February 3rd 2018 will be remembered as a red-letter day in the history of the MVR. Almost seventeen years after I took delivery of Russell – and ten years since our last new locomotive of any description – I finally acquired a second live steam loco.
The engine was in fact, already familiar to me. Auric is one of the eponymous class of 0-4-0Ts built in the 1990s by Pearse locomotives. It was acquired last year by our friends the Vale of White Horse Railway in Oxfordshire, and ran alongside Russell at their opening gala back in July. However, shortly afterwards the VWHR decided to acquire a more powerful locomotive and Auric was offered for sale. She caught my eye because she reminded me of an engine which helped inspire me to take up garden railways back in the late 1990s. This was Sir George Harvey, a Merlin “Meteor” 0-6-0T owned by Tag Gorton, which featured prominently in many books, videos and magazine articles detailing his famous Longlands & Western Railway. (I wonder where it is now?) Pearse briefly worked for Merlin before starting his own firm, and the “Auric” is essentially a four-coupled version of the “Meteor”.
The engine was in fact, already familiar to me. Auric is one of the eponymous class of 0-4-0Ts built in the 1990s by Pearse locomotives. It was acquired last year by our friends the Vale of White Horse Railway in Oxfordshire, and ran alongside Russell at their opening gala back in July. However, shortly afterwards the VWHR decided to acquire a more powerful locomotive and Auric was offered for sale. She caught my eye because she reminded me of an engine which helped inspire me to take up garden railways back in the late 1990s. This was Sir George Harvey, a Merlin “Meteor” 0-6-0T owned by Tag Gorton, which featured prominently in many books, videos and magazine articles detailing his famous Longlands & Western Railway. (I wonder where it is now?) Pearse briefly worked for Merlin before starting his own firm, and the “Auric” is essentially a four-coupled version of the “Meteor”.
The engine is quite different from Russell in several respects. It has only single-channel radio-control against Russell's dual-channel, but it also has a number of sophisticated features which are absent on the Doncaster loco, such as a blow-down valve and a steam whistle. Based their own experience with the loco, the VWHR suggested fitting a replacement poker burner from Barley Pit Works. They kindly arranged to have this fitted before delivery, and it has considerably improved the engine's power and running times.
Auric was handed over at a steam-up held on February 3rd. Sadly we were not blessed with good weather! Nevertheless, our new engine performed well, and I am looking forward to getting to know her better in the months ahead. Also in steam was the VWHR's recently-acquired Accucraft Sierra Leone Hunslet No. 85, which made an interesting comparison with our own Hunslet 2-6-2T, Russell.
Auric was handed over at a steam-up held on February 3rd. Sadly we were not blessed with good weather! Nevertheless, our new engine performed well, and I am looking forward to getting to know her better in the months ahead. Also in steam was the VWHR's recently-acquired Accucraft Sierra Leone Hunslet No. 85, which made an interesting comparison with our own Hunslet 2-6-2T, Russell.
Sadly our W&L flat wagon was not ready in time for the event. It is within touching distance of completion, but I ran out of grey paint after the first coat and I am now having difficulty obtaining further supplies! Our other current construction project, Russell's new carrying box from Grainge & Hodder, is also now complete bar painting. Unfortunately I have encountered some difficulties in this. The instructions were extremely basic, and it was only in the final stages of assembly that I realised that some of the decorative trims which I had already attached were in fact oversized, meaning that the two halves of the box did not fit together! Fortunately my grandfather, an experienced woodworker, managed to salvage the situation and I now have a usable box, but I must say that I would not recommend these kits to the beginner!
Apart from the February 3rd event, no trains have run over the winter months. However, back in November Russell made its first runs on the indoor layout at the GMES. I look forward to showing off Auric here in due course!
Apart from the February 3rd event, no trains have run over the winter months. However, back in November Russell made its first runs on the indoor layout at the GMES. I look forward to showing off Auric here in due course!