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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2010 8:14:56 GMT
Herewith a piece by LBSC from ME in 1966, describing Polly O'Flynn. If I am interpreting this correctly, he never actually made a Britannia, being content to produce working drawings for the proles but sticking to his own preferences in the making of it. ..... This loco certainly didn't have Walschearts valve gear! In fact, it looks nothing like a Britannia. Come to think of it, one rarely saw pictures of his finished locomotives....... Any thoughts? Or am I wrong again! JB EDIT: Brutannia now corrected! |
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Post by drjohn on Apr 18, 2010 9:47:42 GMT
How could you possibly think you were wrong, JB ? DJ  |
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Post by baggo on Apr 18, 2010 10:29:45 GMT
If you want to see photos of his own locos, get yourself a copy of Brian Hollingsworth's book JB. As mentioned in the text, LBSC always made the locos to suit himself (bit like me  ). Probably the only loco he built to 'scale' was Grosvenor.  |
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Post by drjohn on Apr 18, 2010 12:23:45 GMT
No wonder you're having problems with yours JB, Britannia is spelt like that with one T and two N's
Tut-tut
DJ
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steam4ian
Elder Statesman
One good turn deserves another
Posts: 2,069
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Post by steam4ian on Apr 18, 2010 12:35:08 GMT
G'day DJ & JB.
Maybe we could turn this topic into a discussion of the relative merits of Walschearts vs Stephensons valve gears.
I must admit that the only operating Black 5 I have seen closeup in the flesh has Stephensons gear. I do like Walschearts visually but have heard that Stephensons may give better events, particularly if the expansion link is connectly supported.
Regards
Ian
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2010 14:27:45 GMT
No wonder you're having problems with yours JB, Britannia is spelt like that with one T and two N's Tut-tut DJ DJ, it would seem that you are the only one who thinks that I'm having problems with my Britt........! JB |
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Post by havoc on Apr 18, 2010 19:17:52 GMT
seriously, how many of the published plans have been build (in whatever form) before being published? If you just look at the errors in them I would say most were just drawn and forgotten by their authors. It has to be that way otherwise there just wouldn't be that many plans.
Not sure about that. If you look at it then Stephenson was mostly used in the UK while the rest of the world (more or less) went for Walschaerts. A case of "not invented here" syndrome? But then the UK has always had a few pecularities like sticking to inside cilinders/motion.
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Post by standardsteam on Apr 19, 2010 9:12:07 GMT
LBSC described far more locomotives than he ever built in his lifetime, but then again, he made a very large number (for most of us). Some he made long after describing them, like Tich, which he stated the he made the chassis for dimensions, but only finished the locomotive far later after completing the serial. It had a different type of boiler and valve gear, correcting some of the issues that the design had, such as being very "nose heavy", had a top feed system and dry steam dome.
By the time he'd made his n'th clack valve you can see the similarities in most of his designs, reading his Live Steam Book, or "Shop, Shed and Road" as it was also published as you can see the genesis of a lot of his designs. I wonder if he got more enjoyment out of drawing that construction, but he must have spent an very long time in his workshop! I've heard it said he avoided the 64th's to make his locomotives easier to construct, allowing him to produce slightly more accurate valve gears for himself than his readers. His legacy is, I think, encouraging the common man rather than the seasoned engineer into Model Engineering.
I was under the impression he built all the locomotives he described until late on (and reading Hollingsworth's book). He wasn't shy in coming forward in claiming just how his locomotives would perform, even when none had been constructed yet!
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Post by eightpot on Apr 19, 2010 22:31:24 GMT
LBSC's 'Polly O'Flynn' very much in existance as pictured and not very far away from me in Buckinghamshire.
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Post by maunsell on Apr 19, 2010 22:33:18 GMT
Towards the end of LBSC's life I was very fortunate to be able to visit his workshop at Purley with the late Roy Donaldson who produced many of LBSC's drawings. One of the locomotives I was shown was Polly "O" Flynn and I can assure you that she was a Purley workshops production.
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Post by Nigel Bennett on Apr 20, 2010 21:37:45 GMT
Looking back at the initial complaint that it was "nothing like a Brittttannnnia", I think one of the most obvious omissions is the lack of smoke deflectors - one of LBSC's pet hates (vide Pamela). Stick a pair of those on, ignore tha valve gear and the GER blue colour scheme and it isn't a million miles away!
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). Probably the only loco he built to 'scale' was Grosvenor.
