LS Newbie - Lady Anne or Caledonia

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LittleRedTrain

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Dear all,

Now I've got a partial railway, and have just got some extra cash (through selling a redundant minibus), I'm contemplating purchasing my first Live Steam loco.

I quite fancy something 6-coupled, to give that extra bit of tractive effort on gradients, and I was looking at the Roundhouse Lady Anne, as it's a well proven design.
However, I'm also quite taken by the idea of an Accucraft Caledonia, for something a bit different, and it's about the same price for an RC version from Track-Shack.

Does anyone have any recommendations/pointers which might help my decision?
My main concern is around minimum radius. My main line will have a minimum of LGB R2 and R3, but there are some R1s in loops and sidings.
I've attempted to avoid reserve curves and put in transition curves from R2 to R1 where possible, but I'm aware it could still be an issue.
I'm guessing being a Roundhouse loco, Lady Anne will have no problems with this, but I see that Caledonia is advised a minimum radius of 2'6" (which equates to LGB R2).
Obviously, nobody has the live steam Caledonia yet, but I'd be interested to see what experience people had of the electric one (as it'll presumably have the same size and wheelbase).

This does of course assume that the Live Steam Caledonia hasn't sold out, which is why I might have to make a decisions sooner rather than later.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Danie
 
Hi Danie.To start with,neither the Lady Anne nor the Caladonia are true 060s as the centre drivers are not touching the track which makes them in effect 040s,you're better off getting an Accucraft Lawley if you're after a nearly proper 060.It's got centre drivers that are flanged and are touching the track.It will go around R1s as well.Hope this helps.
 
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Is it the case that the centre drivers don't touch the track at all?
I was under the impression they were just unflanged (but would still touch the top of the rail).

I did think about a Lawley, but a friend of mine who's into LS claimed they weren't great locos for some reason, though I'm willing to reconsider.
 
The centre drivers are basically dummies.They have to be slightly off the track otherwise they would derail the loco on bends or on any imperfection in the track,unless they were wider as on the 9fs for example.There is nothing wrong with Accucraft apart from the bias that some people have about them being built in China and costing half the price or less than a Round House.I think they are better made and more powerful as well.I have nine and I don't buy rubbish.
 
I bought a Lady Anne as my first live steamer. I banked on a loco that has been developed for over 30 years as being a good bet & I have been very happy with her. I doubt a 6 coupled loco would give you much more usable tractive effort in our scale.
There's no reason to doubt that the Caledonia will be anything other than a fine engine though.
 
Thanks both, sounds like the 0-4-0s from Accucraft and Roundhouse might also be an option then.
Maybe the Lawley my friend had played with was badly maintained or something.
I do quite fancy the Caledonia as 'something different' within my price range, I am just concerned that I might end up getting something which won't run round the railway.
 
Both the Accucraft and Roundhouse 0-4-0s use the same cylinders as the 0-6-0s and don't weigh much less so there isn't much difference in tractive effort. I've not much experience of Roundhouse locos but the Accy "generic" 0-4-0s pull, like, well- a train.
 
Danie I have a Accucraft Wrekin its a six wheeler and I can assure you that China or not its first class easy to steam reliable and very good with traction, I have had roundhouse locos and this can stand against them all day long, however I have a VOR roundhouse and like it for its sheer Britishness if that makes sense, my Wrekin will run perfectly over and round r2 and r1 although I dont have r1s joined to each other they are linked with r2 and such, for value for money accucraft cant be beaten only my experience mind. Mitchell
 
I am not implying that one make is better than another,Round House make fine locomotives,it's that I think Accucraft are better value for the price,especially the new Leader,a brilliant steamer that one.
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Caledonia is only happy on flat track and R3 curves, if your line is like that she will run beautifully but you have to crawl on R1 or she will climb off the track due to the very long wheelbase and no compensation. My indoor layout was built specifically with this in mind and I have no problems. Lady Anne is more forgiving if your track undulates.
I agree with the comments on value for money and in my experience, Accucraft Excelsior v Roundhouse Katie, the Accucraft needs some running in while the Roundhouse are run in at the factory for a period already. Main difference we noted was that the Roundhouse had a bigger capacity but Cale has a pretty big boiler so that may not make much difference in this case.
 
Thanks Paul. that's what I needed to make up my mind on Caledonia. Sounds like she wouldn't really be suited to my line, which is a shame, but better to know now than in £1.2K's time!

At least that gives me a little more thinking time as well. I might try and have a look at a few locos 'in-the-flesh' at Reading, and see what takes my fancy.

Steve, are you thinking of the Regner Betty? She does look nice, and would look good alongside my LGB Feldbahn loco.
 
I'd go for the lady ann or even the Silver lady. Have had a lady Ann for years and love it. Great steamer, easy to use and looks nice. Re the centre wheels- it really doesnt notice and helps them run over un-even track. Im sure if you were that bothered Roundhouse would supply it with all flanged wheels.
Also you could buy it manual and see how you go- sitting RC at a later date is a simple job with parts available from Roundhouse.ps. GRS have a few S/H at the moment.

good luck in your choice and we want pics when you get your new loco! :D

Also Roundhouse make some of the Silverlady parts available so you can 'upgrade' your lady ann too.
 
TBH I'd avoid any of the 6 coupled locos, if you have R1's. They do go around, but it;s tight, and they tend to slow down a lot. All the 0-4-0's pull like trojans anyway, and as has been said, the cylinders are the same on each model of the respective manufacturer's ranges anyway.

I'm not getting into a Roundhouse v Accucraft debate, I have both, and both have good and less good points, but come out about even IMHO. For a first dip in the water, Ragleth or Katie, are about spot on I'd say. There is always cost to be thought of.....you didn't really post a limit.
 
Hmmmmm! :thinking::thinking:

In view of Ferrysteam's comments on six wheelers, earlier in this thread, I eventually got round to checking out Countess' wheels and was a little surprised to find that they also have around 0.010" clearance between the tread and the rail-head on the centre (blind) axle. There will be several reasons for that but the most obvious that it is to stop the wheel catching on the rail-head on exiting bends is, I suspect, is a little unfounded, as there is no suspension to allow the wheel to drop below the rail-head anyway. Most likely the main reason is so that there is minimal loss of traction in bends. 6 wheels driving on the straight, only four on the bend when you need the traction most, because of the extra drag. A loco that pulls well on the straights but stalls on a bend too easily would be a poor do.

Whilst checking, I also placed her on some R1 curves and though the angle of attack of the flanges on the rail-head was fairly sever I do think that it would negotiate it under careful power with a fairly light load.

If I ever do get time to have another steam up I may remember to try it properly.
 
Hi Danie

Owning examples of both big makers of loco, in my opinion, the roundhouse (katie) is the better engineered loco, although Accucraft win hands down for value for money. Both brands are great runners.

May I suggest that if this is your first foray into live steam then you may find it useful to start with an MSS (mamod) kit. At around £160 it provides great experience in the hobby at a reasonable cost, with great scope for modification.

As an aside, heres the Katie I ordered 7 months ago, what a stunner! (bear in mind if you order direct from roundhouse you may have a bit of a wait on your hands for exactly what you want)

Pete
 
Thanks for all the comments, it's all very helpful. I will now definitely consider a much wider range of locos than just the original two.

My budget will probably stretch to the price of an RC Lady Anne/Katie/Billy but I don't think it'd go as far as a Silver Lady.
Would be nice to have a bit left over for a decent lining job as well.

Any loco I get will have to be RC and with a proper reverser (not slip eccentric) as I'd like to be able to shunt as well as leave the train running round and round.

Given that, unlike Caledonia, none of the other Roundhouse or Accucraft locos are likely to go out of production any time soon, I have a bit more time to decide and take a look at a few locos at shows etc.

The only other constraint I do have is that my eyesight isn't great, so if anyone has any reccomendation about which locos have the clearest pressure/water gauges, that'd be appreciated.

Thanks
Daniel
 
Ultimately, buy what you can afford, what will go round your line and what you want. You won't go wrong with Accucraft or Roundhouse. I'd go with my heart, if you really want Caladonia, could you remodel your railway to suit it?

(must be fustrating for Tony and others but great for Geoff, that Lightline has become a name in our hobby to match Hoover and Ipod/pad, whenever people think lining the only name people think of is lightline)
 
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