Ace Engineering Works Mss 'Reaper'

A very popular starting point for Live Steam. With their low cost comes a number of problems which can be discussed here
Post Reply
User avatar
ace
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2013 9:03 am

Ace Engineering Works Mss 'Reaper'

Post by ace » Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:11 pm

Morning everyone,

I thought I'd share a build of a loco I acquired last April. There is no denying that she is a wreck and has seen better days, but despite this she has not had many hours of running for various reasons. The previous owner did not have very good luck running her and her future hung in the balance.

This engine started life as a green kit built Mss in 45mm. Originally bought with a tender although I do not believe she ever ran with it.

Many thanks to Pauly for allowing me to use some of his images and footage in my posts.

Here she is, unnamed, running at her last home - The Woodrow Light Railway (image used with permission)

Image

Here she is on test (image used with permission)

Image

And as far as this little engines career went, well that was it - as a steam locomotive. As she was a poor performer she was left abandoned in a siding in a scrap yard for many years.

Image

As she was now becoming scrap, parts were removed for other projects, some were sold and she soon became unusable as a locomotive. (Image used with permission)

Image

The WLR had a new lease of life, a factory was built and required steam to power it. The obvious choice for the factory was to use the little engine as a power plant. (Image used with permission)

Image

Sadly there was a fire. The engine was having some fittings renewed and the careless fitter set fire to the engine. Sadly this rendered it unusable and at the same time the factory no longer required steam for their operations as they had then bought a compressor to do the work.

And that is where the career of the engine on the WLR ended. I had seen the engine prior to its demise and despite many attempts to acquire I had left empty handed. The line owner contacted me and offered the engine to me - obviously I accepted and at Peterborough 16mm AGM the handover took place.

Here is a video that pretty much says it all.



Edited to update video link
Last edited by ace on Tue Dec 01, 2020 8:07 am, edited 3 times in total.
YouTube ChannelImage

DLRdan
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1083
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:05 am
Location: Blyth
Contact:

Post by DLRdan » Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:37 am

Often wondered what happened to that loco, nice to see its getting a second life. Will you be keeping it yellow ?
Dan,

James: "Dan, can you use your hearing and tell me if that trains coming ?"
DLR
www.freewebs.com/dlrail

User avatar
Dannypenguin
Trainee Driver
Trainee Driver
Posts: 632
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2013 9:57 am
Location: Forest of Dean, UK
Contact:

Post by Dannypenguin » Sat Feb 21, 2015 6:48 pm

I do like the yellow, quite cute... :thumbright:
Dan

Visit the PFLR website - http://poultonfarmlightrailway.webs.com/
Dean Forest Railway Society website - http://dfrsociety.org/

User avatar
ace
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2013 9:03 am

Post by ace » Sat Mar 28, 2015 6:09 pm

Thanks for your comments chaps. :)

Not a lot to say here except....




Edited to update video link
Last edited by ace on Tue Dec 01, 2020 8:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
YouTube ChannelImage

steam4ian
Cleaner
Cleaner
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:46 pm
Location: Adelaide South Australia

Post by steam4ian » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:47 pm

That's grim.
Ian

User avatar
ace
Fireman
Fireman
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2013 9:03 am

Re: Ace Engineering Works Mss 'Reaper'

Post by ace » Mon Nov 30, 2020 12:14 am

Its been a while and I have had this video prepared for well over 12 months now! The continued story of Reaper 'Rust in pieces'

YouTube ChannelImage

User avatar
philipy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5033
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:00 pm
Location: South Northants

Re: Ace Engineering Works Mss 'Reaper'

Post by philipy » Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:26 am

Nice little video, a bit different to the usual one.

Nice to see you posting again. :)
Philip

User avatar
ge_rik
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6497
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Cheshire
Contact:

Re: Ace Engineering Works Mss 'Reaper'

Post by ge_rik » Mon Nov 30, 2020 7:30 am

If a video can be poetic, then this is it.
Thanks. What a poignant start to the day!

Rik
------------------------
Peckforton Light Railway - Blog Facebook Youtube

User avatar
LNR
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1533
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:26 am
Location: Australia

Re: Ace Engineering Works Mss 'Reaper'

Post by LNR » Mon Nov 30, 2020 8:25 am

I liked the graffiti on the loco, unfortunately very appropriate.
Grant.

User avatar
Keith S
Driver
Driver
Posts: 1624
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:44 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Ace Engineering Works Mss 'Reaper'

Post by Keith S » Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:24 am

Ace, I've been looking for a Mamod/MSS body and frames for a while now, because I've got a set of Wilesco cylinders and eccentrics laying about and I've not made up my mind to turn them into a boat or a twin-cylinder steam tractor or locomotive, or what. If you're done playing with this corpse, I would offer you a fair price for the remains so I could play around with making a little fixed-cylinder Mamod-like slip-eccentric loco. At this point it's just one of the ideas I have for my "box of bits" but you never know what might happen.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests