Garden Railway Forum

As I have just bought my first Merlin live steam locomotive. Lets see pictures of yours either on the shelf or doing what they hopefully do best, raising steam! Here is, what I will call the "builders shot" that I lifted from the auction. He is due in tomorrows post, so more pics then. Mike

The little wonder I very nearly bought, (and that I never shut up about! )  what you dont see in these piccies is the tender (note this loco is works no. 218)
http://www.alspcs.com/Little_Wonder.html

Thats a cute little loco, shame you didn't add him to your stable. Thanks for posting. Mike

artfull dodger:122152 wrote:Thats a cute little loco, shame you didn't add him to your stable.  Thanks for posting.   Mike

Though she never got a place in my fleet she certainly got a place in my heart! I have to take the opportunity to say If anyone on here got her a) congratulations! and b) I'm willing to do a deal if you want to sell her!

My Maestro a few years ago on Peter Butlers line.
DSC_0058 by bigjimiflash, on Flickr

artfull dodger:122148 wrote:As I have just bought my first Merlin live steam locomotive.  Lets see pictures of yours either on the shelf or doing what they hopefully do best, raising steam!    Here is, what I will call the "builders shot" that I lifted from the auction.   He is due in tomorrows post, so more pics then.   Mike

Is it from ebay or other types of auction? I am interested to follow up a bit before deciding to get a live steam in a near future. I own one before but I put it up for auction since at that time my daughter was on 3 years old and I don't want to run live steam train in her presence for safety concerns.

That was an ebay auction. My Argyll was purchased thru a want ad I placed here that someone responded to. I wouldnt worry about running live steam around her once she knows that the words "dont touch" and "hot" mean. Much like being around mum when cooking on the stove. Lots of very young children around our live steam group's portable layout at shows. Just be attentive like any good father, thats what we do at shows when small children are near a hot engine. If you want to sell, a for sale post here saves ebay fees, which can be quite a bit on an expensive engine. Great railway pic, gave me some more ideas for mine once winter is over. Mike

Should we quote the works number of each loco so as to give an idea of what year each is?

I think that Gordon Bennett is a Merlin Monarch but I'm nowhere near 100% on that.



A Little Wonder receiving attention.

My Mayflower is works number 322. I wonder how many Mayflowers were produced? I know some models were very short runs of just a few engines. I am sure the Mayflower, Monarch, Major had decent numbers produced.

The little wonder seems to have had a relatively small production run, the minstrel probably less than that

There was an article many years ago in Steam in the Garden magazine on the history of the Merlin Locomotive Company Some rough numbers were quoted on some of the shorter runs, but no guesses on the Mayflower ect. I know the Mayflower came out in 1985ish, but not sure how long it was in production, but I would love to know. Maybe one day I will be able to get/buy a Merlin Catalog from that time frame I would love to see a book put together on Merlin, Archangel and the other early 16mm live steam builders. Espically before those that know are no longer with us. Mike

artfull dodger:122199 wrote:There was an article many years ago in Steam in the Garden magazine on the history of the Merlin Locomotive Company  Some rough numbers were quoted on some of the shorter runs, but no guesses on the Mayflower ect.  I know the Mayflower came out in 1985ish, but not sure how long it was in production, but I would love to know.  Maybe one day I will be able to get/buy a Merlin Catalog from that time frame  I would love to see a book put together on Merlin, Archangel and the other early 16mm live steam builders. Espically before those that know are no longer with us.     Mike

So is Tom Cooper still knocking about or is he passed away do you know? I know Stuart Brown (of archangel) is still with us doing one off comissions

I have no idea if Mr Merlin is still with us. I wanna say he was involved with some publishing as well, so if he is, maybe he would be interested in putting together a book of the early years of 16mm narrow gauge live steam in the UK. As of that article, issue #41 of Steam in the Garden, there were a few one offs and possible a Garrett done on commision, that are unknown if they exhist or not or where they are. There were 2 articles, the one on the store of Merlin and one by a gentleman that was tasked with photographing the prototype Countess and Heidi engines toward the end of Merlin, when Wendy Davies was running it. I have plenty of early Garden Railways that show the various Merlin engines up for sale in the USA, including the Mayflower and to me its a shame the Mustang didnt get produced, I kind of like its looks. I would even swap my Argyll for another Merlin, espically a Monarch. 4 coupled engines suit my line so much better. Mike

The idea of a book on the early 16mm manufacturers is beginning to appeal to me...  8)  this justifies further thought...

Here is an updated pic with most of the brass work all polished up and the paint buffed to a shine. Mike

Just found out that no, lamentably, Tom Cooper is no longer with us

I believe that Tom Cooper has gone to the great workshop in the sky.
Various books have been produced and think there is a plan to do a volume two of 16mm steam locomotives.
I understand that the history of Merlin/Tom Cooper is rather complicated and some people feel quite badly let down by various companies associated with him.
It may be a case of let sleeping dogs lie.

Yes, one would have to tread lightly due to some of the issues that befell Merlin. But that being said, people need to let go of those feelings, its in the past and it would be a shame to not write about the brand that got so many started in 16mm live steam because of the past doings. I would focus on the positives, the models and not dwell on the bad business deals. The article in STiG just touched on them and left them at that. There are plenty of positives with the early push for RC control and gas firing right from the early days. I know Ian Pearse is still with us, I wonder if Wendy Davies is? I read a nice blog that summed it up well. Tom Cooper had great visions for 16mm live steam, just not the best business sense. Not everybody is a good business man, and even when you are, your not going to make everybody happy. They say "Its nothing personal, just business." Keep them pictures coming. Mike

Has anyone on here got the picture of the prototype mustang? From that one might be able to make a replica