6 inch scale Fowler B6 DCC crane engine

For those in possession of a well-equipped workshop, a liking for large engines and vaulting ambition - projects don't come much larger than this one!

A well-advanced 6 inch scale Fowler B6 DCC road locomotive, being built in crane engine form - currently running out at around ten feet long, over six feet high and weighing in at around a ton and a half, the builder estimates it will be around 2 1/2 tons when finished.

The ongoing build has featured in several articles in "Engineering in Miniature" magazine. Professionally built to a high standard throughout, work, parts and material to date includes:

• Commercially built CE marked steel boiler with expanded tubes
• Wheels and axles
• Front end assembly complete with perch bracket, smokebox with door and fittings, crane brackets and chimney
• Machined cylinder block with guidebars and weighshaft bracket
• Machined crankshaft
• Pair machined expansion links
• Machined flywheel with hub cap
• Set of HP & LP Clupet rings
• 3/8" Penberthy injector and pair of steam valves
• Part-fabricated tender and belly tank
• Hornplates
• Rear springing gear

Complete with drawings and the set of patterns used to cast the rear hubs.

To say this one was a reluctant sale is, perhaps, the understatement of all time. It's only the arrival of a much-wanted full-sized Fowler, itself requiring complete restoration, that has persuaded the builder to part with what has been a labour of love this past ten years.

This would give a flying start for anybody contemplating the build of such a machine, with much good quality work done and a good deal of expenditure already behind it - the most significant things left to purchase are the gears and rubber tyres.