of 70013 Oliver Cromwell. Cyril passed away in 2011.
A visual inspection showed the work to have been to to a very high standard which is not surprising given his background.
The design was produced by the prolific model Loco designer Lillian "Curly" Lawrence who had the pen name "LBSC".
It is based on the BR Standard Class 7 Britannia in 3 1/2 inch gauge. Described in Model Engineer Volumes 104 - 109. The design was a bit of a coup for Curly as the design was ready by the public unveiling of the full-size prototype. He apparently recieved double rates for the series because of this!
The main pieces of work are to check the chassis runs okay on air, hydraulic check on the boiler, pipe the two together and finish the tender.
Sounds easy but the plumbing on the Brits is all exposed and very distinctive, the boiler design is to 1950's standards so I need to have a good chat with my boiler inspector.
I have a 50 year unbroken collection of Model Engineer Magazines and luckily it reaches back just far enough to have all the Britannia Series. First job will be to scan and print these out.
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