The Company Steam Locomotives~'Jenny'.

The newly turned out 'Jenny' locomotive with the new (more scale sized) slimmer Steve the engineman pose in the sunshine! (minus the steam gauge and other fittings un-fitted as yet!)

Though there is a condensed company history on the previous page you need to know more about our company steam locomotives. 'Jenny' has a certain 'home-made' look about her but was originally made in the middle 1890's by a large iron founders in the Black Country. (English Midlands) The locomotive was the sole company locomotive for around 25 years until joined by the geared locomotive on the next page. The locomotive was named after the company chairman's wife and is painted in one of the company colours, in this case...'Tank Green'... a ex. War Department job lot from World War II sold cheap. In reality the engine is a Roundhouse 'Millie' very much altered by the company workshops to make it into a 7/8" (or so) scale locomotive. The most important new fitting is the Mann gas valve (that bright brass 'bit' by the dog's right ear in the above picture!) that is fitted with a 'chapter ring' so I can 'dial up' the gas flow rate to regulate the steam pressure, and far as possible not get that wastefull blowing off at the safety valve as seen on far too many model locomotives! The chapter ring also gets me great dead slow running which looks far more realistic than the usual frantic running speed seen on so many live steam videos! I need the 'chapter ring' as I have a bad hearing loss and cannot hear the gas coming out of the gas tank. The Mann valve/chapter ring was made for me by Mike Ousby of Acme Engineering to whom I offer my great thanks! The next improvement is a Summerlands 'Chuffer' which the extended chimney help's to make loud 'chuffs'....or so my family tell me! Mike Ousby also made me a new improved lubricator drain plug (no burnt fingers) with a small 'tommy-bar' so the old oil emulsion can be blasted out with the last few pounds of steam pressure all over the track bed...(what fun!) The after sales service of Roundhouse Engineering is wonderfull. I can say this as I am a ex. Merlin Monarch owner who remembers the awfull after sales service offered by Tom Cooper once he had one's money in his bank account!! Amongst many other improvements are...wooden cab floor/multi-height wooden buffer beams/Rosco lubricators plus scale oil pots/dummy Talisman whistle/higher chimney stack/sand box on boiler top/proper coal bunker/Regner steam whistle/steam pipe for photographic 'steamy' pictures!/new weather-shield and a lot more things! It's down to that old 'imagination' thing as mentioned on the previous page! I had to 'bash' my 'Millie' as I could not justify spending £1000+ on a Harvey Watkins type 7/8" scale engine like so many modellers seem to do plus the fact that I did not want my locomotive look like so many other engine's as there is a 'sameness' about a lot of them. The locomotive (in its old form) featured on the front cover and a inside article in the 16mm Association magazine issue No. 119~February 2007 concerning my outfit. The pictured (above) dog...who goes by the name of 'Neil'..is there to 'try' to clear the numberous pigs off the track as the train proceeds if the steam whisle does not do its job! The pigs are usefull as they are a cheap way of keeping the trackbed clear of vegetation...(5/3/2010)

Down goes the new wooden cab floor and the bunker is removed as many pipes are to be lagged! You can also see the gaping hole of the spare boiler take-off on the top of the boiler (7/3/2010)