Large Scale Central

Aster Gauge 1 'Spamcan'

 
http://youtu.be/LbJ1j8oRP7E
 
 
'Spam can' was the unflattering nickname of Oliver Bulleid's ultimately unsuccessful pacific locos for the Southern Railways [later Southern region] here in UK.  That sobriquet is totally understandable, given the unflattering lines of this loco, and the oddness did not end there.  Bulleid, late CME of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland, had some very odd ideas about loco design, including a peat-fired express loco and a steam-powered thing called 'Leader' which looked almost the same as a typical two-truck diesel loco, but had immensely high-pressured miniature steam engines located within the trucks....    
 
There were three different classes of 'Spamcans' depending on the axle loads - all named appropriately.  The 'West Country' and 'Battle of Britain' were classed as light pacifics, and had lighter contruction and lower axle loads than their big sisters in the 'Merchant Navy' Class.  As a point of little interest, the market for the Gauge 1 Aster model in Germany proved yet again how little sense of humour our German friends have.  It seems that not a single model bearing the name 'Spitfire' was sold there.  ;)
 
All of them, however, shared the three-cylinder design, welded construction and chain-driven Walschaert valve gear enclosed in oil baths.  It might have been innovative, but it was not good practice, especially in a war-torn UK with post-war austerities in all areas.  The gasket sealants of the day were not up to it, and nor was the technology of the oil.  Fires were so frequent that they were hardly worth mentioning, and the loco firemen were used to carrying a large tin of paint to touch up the damage before the loco entered the terminus like a burnt-out wreck and frightened the waiting passengers.
 
Bulleid, to his chagrin, lived to see his designs converted into normal-looking locos of astounding presence, as can be seen on Stuart's Rebuilt Merchant Navy model.  They went on to have full and productive lives on mainline passenger haulage well into dieselisation, but out of the 110 built, only twenty survive.
 
Quote - Twenty still exist in varying states of preservation, ten in original condition and ten rebuilds with 11 being named after West country locations and the remaining 9 being named after RAF Squadrons or Figureheads including Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The class has proved to be useful for preservation societies due to its good route availability and ample power, with some having returned to the main line to haul special trains. It is not certain that all of the preserved locomotives will be restored to working order due to the very poor condition some of them were in when purchased and the increasing cost of materials.
 
Sadly, 'Spitfire' is not one of them.  It was destroyed in an horrific train wreck in early December 1957, when the engineer, blinded by dense fog drifting along his line-of-sight from that 'aerodynamic casing', missed two caution and the final red light and plowed into an unexpectedly stationary commuter train - also bringing down a major highway bridge onto the ensuing disaster.  The loss of life - ninety were killed and over a hundred injured - and damage to property was both horrific and substantial.
 
See Lewisham train crash on Google/Youtube - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewisham_rail_crash.
 
This new loco - Aster, by the way - is in the original Southern Railways malachite green, and still has their rather odd European-style classification and road number.
 
It's alchohol-fired, and was bumbling around as you see for about half an hour.  The temp was around 34F with a strong wind, which was not helping good steam production - in spite of all that streamlined casing, the boiler inside is not lagged.
 
Enjoy.
 
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS 

A friend of mine has one, and it does run well. Here is a video of a recent run. Are these coaches prototypical of what she might have pulled in real life?

Tom, I’m sorry to say that I can’t see the video - ‘Due to regional licensing agreements it is not possible to display this video in your region - sorry’.

If the coaches are green and look like those in my video they are good. As are ‘blood and custard’. NO chocolate and cream, although maroon is acceptable.

Please feel free to repost my post onto the other forum if you care to do so. I have no problems with the forum as a whole, just a couple of the posters on it who made my presence there considerably less than fun.

tac

Ottawa Valley GRS

Tac,

I don’t understand this “regional licensing agreement” BS. I took the video.

The coaches are similar to the ones you are pulling, are green, and say Southern on them.

Thanks for the response.

Tom, I was able to see your video and the answer is yes. Green coloured cars would be correct for the Southern Railway. Whether they are the exact type of cars I cannot say, but to me it looks right. However, the Southern was not my railway of choice, always living very close to Great Western tracks. I am not sure the ‘blood and custard’ would be quite accurate, nor the maroon, as the loco is lettered Southern Railway and bears the pre 1950 French style of numbering.

You must remember Tac still is in the Stone Age area of England - he posted a pic of his home recently. I live in the South West and have benefitted from the more advanced Roman civilization that we had a while ago which maybe explains why I could see this vid. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)

Guess I don’t have enough bandwidth here down by the stream.

If the coaches you are talking about are green and have ‘Southern’ on them, then they are perfect.

tac, living history, day by day.

Edit - I was wrong about the paint-scheme, but it DID have the smokebox token on it in December 1957.

Maybe Tac could fly back to Oregon and view video(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif) Later RJD

Your coaches look just right as they appear to be of the Bullied design and not the later, post 1951, BR Mk I design. The loco is in the Southern’s Malachite green livery and their loco numbering that would have been normal till the UK rail network was nationalised in 1947. Post that date the loco tender would have initially been given the “British Railways” legend rather than “Southern”. The whole loco/tender package eventually would be repainted to the more familiar orange/black lined Brunswick green with the British Railways “Cycling Lion” logo on the tender as well as renumbered. Some at one point were painted blue as an experimental livery for BR. I have seen pictures of the Bullied coach stock in “blood and custard” mixed in with BR MkI’s but then you would need the loco in the later livery. Yours, ever the putative rivet counter, Max.

Max,

The coaches are actually mine, on loan to my friend. They were built by David Leach, and are works of art, like everything David builds.

Tom - it WAS a bandwidth problem for me. Half of the village has fibre-optic BB, but the poorer part, where we live, has yet to take up on the offer en masse. Unless we get sixty users the company will not change from banging rocks together to high-speed FOBB. Hence the mention of the regional licensing conditions.

On the bonus side, the plutocrats really DO live along the banks of the brook/creek, and get flooded impressively and expensively. The poorer element, in much newer accomodations, live around the raised areas of the village, as evinced from the name of our adjacent street - HIGHFIELD Ave.

The clue lies in the name - at around 18 feet higher topographically-wise than the plutocrats, it would have to be some kind of a bursting dam happening before WE would get flooded.

The nearest dam is seven miles to the south away from us, and faces east.

tac, ig etc…

Tom Myers said:

Max,

The coaches are actually mine, on loan to my friend. They were built by David Leach, and are works of art, like everything David builds.

Very nice work Tom and a perfect compliment to the “Spam Can” as presented. Very prototypical, as they say.

I grew up across the road from London Victoria, one of the termini of the Southern Railway as was (London Brighton and South Coast prior to grouping in 1923). My first train set as a small child, a Triang TT scale, included a Bullied “Light Pacific” in BR livery with wood body baggage car, a rake of green BR Mk I coaches, and station and signal box in the Art Deco Southern railway style. The significance was lost on me as a 7 year old. Remember seeing them in the station on the reserved platform for the “Golden Arrow” London/Paris cross channel service. Max

Max,

If you grew up across from Victoria Station, you must be familiar with my favorite British pub, The Albert. Whenever I am in London I always make it a point to go there for the Shepherds Pie.

Tom Myers said:

Max,

If you grew up across from Victoria Station, you must be familiar with my favorite British pub, The Albert. Whenever I am in London I always make it a point to go there for the Shepherds Pie.

Left the area before legal drinking age in 1970. But very familiar with Overtons restaurant opposite the main entrance, up on the 1st floor of an island site building…very old school service. Also the cartoon cinema adjacent to platform 17,for the soon to be recreated Brighton Belle Pullman service. Developed a love of all things Warner Bros voiced by Mel Blanc. Sadly all redeveloped and gone now. Meep Meep, That’s all folks. Max.

Thanks, Elmer…