Garden Railway Forum

Hi All,

I am wanting an engine to complement my mamod fleet, It must be 32mm steam and have R/C. What would you recommend and how much should I pay?

I have two s/h Lady Annes with rc and I like the way they run. I also have a Katie but find her a bit skittish on the controller (although it is the pistol type ). I paid £700 and £650 for the Lady Annes and £900 for the Katie.
My first loco I bought from the gscale site private sales 3 years ago and another member even looked it over for me. The other two came from ebay, the Katie was local to me and had only been steamed a few times, the photos showed that. The Lady Anne was known on this forum but with ebay I guess you take a chance but from a dealer prices seem higher.
There is the garden railway trading group on facebook.
Good luck with your quest.

Millie can be converted to radio (albeit throttle only). The Gloucester group has a good collection of Millie's and they've all run faultless. My Millie tram is a good 18 years old now and is still in good condition; another member has run his Millie almost everyday for 10 years and is just about to be serviced now...
If you like to bash they're ideal as the bodywork is simple to take apart and mess around with!

The other obvious alternative to Roundhouse are the Accucraft locomotives. The freelanced engines are a bit on the huge side; but the W/D Baldwin is smaller and would probably sit well with a Mamod. Just ensure you get a later/new one as the older ones unfortunately suffer from a few quality issues (poor axle alignment and paper thin tanks being some notable issues).

Accucraft caradoc/ragleth would be my vote for a next engine up from a mamod. Nice to look at, easy to spiv up and personalise and nice runners.

Hmm you have given me food for thought, could you attach pictures so I know what loco's you recommend. If anyone has one for sale I would be happy to get a PM.

OK - take a look at: http://mdlr.co.uk/loco10.html for my Millie and http://mdlr.co.uk/loco11.html for the Bertie.

Both have been modified from ex-Works condition, so you may find that helpful.

Thank you Brian, The Bertie is my preference from your selection.
What are the options for radio control?

Sir Clothem Cap:119285 wrote:Thank you Brian, The Bertie is my preference from your selection.
What are the options for radio control?

Stick your finger in the cab and open the regulator! (I must admit I have the nice cast brass one that Roundhouse used to fit, rather than the more modern one - I believe something similar is available as a "bolt-on" part).

I am keen to go radio control on a loco as some of the lines I visit are better suited to being in control rather than chasing a loco round.

Perhaps you might consider my range of live steam 2.4 GHz R/C.
These are Deltang based TX2 modules placed in the handpiece case to maximise the range.
Three different versions available. All three variants can be used for battery R/C as well.
One TX handpiece for both Live Steam and Battery R/C.

Bryan

I have a Roundhouse Mildred. It is a lovely little RC 0-4-0 loco. Very easy to run as a newbie to this hobby. I know Roundhouse have discontinued this particular model, but I'm sure a similar model from them is available.

There is always the 2nd hand market. Sorry that I can't offer any more info, but seeing as you are a Hampshire man, if you want, I'd happily bring it over and let you test it in your railway.

Ben

PM sent Ben. I welcome visits to my line I am in Gosport.

George, which is very similar to Mildred, is available in kit form from Roundhouse. The chassis, boiler and body can be bought separately so effectively you could buy one in installments. It can be fitted wit r/c too. I have a Lady Anne and am a satisfied Roundhouse customer.

Ian