0-4-0T sentinel locos

Presumably given these things are chain drive, it is not beyone the wit of man to re-gear them so as to haul a half decent train at a suitable speed?

All it would need is a new primary drive sprocket.

The ones at ironbridge are Sentinel rebuilds of earlier more conventional engines. One was partially cut up and is thus missing a fair bit, the boiler is scrap. The other is more complete.

 

Hauling a half decent train at a suitable speed is an easy statement but where do you get the extra power from? You still have the same 100hp two cylinder engine (or two in the case of the bigger ones) so doubling the speed halves the tractive effort.

 

I believe Gervase has been re-geared in exactly that way, according to the K&ESR magazine, to gain speed at the expense of power. Be interesting to see what her rice-pudding quotient will be when finally complete.

 

Any date given for the running of Joyce and what livery will it be, S&D, BR or as run at Croyden Gas Works.?

 

From the horses mouth, a reply from the owners of 'Joyce':-

"The standard comment on timescale is 'about a year' (but avoiding religiously the date when the year begins!)

Livery-wise: black because the Radstock ones were black. Number possibly 47189 or 47190, but not 47192.

As Joyce was bright green in her operating days (at Croydon Gas Works), there may be a green phase. It all depends as to whether we are pandering to Sentinel or S&D people.

Before these decisions are made, we will attempt to make it work!"

 

Re the Ironbridge ones, 6155 is a conversion of Coalbrookdale Loco No. 5, and 6185 is a conversion of another Coalbrookdale loco, originally built as Manning Wardle No. 1472. No. 5 may also be of Manning Wardle origins also. Sentinel converted a number of 'orthodox' locos to Sentinel power in the 1920s besides their 'new-builds'.

 

The Manning Wardle conversion was not a Coalbrookdale engine, it was bought, after conversion to Sentinel drive, from Thomas Wragg's at Swadlincote, via the Victoria Colliery Co who were dealers. I was told some years ago that it was bought really cheaply, as it had been derailed and was tilted over well, and it was bought "as and where lying"!