Garden Railway Forum

Whats everybody's thoughts on the new model(s) announced by RH for 2020 and beyond? Being a Yankee, I love the new Davenport, and if the delivery date is on or after a certain month, I am going to switch my preorder to one of those instead of a Lady Anne. Still waiting on the other announcements from RH later today. Mike the Aspie

I was not familiar with the loco but can't say it appeals to me much. Not that it matters as I'm not a potential customer anyway. I can't afford to buy locos anymore.

I know the feeling of not being able to afford engines all to well. Thankfully I am blessed with a good job right now as long as our automotive industry stays strong. I do hope to get one of the new Davenports this year and that will probably be my last engine for awhile. That will give us 4 locomotives total with 3 being USA style and one UK style for when that mood strikes. I am glad to see them bringing out a new USA style engine, even if it is outside frame. Been awhile(Since the Sammie basic series) that the USA market got a fresh model from RH.

I love the idea of the Davenport. Hopefully being a North American loco that is a real prototype with broad appeal it does well for Roundhouse. Something about it looks slightly off to me though. Maybe it's because most of these locos were inside framed, & I suspect those that were outside framed used bar frames rather than plate frames more typical of UK practice?

Interesting Roundhouse have chosen to announce loco plans for the next few years. Maybe they recognise that this is a significant investment for most people & they might sell more if people can plan their finances accordingly?

Still crossing my fingers they re-release a Carrie/Poorer esque loco. Such news could be bad for my finances...

artfull dodger wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:11 pm Being a Yankee, I love the new Davenport, and if the delivery date is on or after a certain month, I am going to switch my preorder to one of those instead of a Lady Anne.

Ah, I thought of you when I saw the announcement Mike! Not my cup of tea, but an interesting choice, and I look forward to seeing one in due course.

Personally, I'm very excited about the England loco for 2021. It's just what I need for my line - I've had the Ffestiniog carriages for years but nothing to pull them, and the Englands were often seen on trains of Welsh Highland stock too. I'm glad it's a year before I can order too - it gives me time to save and sell to fund the purchase, and to make sure the line's in good shape!

Happy New Year everyone, by the way...

Andrew.

I think the new management staff at RH are learning quickly how to maximize sales. I remember when the big engine news didnt happen till national AGM at Peterborough. Now we have it on New Years day with smaller anouncements thru the year like at the AGM. I suspect a USA style battery diesel is in the works in the near future. The Englands will be nice for those following/modeling that line. I am a W&L modeler when it comes to my UK side. So the next two are not of any interest to me. I will have 4 steamers total after I get the Davenport and a battery powered UK style is on the top of my wish list after that. I have several USA style locomotives converted to battery power. Cheers Mike

big-ted wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 7:44 pm Something about it looks slightly off to me though. Maybe it's because most of these locos were inside framed, & I suspect those that were outside framed used bar frames rather than plate frames more typical of UK practice?

The Kiama Davenport in Aust. is 2’ gauge and has outside bar-frames. I suspect Roundhouse have used plateframes to make it easy to fit their standard inside valve gear. It will run well and I can understand why they would do it, but it doesn't look right to me either. Not enough daylight under the boiler when seen in profile.........

The Kiama Davenport is a good example of why it pays to be careful modelling preserved locos. The ILRMS have chosen to replace the original steel cab with a varnished wooden cab.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSW_Kiama

Graeme

I think they struck a nice balance of using off the shelf parts and prototype inspiration. I see plenty of daylight under the boiler. Unlike some builders, RH in my opinion, tries to use in stock parts to keep costs down. Using standard size boilers, standard cylinders and valve gear. If they were going whole hog for prototype, the Davenport would have inside Stephenson valve gear instead of their inside Walschearts. The basic chassis design is from their Lilla engine, which my best friend has and it runs flawlessly with factory installed RC. I suspect Davenport will also run just as nicely. While some will bemoan this and that, RH has yet to really produce any duds model wise. Mike

It's a great tactic by Roundhouse. One thing's for certain, all 3 models will have 9/16" x 5/8" cylinders

Happy New Year

Andrew wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 8:03 pm

artfull dodger wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 4:11 pm Being a Yankee, I love the new Davenport, and if the delivery date is on or after a certain month, I am going to switch my preorder to one of those instead of a Lady Anne.

Ah, I thought of you when I saw the announcement Mike! Not my cup of tea, but an interesting choice, and I look forward to seeing one in due course.

Personally, I'm very excited about the England loco for 2021. It's just what I need for my line - I've had the Ffestiniog carriages for years but nothing to pull them, and the Englands were often seen on trains of Welsh Highland stock too. I'm glad it's a year before I can order too - it gives me time to save and sell to fund the purchase, and to make sure the line's in good shape!

Happy New Year everyone, by the way...

Andrew.

Of course, Locoworks is doing an England loco if you don't want to wait. I think it's slip-eccentric (not sure) but it looks very nice indeed.

I think many will wait for the RH England locomotive as it will have proper valve gear and the quality we have come to enjoy from Roundhouse. RH has really learned, by announcing models for the next several years, they have gained more sales by allowing folks to set aside money so they are ready to order when the time comes. And RH can still announce other items at the AGM ect. My order is placed and confirmed for a Davenport with a silver smoke box, oxide roof with RC control. Now back to working on my old Climax locomotive. Mike

All of them are great prototypes, I can see the C class in particular being very popular. Although I like the Davenport, we have no American stock so it'll unfortunately be a no. I hope some of the castings will become available such as the headlamps.
The England will be a possibility; I have been planning a Welsh Pony for a while now but if the model is based on Palmerston (instead of the horrendous, modernised Prince*) I wouldn't say no! Hopefully I can get the cylinders and motion to use on Welsh Pony.

*My personal opinion is that Prince should be cosmetically backdated; get rid of the swollen smokebox and the enlarged footplate. The bigger cab is fine and is probably an ideal comprise for crew comfort.

The sample image is of Palmerston, and the blurb says it'll be in 1910/20s condition (perfect for me!), so I'm optimistic...

I was tempted by the Locoworks model when it appeared, but slip eccentrics and manual control aren't ideal for my line, plus I really value RH's customer care (although I'm sure Locoworks are great too), so that's where my money will be going... I think demand will be very high...

Andrew.

I had a close look at Locoworks Prince. It looks terrific and I could tell a lot of work had gone into it. Unfortunately (due to wanting ideas for Welsh Pony) I noticed it was rather large and thus discovered it uses a Bertie chassis. It was therefore very difficult to use this for Welsh Pony due to the castings being scale.

I don't fancy American prototypes, but what about a CANADIAN one? Ha ha. I wonder if a RH "Davenport" with 32mm frames could be modified to run on 45mm with wheels on the outside? Would make a credible MLW locomotive for the Canadian "Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway".

It's not without precedent in the UK as there was a Montreal built loco very similar that ran on the 3 foot gauge Holborough Cement works in Kent. That area would have put Wales in the shade as regards the number and variety of Narrow Gauge Lines, one line in Kent even had outside flanges on the 3Ft 5.5In Gauge.

John

Is it just me or does the Davenport look like it might be a bit top-heavy and potentially unstable? I suppose most use will be on 45mm though to match available rolling stock.
(Speaking as the owner of a 32mm gauge Bertie, a design that seems to have a certain reputation although I don't have much to compare it with and I don't find it bad.)

That's why I got into 45mm gauge in the first place - perceived stability issues