15 / 18 inch Fairlie

[FairlieCrazee]

Does anyone know if they was ever a 15 or 18 inch fairlie built ? If so has anyone got any pictures of it ?

[jameswaterfield]

As far as I know, sadly not. I think the 2 ft gauge "Little Wonder" on the Festiniog was the tiniest. Most were 2' 6" gauge or bigger

James

[RobM]

Would make an interesting project to model though- afterall there are two 10 3/4 inch gauge garratt locos on the Wells and Walsingham railway and they look great, so why not a 15/18 inch Fairlie !

[FairlieCrazee]

seriously considering building one..

[tebee]

The practical problem with a minimum gauge double fairlie is how do you fit it all into the loading gauge?

Remember in a fairlie you have the driver on one side, the fireman on the other and the boiler in the middle. It's hard enough to fit all this into the width of 2ft gauge locos - typically around 6ft, but to get it into the 5ft or so of an 18 inch gauge locos is a lot harder - unless you start breading a race of exceptionally thin loco crew !

Of course if you can find an imaginative way round this then I say let your imagination flow! Creativity is our greatest asset and I don't want to damp it down with mere practical details.

Tom

[chris stockdale]

Remember in a fairlie you have the driver on one side, the fireman on the other and the boiler in the middle. It's hard enough to fit all this into the width of 2ft gauge locos - typically around 6ft

Unless of course Nikki is thinking of a single Fairlie...

cheers,

[FairlieCrazee]

decisions decisions.... I dunno what to make now lol !

[Adam Roper]

Would the Péchot-Bourdon be smaller than Little Wonder?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_railways

Or there is always the Surrey Border and Camberley Garratt to consider
http://www.royalvictoriarailway.co.uk/trains.html

We did have a plan for a 7.25" gauge double Fairley but you would have needed to sit astride the boiler.....

[rue_d_etropal]

The Péchot-Bourdon is quite a wide loco. It might be possible to squeeze crew in either side.

[chris stockdale]

From the slightly weird and wonderful box - but take a look here for a 7 1/4" gauge single Fairlie:

http://www.stationroadsteam.com/stock%2 ... /index.htm

cheers,

[rue_d_etropal]

That has more of a minimum feel than miniature. Almost Emmett, like it. Would be a challenge to build chassis though.

[Adrian]

G'day Nikki

tebee wrote:
Remember in a fairlie you have the driver on one side, the fireman on the other and the boiler in the middle. It's hard enough to fit all this into the width of 2ft gauge locos - typically around 6ft

If you like to think outside the square you could always do like a 'shay' and move the boiler to one side of the chassis and put both the crew on the other-side. of the loco. This would give a narrower loco.
This would, of course, put the centre of gravity way out of centre and I bet there are a number of other-things that I have not thought of as well but it is your railway and you are entitled to do what you want

Sorry, more decisions.
Have a good day

[bonneville]

I'm sure that whatever type of loco you decide on, with your skills and attention to detail, it will be a cracker!
Just get the styrene out and start playing around with shapes.

Just like the A-team, a plan will come together.

[david colley jnr]

I've often mused about a 15" fairlie, and the cab sizes have always put me off such an idea, especially when I was invited aboard one a couple of month ago.
I do love the idea of two separate controllable power bogie as the driver on duty explained the front bogie was slipping coming up through the woods so he left the rear driving and managed to get the front under control...
If the boiler was to be put on one side, the water could be on the opposite and so would help to balance out the loco.
It would be an odd shaped affair and be a hard job to fire as there are two fireboxes to feed, but would also be great fun!

Just my ramblings... Have fun and enjoy your plastic bashing!

[chris stockdale]

Peter Beevers is in the throes of building a 7 1/4" single Fairlie, more here:

http://pbeevers.blogspot.co.uk

and a quick mention and pic here:

http://www.pbre.co.nr/

cheers,

[MichaelPG]

Another single Fairlie on 7 1/4" gauge was built for Rodney Weaver at the Echills Wood Railway - it wasn't a success and most of it has been scrapped. There's a successful one running at Beer Heights.: http://www.pecorama.info/beer-heights-l ... /claudine/

When a new loco was being proposed for Perrygrove I tentatively suggested a single Fairlie. Nobody else thought it was a good idea.

I think it might just be possible to have a 15" gauge Pechot Bourdon with the correct "one piece" Fairlie boiler. Assuming a maximum width of 54" and 28" for the fireboxes and cladding you would have 14" each side. But nobody will ever build one of these full size because it would be too wide for the Ratty and too high for everywhere else - the only place I can think of where it could run is Perrygrove and we wouldn't want it (two crew needed and a high risk of burns).

But don't be put off building a model - that's the fun of models, they can be anything you like.

[chris stockdale]

Another single Fairlie on 7 1/4" gauge was built for Rodney Weaver

Hi Michael,

I assume that was MINIM, written about in The Narrow Gauge no.136. To my eye a rather ugly slab-sided beast but Rodney wrote quite encouragingly about it at the time.

cheers,

[jefran]

There is always the Greenly Fairlie; I have seen a schematic for a 15in one (possibly for the R&ER) but I can't remember where! As I recall it was a 2-6-4 or 2-8-4, with the pivot on the power bogie quite far forward, and the driver sat over the non-powered one

[Adam Roper]

There is always the Greenly Fairlie; I have seen a schematic for a 15in one (possibly for the R&ER) but I can't remember where! As I recall it was a 2-6-4 or 2-8-4, with the pivot on the power bogie quite far forward, and the driver sat over the non-powered one

Try the Sand Hutton Book

[smr779]

A bit late, I guess, but a future project of mine (having completed the single mentioned above) is to build a minimal double fairlie for 7.25" gauge. It will look like a fairlie, have two separately controllable power bogies and two chimneys that make a noise. The one thing it won't have (to make it practical) is a full length boiler, making it technically a kitson-meyer.
Thus far, I have built the bogie frames and boiler cradle.

[CanveyRay]

Hi,
Peter Beevers, of Peter Beevers Engineering has built a single fairlie in 7.25", if that of any interest? It runs regularly at Swanley Park in Kent.

[MrPlantpot]

You could have a through cab in the centre, with two separate boilers/fireboxes. The driver could still be on one side, with the water tanks, and the fireman on the other with the coal bunker(s). On the prototypes (such as Merddin Emrys) as mentioned above, there are two firebox doors, albeit next to each other.....

so for the fireman to have to rotate 180° instead of about 90°to feed two back to back wouldn't be much of a greater hardship. The only downside would be that this may make the cab up to, or even more than a third of the loco's length.... unless you lengthen the loco to suit..... and then it borders on being 'minimal' at all.

Sorry to add more confusion.

It has been a long time since my last post on here, and I seem to have changed address 4 times in between. One of the things I have been toying with during this time though, is a Double Fairlie for my 1:32 on 16.5mm layout, using two 35mm WB, Tenshodo motor bogies..... but that will be about 200 to 250mm (8 to 10 inches) overall when finished (and heavy, as I have a length of 25mm dia. 2mm wall, steel pipe for the boiler).

[Steve Holland]

The Yorkshire Engine Company built some Fairlie type locos for a 2 foot 6 inch gauge railway in Bolivia, and these did have separate boilers instead of a common water and steam space on a "proper" Fairlie. It is the top image on https://railwaywondersoftheworld.com/fairlie-locomotive.html.
Having spent a fair amount of time firing the FR's Fairlies I think that the Yorkshire Engine Co. version with two boilers could have been the crew's nightmare. With a common steam and water space on a "proper' Fairlie each power bogie will be fed from a common source of "chuff" (technical term ). Therefore if the loco is not steaming well (very unusual) at least both power units can be fed with some steam to keep the train moving. The driver has all the controls to hand (two regulators, a common reverser and the brakes) and the fireman has both fires in easy reach.
By contrast the Yorkshire effort needs the fireman to manage two boilers, each feeding the power unit underneath it - no common steam and water space there - and the driver has to run around the cab to get at two regulators and two reversers. Balancing this lot up, especially when it is all going pear shaped, must have been a nightmare.
Merddin Emrys, David Lloyd George and the much missed Earl of Merioneth rule - and there is a new double engine being built at Boston Lodge