Sold June 2007 Back to Archive

An excellent 7 1/4 inch gauge Bagnall, complete with steam-raising blower, oil cans, driving truck and a fitted-out Ifor Williams trailer bought new for the engine.

Built in 1997 to the MJ Engineering design, the engine has a Franklin & Bell steel boiler with expanded-in tubes, twin Ramsbottom-type safety valves, 90psi working pressure. Twin three-cock water gauges. Boiler feed by axle pump with bypass and twin injectors - the left hand fed from either saddle tank or tender, the right hand from the tender. Two cylinders, slide valves actuated by Hackworth valve gear with pole reverser on footplate. Mechanical lubricator mounted on running board. Draincocks actuated by rod from footplate.

Fit and finish is excellent throughout, attention to detail goes right through the entire outfit, including:

• Stainless steel ball valve regulator
• Valve chest displacement lubricators
• Variable speed steam-raising blower, built specially for the engine
• Locomotive to tender coupling bar with R-clipped pins and safety chain for security
• Drain cocks fitted to tender and saddle tank
• Trailer decked out with rail and eye-bolts for turnbuckles
• Neatly fitted hinging coal door on right hand bunker

The builder is an experienced engineer with several other good engines to his name, including the vertical boiler 0-4-0 I sold recently and a 5 inch gauge Polly currently sitting in the workshop here. His main interest is now 16mm scale, as a result of which neither of the large engines have seen a deal of use in recent years.

I've had the engine in steam most of today (purely to see how it went you understand and nothing to do with David and I burning half a sack of coal and drinking about a gallon of tea whilst chuffing about in the sunshine). It goes well, even notched up, and steams freely. The injectors are reliable, only one is needed in normal use - they pick up cleanly from 60psi and inject down to less than 40. As with most narrow gauge engines, the combination of size, power and accessibility of the controls make for an undemanding, easy to drive engine.

Length
Locomotive 48 inches
Tender 30 inches

Weight approx 5 cwt including tender