Roundhouse Atlantic - rare find
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 11:21 pm
For a while now I have been dependant on two locos as the third has once again been put out of order due to a trader error. A chance find on Ebay saw this arise a few weeks ago:
An idle ask informed me offerwise that offers for over £950 had been declined, although starting and final buy was £850. I let this go, as far too work was suspected to be needed to get this loco up to scratch - new bufferbeams, possibly a new funnel, the transfers and cleaning removal...and on a loco that was minimum 14years old [built 1993-2004] not worth chancing in my opinion.
So I backed off and carried on with life, not giving a second thought until another big green engine showed up on Ebay....
45mm gauge, Never Steamed, R/C fully fitted and tested, accompanied by a full loco tool kit [gas filler, water bottle, oil bottles, a Roundhouse Multitool] and some books and memorabilia on the particular locomotive's railway. More intense negotiating went down and a price secured. The next question was: how was it going to reach me in Birmingham from all the way down on the coast of Southampton? The answer: a train trip with an airport bag to Southampton Central one wet Saturday morning shortly afterwards. The deal was done in the station car park - notes counted out and ahnded over, the RC and gubbins inspected, books and extras counted and the loco inspected very carefully in the boot of the seller's car. Repacked, in my bag and a trip to the pub to meet up with Will H of this parish for a few drinks ensued.
At the pub, the loco was shown off and inspected...
There you go. One as-new, never touched or altered, unsteamed Roundhouse Atlantic, 0-6-2, from the Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway with full RC fitted and ready. I was astounded at the time of pickup - brand new. Loco had either been on display or mostly in its box all wrapped straight from the retailer.
First Class transport all the way back to Birmingham, ie secure and safely...
Once home, the loco had a little bit of work done on it - the sandbox control bar was straightened out, the smokebox front was loosened and turned to give the correct profile, the driving wheels were regauged to 32mm, a new 32mm trailing truck wheel had been ordered from Roundhouse and duly fitted and lastly, batteries were installed and the RC servos and controls all tested and checked.
Now the Atlantic was ready for its first travels under its own power....
IT'S THORFINN TIME
A week later saw a trip to Echills Wood Railway in Kingsbury. Long straights, mostly easy accessibility and mostly level layout makes this the perfect test track for new engines.
After agreeing to use this steamup as the 'inspection test', the loco was gassed, oiled and watered for the first time in its life. The first fire was lit...
Steam soon raised...
And the first turn of the wheels in anger made around the track, a couple of laps well performed before it was decided to move on. Getting used to the RC is another thing however...
After two or three laps, while still in steam the loco was put into traffic using the lighter Newqida rake of coaches.
In all honesty, it positively strolled away with this rake. Any glitches really came from myself getting used to R/C after nearly nine years of totally manual driving my locos. The loco was re-prepared and resteamed, with an eye to further capability testing...
MIGHTY THORFINN POWERFUL ENGINE
...load 9 and 10.
No less than nine carriages now - five Accucract Lynton & Barnstaples were added to the rake to give a little more challenge to the 'heavy hauler'. Admittedly, on the slopes, it was very difficult to get going from standstill but once in motion from a more level start the engine once again tore around the railway with the train. After the photos were taken, two IoM 4wheelers were added, making it load 10.
Comfortably passed, once finished the new loco was shunted onto a siding while the ever faithful 'Cadno' was again steamed up for a run.
Plans for the loco in the future will likely to be to upgrade the RC; the bulky twin knob handset could be replaced with a small handset that has the throttle on a knob and the reverser on a switch instead. The loco will be liviered as per the C&MLR in the long future - red, white and black, elbaorate panelling on the cylinders, tanks, cab and back and a CMLR crest applied. A list of names has been drawn up but the current working name, for now, is "THORFINN". Whichever name is chosen, it will then be placed on the tanksides in true NBR style, as ARGYLL and ATLANTIC had.
No better way to end the day while checking and cleaning over the loco..
An idle ask informed me offerwise that offers for over £950 had been declined, although starting and final buy was £850. I let this go, as far too work was suspected to be needed to get this loco up to scratch - new bufferbeams, possibly a new funnel, the transfers and cleaning removal...and on a loco that was minimum 14years old [built 1993-2004] not worth chancing in my opinion.
So I backed off and carried on with life, not giving a second thought until another big green engine showed up on Ebay....
45mm gauge, Never Steamed, R/C fully fitted and tested, accompanied by a full loco tool kit [gas filler, water bottle, oil bottles, a Roundhouse Multitool] and some books and memorabilia on the particular locomotive's railway. More intense negotiating went down and a price secured. The next question was: how was it going to reach me in Birmingham from all the way down on the coast of Southampton? The answer: a train trip with an airport bag to Southampton Central one wet Saturday morning shortly afterwards. The deal was done in the station car park - notes counted out and ahnded over, the RC and gubbins inspected, books and extras counted and the loco inspected very carefully in the boot of the seller's car. Repacked, in my bag and a trip to the pub to meet up with Will H of this parish for a few drinks ensued.
At the pub, the loco was shown off and inspected...
There you go. One as-new, never touched or altered, unsteamed Roundhouse Atlantic, 0-6-2, from the Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway with full RC fitted and ready. I was astounded at the time of pickup - brand new. Loco had either been on display or mostly in its box all wrapped straight from the retailer.
First Class transport all the way back to Birmingham, ie secure and safely...
Once home, the loco had a little bit of work done on it - the sandbox control bar was straightened out, the smokebox front was loosened and turned to give the correct profile, the driving wheels were regauged to 32mm, a new 32mm trailing truck wheel had been ordered from Roundhouse and duly fitted and lastly, batteries were installed and the RC servos and controls all tested and checked.
Now the Atlantic was ready for its first travels under its own power....
IT'S THORFINN TIME
A week later saw a trip to Echills Wood Railway in Kingsbury. Long straights, mostly easy accessibility and mostly level layout makes this the perfect test track for new engines.
After agreeing to use this steamup as the 'inspection test', the loco was gassed, oiled and watered for the first time in its life. The first fire was lit...
Steam soon raised...
And the first turn of the wheels in anger made around the track, a couple of laps well performed before it was decided to move on. Getting used to the RC is another thing however...
After two or three laps, while still in steam the loco was put into traffic using the lighter Newqida rake of coaches.
In all honesty, it positively strolled away with this rake. Any glitches really came from myself getting used to R/C after nearly nine years of totally manual driving my locos. The loco was re-prepared and resteamed, with an eye to further capability testing...
MIGHTY THORFINN POWERFUL ENGINE
...load 9 and 10.
No less than nine carriages now - five Accucract Lynton & Barnstaples were added to the rake to give a little more challenge to the 'heavy hauler'. Admittedly, on the slopes, it was very difficult to get going from standstill but once in motion from a more level start the engine once again tore around the railway with the train. After the photos were taken, two IoM 4wheelers were added, making it load 10.
Comfortably passed, once finished the new loco was shunted onto a siding while the ever faithful 'Cadno' was again steamed up for a run.
Plans for the loco in the future will likely to be to upgrade the RC; the bulky twin knob handset could be replaced with a small handset that has the throttle on a knob and the reverser on a switch instead. The loco will be liviered as per the C&MLR in the long future - red, white and black, elbaorate panelling on the cylinders, tanks, cab and back and a CMLR crest applied. A list of names has been drawn up but the current working name, for now, is "THORFINN". Whichever name is chosen, it will then be placed on the tanksides in true NBR style, as ARGYLL and ATLANTIC had.
No better way to end the day while checking and cleaning over the loco..