Garden Railway Forum

The Rounhouse Bulldog is well made and very controllable. But to me Essel are better quality or you could look at the Friog website.

Hope this helps Alan.

I have painted the nameplate and then wiped the raised letters with a small wood block tightly wrapped in cotton sheet dampened with white spirit. Used to use a similar technique years ago in the sign industry. Delicate work but it works for me.

Hope this helps. Alan.

I have used nail varnish remover quite successfully. dos'nt harm the paint. It's the acetone that does it.

Alan.

Hi Richard, As Chris said it is very easy to do wheel change, the wagons are designed to accommodate 32mm and 45mm wheel sets. I have seen quite a few on sale on line and at shows but prices tend to be high. You do sometimes strike it lucky, I once paid £20 for a pair that only needed a clean and re...

All I do is ensure boiler is empty, motion etc well oiled and safety valve, regulator and lubricator cap are not too tightly done up. Personally I never leave batteries in even if loco is in regular use.

I'm not sure but the chassis Essel use for there Harlech Castle or maybe Chattendon would be the right size for a replacement chassis. I think the real Harlech Castle was built from a Baguley loco.

A quick run before tea.

Here is my Fowler.

I have checked Trackshacks website and they say they will receive new stock in May.

Thanks you -steves-

Checked my other Essel loco's and they are all centre positive. Also found another charger with polarity detection so OK now. Wanted to make sure so as not to damage loco.

Thanks Gralyn,

I shall try that, hoping someone will know so I can avoid dismantling the loco as the batteries are dead. Your advice much appreciated.

Hi All,

Just decided to charge my Essel Fowler F30 after a long period not used. Unfortunately I stored it with another charger, so I am not sure what polarity and voltage the charger should be set at. Think the voltage should be 12v but not sure of polarity. Any help would be very welcome.

Hi Mr Bond, The loco is charged through a socket in the cab via a supplied charger. Can't give you any figures on battery life but I've never had the loco run out of battery. If I can find any pictures of the loco I will send them to you or post them on the forum. I have somewhere some video footage...

Hi there,

I have an Essel fowler. A very good loco, powerful, runs well at slow speed, we'll made. Would thoroughly recommend one.

I like diesel outline battery locomotives in there own right and feel that battery powered steam outline is still putting diesel locomotives as 2nd best. This is just my opinion, I appreciate that we all have our own favourites. I do run steam but far prefer my battery diesels.

If it had been for battery powered, diesel outline locomotives I would have been very interested. Often seen as a loco just to retrieve a dead steamer, to me they are attractive models in their own right.

Each to there own but I have track pinned to a timber base that's been outside for about 16 years with minimal maintenance with no problem. The timber was well seasoned and thoroughly treated with 5star wood preservative before use. It is not in direct contact with the ground which prolongs it's lif...

Interesting article on which water to use. Not sure if I have missed it but in a hard water area can I use water from a condensing tumble dryer?

It looks superb! A well engineered locomotive.

Not sure about this but Essel Engineering might do non standard wheel sets to order.