"Invicta"- Photos wanted

I have recently become fascinated by the Canterbury & Whitstable locomotive Invicta, and I'm currently trying to create a 3D CAD model of it with a view to building it in 5"G as accurately as possible. That two-wheeled tender appeals to me!

LBSC, of course, designed Canterbury Lamb in 3.1/2"G, but it's only a vague resemblance and nothing like the real one.

I am considering fitting mine with a marine type boiler, which will look something like its current form. I don't expect I'll win IMLEC with it, but it might just about pull me, and maybe almost equate to the performance of an LBSC version in 3.1/2"G.

So is there anybody in the Whitstable area able to nip into Whitstable museum to take some photos for me? As I live up in Leeds, nipping down there on my bicycle won't be just an afternoon's jaunt...

I'm particularly interested in the arrangement of the cylinders and steam chests, especially at the rear where the exhaust connects to it. None of Mrs Google's holiday snaps shows it very clearly. I have also no idea how the feed pump is driven.

If anybody is willing to help me, I'm happy to reimburse any expenses; PM me and we can discuss. Thank you!

Glad to see it has got into a museum now. I remember it standing out in the rain in a park in Canterbury near the end of the Old Dover Rd in the early 70's. Took it for granted that it would always be there so never took any photos.

Not terrably helpful but I did a 71/4 version based on the 3.5 drawings...ish. Biggest issue is raising enough steam due the confines of the boiler, limited as it is by being between the side frames.

One like this?

In Steam

Regards

Brian

Yes, I realise that building a model of an unsuccessful prototype is not the best way of guaranteeing success in miniature. However I hope that I can size the cylinders to the boiler size and get something that will pull me. At least I will have more boiler pressure to work with than the original at 40psi. Will I succeed? That’s the fun of model engineering!

Brian, yours looks like a workmanlike job, but really, Canterbury Lamb by LBSC is essentially a Tich with slip eccentric valve gear, and the whole mangled about to look like Invicta from a distance. For obvious reasons; to make it work!

Edited By Nigel Bennett on 20/10/2020 08:26:52

If you haven't come across them, videos on youtube by Anthony Dawson are fascinating insights on early locomotives, and includes one specifically on Invicta. Not, perhaps, the detail that you are looking for, but interesting nevertheless.

Russell

Thanks, Russell; that was extremely helpful. I wasn't expecting to find anything on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9nI7oYQ2x8 is the one about Invicta.