Stirling Single

Hi

I have a Sterling Single to restore, it's 2.5" gauge. Does anyone know where I can get a set of drawings. The history of the loco is unknown but it was wrapped in newspaper dated 1950.

Thanks

There are two 2.5" 8ft 'Sterling' designs that I am aware of Tony.

One is a design by Peter Gardner of the N2.5"GA and the other is by Chris Baron (Locomotive Design Co). The Association also has castings available for the Gardner version. I have both designs and the castings set as a "future" project. However, it may be that your engine pre-dates these designs and may be an earlier commercial product.... sorry I don't have time at the moment to look through my 'archive' to see what it might be.

The 'Engineer' published a GA of the 8ft Sterling and you should be able to find this online - it was also rather nicely re-printed in The Engineer's 120 year anniversary book if you can find a copy. Sorry have to serve dinner - Management is getting hungry & anxious.

Regards,

IanT

Is it coal or spirit fired?

Neil

Quite possibly a commercial design from the '30s. The tender is close to the one on my North British Atlantic of unknown mfr but the tender frames as also used also on LBSC's Ayesha were sold by Bassett Lowke I think to amateurs and probably other small scale producers.

Would like to s some more close-ups.

This list might be of interest

It is coal fired. Thanks for the leads so far. Given that it is in quite a state and that it was wrapped in newspapers dated 1950 I am inclined to think it dates from the 1930s. I have attached a few more pics that I have.

Hi Tony.

Check out the National 2 1/2 gauge website at n25ga.org . I look after the castings stock and someone else our drawings archive. We certainly do have quite a bit of stuff and a number of castings for the Stirling single. A request in our journal Steam Chest to our members may well bring you a bit more more helpful information.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards

Brian K.

[email protected]

Thank you, I shall join n25ga in January.

Edited By Tony Simons on 14/12/2016 15:13:24

H P Jackson did drawings in 1945 or earlier, for a 3 1/2" Stirling Single, and may have done them for 2 1/2" as well. If so, Blackgates may have the drawings.

Hello Tony,

Henry Greenly did a design for the GNR 8' Single in 2.5" gauge which would probably date back to the thirties. We do have a copy of the drawing for it (L78) but it is only a single sheet general arrangemant drawing, as were a lot of HG's drawings.

If the number is original, I doubt that it would be a commercial design but it is possible that the number was added later.

The loco is well worth restoring and fortunately it seems pretty well complete apart from the safety valve cover.. Judging by the condition of the grate it has done a fair bit of running in the past.

Note that it will probably be to the older 1/2" to the foot scale rather than the more modern 17/32" to the foot.

John

Edited By John Baguley on 20/12/2016 15:56:16

Hi John

As soon as the Christmas post is finished with I'm going to order the drawings and join the group.

The good news is that I do have the safety valve cover, it was in the tender with the axle boxes and feed pump.

I measured the driving wheel to see if it would give me a clue to the scale but as you can see the measurement is between the two scales working on that the original had a 97" driver.

Hello Tony,

the Greenly drawing gives the tread diameter of the driving wheels as 4.0625". The bogie wheels are 1.96875" diameter and the trailing wheels are 2.21875. The tender wheels are the same as the bogie wheels.

John

If the engine is pre-war Tony, then it is most probably 1/2" scale (1:24).

Your wheel scales at 1:23.1 - assuming an 8ft 1" original prototype (97" ) wheel (the correct scale for a standard gauge 2.5" engine would be 1:22.6) . You may be better looking at the overall body dimensions to get more clues as to the intended scale of the loco. Remember that (back then) people were not quite so concerned when it came to things like 'scale' models. It was much more about a model that worked well and looked right (and this one will look pretty good when cleaned up I suspect). Even today, compromises often have to made between a 'scale' model and a 'usable' one.

And should you decide not to torture test your new engine (by having it drag you around an MES track) then there are Gauge '3' Society members that have some very fine looking GNR/LNER teaks that would look particularly nice behind your engine at one of the G3 Garden Get-togethers (GTGs).

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 20/12/2016 18:24:32

Nice

Think it will be some time before it is running, too many other projects to finish first!

John, measured the remaining wheels today and the tender and bogie wheels are 2.00" and the trailing wheels 2.20"

So they are in the right ball park. Will do some detailed measurements before I start restoration.

You might want to consider not doing a full restoration on it. That kind of patina has something to it that can't be duplicated - the result of many years of faithful hard work the engine performed for its previous owner/s. Perhaps a simple mechanical refurbishment as needed and drive it as is, as an original "survivor"?

Thanks, I am hoping to avoid a cosmetic overhaul and planning on a mechanical overhaul. It hasn't been out of its box since 1950 and has suffered some damage and has been partially stripped at that point. I guess the deciding factor will be whether the boiler needs work. It is a soft soldered boiler and there is evidence of overheat with solder melted around the foundation ring. I need to do a full assessment before proceeding with repairs. I could display it 'as is' but would much prefer it to operate as intended. I have done a number of restorations and try to keep them in 'working clothes' where possible.

"Working clothes" I love it. Good luck with the project.