The Sweet Pea was completed in 1996 and remained with its builder until 2015. It has had one owner since who has kept it in the immaculate condition you see here.
Workmanship throughout is to an excellent standard, both machining, fitting and platework. Motionwork and valve gear are in polished steel, with fish-belly couplings rods replacing the marine type specified in the original design.
Backhead is finely detailed - the engine uses no commercial fittings other than pressure and vacuum gauges, whistle valve and injector. All others, including the steam globe valves and water valves, were made by the builder.
Boiler feed is by axle pump, hand pump and injector, with a 6 inch Southworth steam pump fitted on the smokebox. Something of a masterpiece in its own right, it's a beautifully made thing that runs reliably down to low pressure.
Extensive use has been made of stainless steel, including smokebox door handles, bypass handle, tender water valve handles, handrails and cab cleading.
Twin mechanical lubricators are fitted, one feeding each cylinder, equipped with one-way roller clutches.
Narrow gauge type centre couplings are fitted to locomotive and tender, complete with pin and catch chain. The locomotive is fitted with a coupling bar for the tender, secured by a pin with security tag - there are also a pair of check chains fitted.
Smokebox plumbing is neatly laid out, with a pair of flue tube superheaters and spark arrester.
The locomotive is fitted with a vacuum ejector, vacuum gauge and driver's brake valve, used when running with vacuum-fitted stock.
The pony truck, converting the original 0-4-0 design into an 0-4-2 was based on one described by Andrew Mitchell in "Model Engineer" magazine in 1989.
The tender is piped through for vacuum, there is a modified bicycle odometer mounted at the rear displaying speed and mileage. Axleboxes are fitted with beautifully made hinged lid oil pots.
Twenty-five years after completion, the engine shows signs of light use and fastidious maintenance - it remains in excellent mechanical order, paintwork is bright with minor running-related wear.
gauge | 5 inch |
wheel material | cast iron |
axlebox type | plain bearing |
cylinder material | cast iron |
valve type | slide |
valve gear | Hackworth |
reverser type | pole |
lubricator type | 2 x mechanical |
injector(s) | 1 |
boiler number | 2 |
year built | 1995 |
boiler maker | J Middleton |
CE mark | n/a - non-commercial |
working pressure/psi | 80 |
boiler type | marine |
boiler material | copper |
boiler construction | silver soldered |
hydraulic test valid to | 7-Feb-2025 |
steam test valid to | 1-Aug-21 |
superheater(s) | 2 |
superheater type | flue tube |
fusible plug | no |
safety valve(s) | 2 |
safety valve type | spring |
mechanical pump | 1 |
hand pump | 1 |
steam pump | 1 |
whistle | yes |