Garden Railway Forum

Old Man Aaron wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:10 am Rather attractive that, a "low-slung powerhouse" kind of look.
How many locos does that make for the PLR fleet, now?

Yes. That's what attracted me too it. I was looking for drawings and photos of Skylatks when this one popped up. Not really a Skylark but I think it owes its origins to the design.

This will be #23 in the fleet. I don't really need any more locos but, sometimes, I just can't resist this sort of loco porn ......

Rik
PS now almost finished her off. Just fitting couplings and a few of the finer details. Hoping to take another video later if the weather holds .....

ge_rik wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:49 am I can use a fair bit of modellers' licence as, to my knowledge, Kerr Stuart never produced a three foot gauge loco derived from the Skylark design - that's my story and I'm sticking to it .....

Perhaps.......

The attached photo is Kerr-Stuart builders no. 685 built in 1900. It's basically an enlarged Sirdar, so unlike Sunbury it's pure K-S and has design features in common with the smaller Skylarks and Sirdars that aren't on Sunbury. It ran on the 3' gauge Beaconsfield Tramway in Northern Tasmania and the remains are now on display in the local museum.

Certainly K-S don't appear to have built a larger 0-4-2T based on the Skylark, although the Skylark itself was designed to be built in gauges up to at least 3'. A larger 0-4-2T had to wait until the very utilitarian Tattoo/Thames, Darwin/Tagus, Brazil/Tamar range of off the shelf designs. A Thames was about the same size as a Skylark and a Tagus would have been about the size of a Sunbury, but the later locos are an acquired taste when it comes to aesthetics.......


Regards,
Graeme

GTB wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:31 pm

ge_rik wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:49 am I can use a fair bit of modellers' licence as, to my knowledge, Kerr Stuart never produced a three foot gauge loco derived from the Skylark design - that's my story and I'm sticking to it .....

Perhaps.......

The attached photo is Kerr-Stuart builders no. 685 built in 1900. It's basically an enlarged Sirdar, so unlike Sunbury it's pure K-S and has design features in common with the smaller Skylarks and Sirdars that aren't on Sunbury. It ran on the 3' gauge Beaconsfield Tramway in Northern Tasmania and the remains are now on display in the local museum.

Certainly K-S don't appear to have built a larger 0-4-2T based on the Skylark, although the Skylark itself was designed to be built in gauges up to at least 3'. A larger 0-4-2T had to wait until the very utilitarian Tattoo/Thames, Darwin/Tagus, Brazil/Tamar range of off the shelf designs. A Thames was about the same size as a Skylark and a Tagus would have been about the size of a Sunbury, but the later locos are an acquired taste when it comes to aesthetics.......

Regards,
Graeme

That is a mighty fine looking loco, Graeme. I wish I'd seen it before creating this one. The wheel size looks much better matched to the Lyn motor block than the MWB locos.

I think mine has turned out OK - as long as no one looks too closely .......

Rik

Loco nearly finished but I decided to give her a test run with some stock. Not entirely happy with the sound which uses the chuff cam built into the Lyn motor block. I might go back to using the motor voltage to regulate the chuffs.




Rik

Lovely job Rik, she looks a solidly built loco and capable of hauling your stock. A useful addition to the stable.

Very nice indeed, Rik.
I agree though, the chuff isn't very well synchronised, you might well be better off using the motor voltage, as you suggest.

A really nice loco Rik, very well produced (as usual). I think the running gear looks well matched to the body. I've no experience of locoremote soundcards, but I'm sure you'll get it sorted.

I couldn't see or hear any problems with the chuff. Sounds good, and there are 4 chuffs per revolution as surely there MUST be with a cam.

That looks great Rik, and performs beautifully too!

You've got the "face" just right - love the Great Eastern style polished ring around the smokebox door...

Andrew.