GungaDin

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Elmtree Line

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For those who are interested in the slightly obscure Live Steam scene here is a newcomer to the Elmtree Line "Sir Mortimer" is a Roundhouse/GRS special edition Gungadin Locomotive.

Built in 1992 she comprises of a Roundhouse Engineering loco joined with a plastic bodied custom tender produced only to match this loco for GRS.

She has been affectionately called "the beast" at the railway :cool:

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[style="color: #800000;"][font="arial black,avant garde"]Lovely![/font]

Rob
 
She is a beast indeed, how does she compare to the Fowler ? Or other 6 coupled Round house?
 
Mmm, nice! It is of course an extended Fowler, so should run much the same, maybe a bit heaver which would be helpful, I find my Fowler very 'slippery'.

I often lust after that blue one that Railwayman has.

Would look nice in tan, don't you think though, Keith? :bigsmile:
 
Nice one Keith....
 
I am currently looking at fitting a chuffer to her, but as the smokebox appears to have been riveted to the chassis from underneath it may not be a straightforward affair, possibly a job for the winter when she can be part dismantled... :bigsmile:
 
Never had one to know Keith, but I'm surprised it's not much the same as a Fowler, which it appears to be mostly based on. Lady Anne smokebox though?
 
These are pretty locos but a pity that the cab is so small, if they had used a chunkier 2'6" gauge prototype I would really want one!
 
Rhos Helyg Loco Works said:
Dating from 1992, I suspect its Fowler roots will show through here. Like other Roundhouse locos of this time, if it has a single screw under the boiler barrel just behind the smokebox then it will almost certainly be a "boiler off" or major surgery job to fit a chuffer.
Click to expand...

Hi Tony,

She's currently sat on the shelf above one of my Fowler's and the main frames are identical, there is of course an extra piece of chassis at the front for the leading pony wheel, this is secured using longer screws at the same place as the main frame has the cylinders bolted through, the rear pony has a white metal carrier around the wheel-set, whereas the Fowler has nothing but bare wheel-set. the front chassis spacer has the front pony section metalwork rest on it then the smokebox is riveted through each side of the exhaust ports. Strangely the normal RH exhausts which appear to end short (compared with more recent RH models) combine to one wide diameter pipe that ends 2cm from the chimney top. I'm not sure if this is a RH fitting or after-market (its simply a pipe sealed at the bottom where the two RH exhausts lead into this pipe) The locomotive rivets etc. look intact.
 
Hi Keith,

I'm not sure what the story is with the "wide pipe" you mention, although I know exactly what you are talking about. Some locos from around that time have them, and some don't. My own Fowler dates from 1991 and it has the pipe in place.

It is the smokebox casting and the plate it sits on that cause the problems with removal. One, other or both will just have a round hole that the superheater pipe passes through on its way to the cylinders, and it is the pipe that prevents the smokebox and plate from being removed. The design was changed on later locos so that a "mouse hole" shape was used, open at the back end, so the smokebox can be pulled off the front of the loco. These can be identified by having the smokebox mounting plate secured by screws at the rear either side rather than just one in the middle under the boiler.

Basically, during construction the smokebox and plate were fixed to the frames first and with the superheater pipe threaded through the hole. Then the boiler was threaded on to the superheater pipe and pushed in to the rear of the smokebox.

As I said earlier, the only way to get in the smokebox is to remove the boiler or somehow convert the round hole in to a "mouse hole" without damaging paintwork, pipework, and a host of other things. Somehow! I'd always go for "boiler off" myself, although it is more complicated but there is less risk of damage. I have fitted chuffers to several locos of this vintage for customers and, as part of the job, I have modified the smokebox so that it can be removed easily in the future so "boiler off" only has to be done once.
 
Hi Keith
Tony is right about fitting a Chuffer - if there is simple a hole rather than an open backed hole, it is a boiler off job. It is not difficult, but you do need to tweak the superheater pipe a little to allow the boiler to slide off.
A word of explanation about the pipes. In the early days, Roundhouse put a piece of flattened 1/4" pipe over the two exhausts to enhance the chuff. They called this the "enhancer". Then people started complaining about the oil spray on start up, so they crimped the top of the pipe and drilled a hole in the side. The stopped the spray and was called the "inhibitor". But these pipes had a habit of falling off, so they switched to the current format. How do I know? Roger Loxley told me.

When you can get to the exhausts, measure from the top of the two tubes to the top of the chimney in mm. Then add this number to the SCRH1 code - e.g. SCRH1-88 if it is 88mm. Nigel can then make a Chuffer to suit your loco.
Cheers
Chris
 
I must admit the first time i did steam her i had a shock when i opened the regulator for the first time and the condensate went about a foot into the air and subsequently landed all over the paintwork i had cleaned!!! the "enhancer" pipe channels the gunk straight up and into the air.
 
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