IoM Caledonia first run tonight!!!

N

New Haven Neil

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Big happenings on little island - I got to run the first of the new Caledonias tonight, and it's a doozie!

Despite the big wheels it ran very steadily and controllably indeed, and has a whole bunch of slow, steady power, very iompressed! Plenty speed there too should you wish, not my thing though, but this is a very good running new loco. OK on LGB R3, although it did derail in one direction on one of my points which has always been a little tweaky, I really must replace it.

This one is in the indian red livery from the 60's, nice eggshell finish, needs the plates and numbers putting on but we just HAD to steam it first!!!!:bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile:
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You will see all the staff and hangers on were there, we ran a special to Larivane Halt to get everyone together, there was plenty beer....

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The Cale steams again !! Looks really good in the Indian red too... Needs the 'big' snow plough to finish it off !! :):)
 
Ah that was nice, thanks for the use of your line Neil.

Well, here are my thoughts in no particualr order.

This was a random out of the box experience, no special preparation.

Firstly on the model the 1960's Indian red is spot on, and not too shiny either. The first couple of Neils pics don't show the true colour, but the one at Larivane Halt and the going away shot are good indications of how she looks in the flesh.

So standard preparation routine, after a couple of goes at getting the flame to pop back into the fire tube a finger over one of the air holes did the trick and the flame popped back, finger removed after flame had stabilised, no problems, all easy peasy.

And then we raised steam, opened the regulator, and gently chuffed off.

Absolute perfection at the front end, really good valve events to listen to and a very very sweet runner. It's obvious she has bags of power, and potential for speed, but is very very controllable. Can't wait till I get R/C fitted!

The valve gear on Caledonia is a new design for Accucraft UK, consisting of a brass block bolted up between the frames, with captive 'O' rings in machined grooves to make the ports through the frames steam tight. All very solid and oh so very nice to run. This valve arrangement will be used on the IOM Beyer Peacocks starting with No 6 Peveril next year, and then no doubt on No 16 Mannin in 2013.

There has been a lot of interest in these locos from the Gauge 1 fraternity, as the IMR is a sort of 'main line' narrow gauge railway and I am sure all the owners G1 locos are really frustrated narrow gauge fans who took a wrong turning somewhere in their lives! Anyway to cut a long story short there is a demand now for me to take a BP out on a test train of 7 bogies with a requirement to acheive a scale 50MPH, this is prototypical for a Manx train on a good day. So when we get chance a special proving run will be done with a dynamometer car and video camera to record for posterity. OK the test is meant to be with a BP, but as Cale' has the same valve gear (albeit smaller wheels) I can feel some sort of a test coming on sooner raher than later!

Happy steamings,

John
 
She is beautiful. If she was ever offered in a generic green or black I would be first in the line.
 
That's a very handsome loco - even though I'm not a great fan of satin finish on steamies (except black, for some reason). Is it the angle of the photos, or is the chimney wonky?
 
It looks so different "unadorned" and without a gloss finish.
If I was going the steam way it would be one of my first choices.
EDIT : - Just a thought, what happened to the red/white coupling/con rods that we mulled over when the electric version came out?:bigsmile:
 
KeithT said:
It looks so different "unadorned" and without a gloss finish.
If I was going the steam way it would be one of my first choices.
EDIT:- Just a thought, what happened to the red/white coupling/con rods that we debated when the electric version came out?:bigsmile:
Click to expand...

Ah, well, this is the Indian Red version, with name and numberplates supplied loose in the box so it can also be used as a 'Nice Red Engine' for non IMR purposes. After a lot of research we are happy the livery is correct for the early 1960's when she was very dirty. We came to the conclusion that the rods should be 'muck coloured' (or bare metal) on the bais that no one knows what color they were under all the muck, so you can paint em any colour you want, or just put muck on them!

You will have to wait to see pictures of the Blue and Manx Northern liveried locos to make comparisons with the first batch of the electrics.

This new Indian Red livery will also be available in the batch of electrics arriving in late May.

Happy steamings,

John
 
Very nice are they on the same ship as the W&L locos? :bigsmile:
I'm glad I have one already or that would be on the list, imagine a nice shed with two of those as the passenger locos in Indian red and a couple of W&L locos in black for the freight .. . .
aaaarrrrgggh?! must try to focus ;)
 
PaulRhB said:
Very nice are they on the same ship as the W&L locos? :bigsmile:
Click to expand...
Yes Electric Countess/Earl and Electric Caledonias sharing a container arriving late May.:) the W&L locos are just about all booked up now. :-

This batch of Caledonias has a the higher specification of motor/gearbox arrangement as fitted to most of the American locos.

Happy steamings,

John
 
Oh good I'll give you a buzz during the week John as card changes over then so I don't want any problems. First time I've ever had cards expire at the end of the month and the new one start at the start of the next month rather than overlapping!
Saw on the website they were nearly booked up and suceeded in resisitng a green one too as certain parts I'm attached to might have been chopped!
Will be interesting to see them side by side.
 
Sea Lion said:
KeithT said:
It looks so different "unadorned" and without a gloss finish.
If I was going the steam way it would be one of my first choices.
EDIT:- Just a thought, what happened to the red/white coupling/con rods that we debated when the electric version came out?:bigsmile:
Click to expand...

......................... We came to the conclusion that the rods should be 'muck coloured' (or bare metal) on the bais that no one knows what color they were under all the muck, so you can paint em any colour you want, or just put muck on them!


John
Click to expand...
That is pretty well what has happened with my electric version. I have allowed oil to dull down the white although I have got used to it.
 
KeithT said:
That is pretty well what has happened with my electric version. I have allowed oil to dull down the white although I have got used to it.
Click to expand...
And this brings us on to the subject of weathering techniques for the Indian Red paintwork. During the early 60's all the locos had a deep 'patina' of oil and soot/smokebox char that had become ingrained in the paintwork. Even the passenger fleet showed a lot of this after an attempt to clean, but Cale' was very dirty indeed.

So any suggestions for creating such a 'patina' on the paintwork? I am half tempted to make a paste of smokebox char, steam oil, and water and grind it into the paintwork with a rag. Bit drastic I know!

Here is a picture of No 8 at Ramsey to give you the idea, but Caledonia was a lot more dirty than this.

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Happy steamings,

John
 
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