Has anyone else heard of MEGAERA

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Peter Butler
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Has anyone else heard of MEGAERA

Post by Peter Butler » Wed Dec 12, 2012 11:28 am

Some time ago I purchased a wonderful book entitled 'Industrial Railways of the South-East' and fell in love wjth a curious little locomotive named 'MEGAERA' which is given only one photographic image and not a full view at that!
The only information provided is written underneath the picture and included on my attachment.
I have long wanted to model this in 16mm and even went to the trouble of having etched nameplates made for her.
However, I think I need other views to make a decent representation of the loco and nothing seems to be available on the internet (although I might just be looking in the wrong places!!!)
Does anyone out there have more information please?
Peter.
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Post by tuppenced » Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:07 pm

Great isn't she?

Looks familiar.

I'll have a look in my Baguley books when the rush is over.

David 1/2d

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Post by MDLR » Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:32 pm

tuppenced:77853 wrote:I'll have a look in my Baguley books when the rush is over.
Did they take over McEwan Pratt, then?
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Has anyone else heard of MEGEARA

Post by FBGR » Wed Dec 12, 2012 2:36 pm

Yes there are details on pages 11 and 84 of Baguley Locomotives 1914-1931, by Rodney Weaver, IRS 1975, as well as a picture on page 23 of possibly the other side (no nameplate above doorway but a small oval plate on the end of the frame).

The loco also gets a mention on page 21 of The British Internal Combustion Locomotive 1894-1940, by Brian Webb, David & Charles, 1973.

MEGEARA also appears in Royal Arsenal Railway at Woolwich, by B.R.Clarke & C.C.Veitch, published 1986. Here it states that the loco was derelict in 1927 at Alpha Cement Ltd., Rodmell Works (Sussex). I wrote to Brian Clarke at the time of its publication to point out to point out that, although there had been some experiments for building a cement kiln in the hill behind Ashham House in 1927, the 2ft0in gauge railway at Rodmell was not built until at least 1928, and that Alpha Cement did not acquire the works until after its completion in 1933.

The interenal narrow gauge railway system at Lewes Cement Works has always been quoted as 1ft8in gauge, so for MEGEARA to have been used there it would have needed to have been converted back to this from the 1ft6in used at Woolwich.

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Post by Peter Butler » Wed Dec 12, 2012 4:16 pm

Wow!! that's brilliant, thanks for the leads.

I don't have any of the afforementioned volumes and our local library is not likely to either. If you, or any other member has a copy and could scan a page or two I would be most grateful.... there should be enough information for me to make a reasonable representation of the old girl. After all, as she was scrapped so long ago no one will be able to count the rivets!

Many thanks,

Peter.

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MEGAERA

Post by FBGR » Wed Dec 12, 2012 4:40 pm

PM sent

JOhn

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Post by tuppenced » Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:39 pm

tuppenced:77853 wrote:I'll have a look in my Baguley books when the rush is over.
Thanks to John for doing most of the leg work.

This is confirmed by clues scattered about in Baguley-Drewry Ltd by Civil and Etherington.

1) Early in 1912 McEwan Pratt advertised a Type J locomotive which is almost but not entirely like MEGAERA.

Type J was for gauges below 30", which gives you a clue about the width of the locomotive. We don't know how many were built - perhaps just two.

There's a print of the picture from this advert on p332, but don't get too excited as it's from the same angle as the print you already have, it's not as good as yours, and the locomotive differs slightly from MEGAERA.

All the same the picture is of some small value in that it confirms that MEGAERA was built by McEwan Pratt, even though by 1914 (the date in your book) they'd given up their Works. Best guess for the build date is therefore 1911.

2) The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich acquired a 20" gauge 4wPM locomotive in 1914.

It's reasonable to assume that this was MEGAERA.

Rodney Weaver thought it might have come from Siemens works in Woolwich, but it could also have come from unsold McEwan Pratt stock acquired by Baguley.

3) Baguley contracted to convert this 20" locomotive to 18" gauge, and gave it works number 630. It had a 40HP engine when they sent it to Woolwich.

The small but clear three quarter view photo of 630 on p128 is from the same print as the picture on p23 of Weaver's book, mentioned by John.

As John says, it doesn't bear nameplates, implying that she named at Arsenal itself.
Incidentally MEGAERA has a bit of a military ring to it, being one of the the Three Furies of the ancient world.

4) Although the McEwan Pratt drawings were sent to Burton, they haven't survived.

Therefore any drawings you might find published will have been based on the photographs. Of course any such drawing (and I've got a vague feeling I've seen a 16mm one years ago) would save you effort.

David

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Post by Peter Butler » Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:51 pm

Thank you David, this enquiry has brought ghosts out of obscurity. I have more information in just one day than I could possibly have anticipated, but that's the strength of the Forum.
Thanks to all who replied.
I will make an effort in putting something together and hope it has a recognisable form. There is just something compelling about this little loco.
As I go along I will put pics on the site.

Peter.

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Post by tuppenced » Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:03 pm

Peter Butler:77879 wrote:There is just something compelling about this little loco.
How true! David

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Post by Keith S » Fri Dec 14, 2012 2:20 am

I wonder if one of those IP engineering "Groudle Glen" battery locomotives could be used as a base for this model. I have no idea if the sizes are similar, but they are similar-looking locomotives.

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Post by Peter Butler » Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:29 pm

With my shed/garden railway taking up most of my time recently I have only just begun to build MEGAERA.
Starting point is a IP chassis fitted with wheelset with extra long axles. These extend through a plasticard sideframe .

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On the outer of the sideframes are plasticard 'castings' which form part of the suspension system.

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The locomotive is chain driven by means of Delrin chain and sprockets on the extended axles (both sides) and protected by chain guards. The springs are from ModelEarth and are crisp, brass castings.

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There is ample room for the receiver, speed controller and battery in the chassis. I have these ready to fit and will post when more progress is made.

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Post by Peter Butler » Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:26 pm

Further progress on the chassis including the second chain drive, completion of the suspension system and a base coat of grey primer which makes everything stand out more clearly.
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Post by Dannypenguin » Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:40 pm

From a novices view that is looking good. :)
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Post by spooner » Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:37 pm

I would of thought there would had chain drive on one side only?But how nose for sure.All same good model.
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Post by Peter Butler » Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:08 pm

I was unsure about the chain drive being on one or both sides. As I have no pictures of the other side I thought best to do both so that whichever side is visible it still shows the drive system.
The chassis still runs smoothly so I think it will stay put now!

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Post by Crackingjob » Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:39 pm

So that what was on your work bench in bits when I popped around

I like the idea of the overall cabroof........looks great and I can vouch for the plastic work...superb

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Post by Peter Butler » Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:07 pm

CJ. Thanks for the complement. It was good to meet with you as another garden railway modeller. (and nice guy!)
Cab is now under construction and more pics to follow soon.

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Post by SapperAnt » Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:19 am

Looks gorgeous. Vaguley reminiscent of Electric Number 2 of the L&Y......

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Post by Peter Butler » Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:48 pm

Building the body now..... Difficult to gauge the scale of the finished loco just from one photograph, particularly as there is no driver on board to give a sense of size. However, I think it looks about right and without drawings etc, who knows?
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Post by Peter Butler » Tue Apr 16, 2013 5:43 pm

I have taken my time with this one, as well as building others in between!, but Megaera is now complete.
As you can see, she is a working girl, covered in all sorts of grime as she probably would have been in her everyday life.
The first picture shows her outdoors in natural surroundings.

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Next we have some pictures on the layout and I am pleased she fits in so well. It has been an ambition for many years to make this loco and I think it was worth the wait!
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The radio control gear is installed but not yet tested. When she is fully operational I will try to show her on video.

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