Harry P. Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 A few days ago I posted some photos of my model of Stephenson's "Rocket," the first successful "modern" steam locomotive... built in 1829. As obscure as that was, here's something even more obscure! This is Richard Trevithick's steam locomotive from 1803. This one is considered to be the first working railway steam locomotive. A little history: Trevithick was an engineer and inventor. He designed stationary high-pressure steam-powered engines in the late 1700s-early 1800s, and in 1802 one of his engines was installed in an iron works factory in Wales and used to drive machinery. In 1803 Trevithick mounted the stationary engine on wheels and in effect created the first steam locomotive. The "Pennydarren" (named for the town in Wales where the engine was from) was tested on tracks used by horse-drawn carts, It ran at the then-unheard-of average speed of almost 3 MPH!!! After the test, the engine was put back into operation as a stationary engine. The kit is from Minicraft, and is 1/38 scale. It's pretty small... only about 8 inches from the tip of the locomotive to the back of the coal car. I added real wood to the coal car and detail-painted the rest. A pretty neat model of a very obscure subject! As you can see, the locomotive rides on a flanged rail. This was before they figured out to put the flange on the wheels, not the tracks!
62rebel Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 i believe the treadle beam's gone askew at the mill! the Stephenson Rocket display accurately portrayed the strap iron laid on top of wooden stringer for rails, before they came up with real RAIL... in use, the iron strap would be stretched by the engine/cars running along it and snap loose, curling back like ribbon and slashing through the floors of early rail cars. travel by rail was a slightly more dangerous undertaking in the early days.... cool models. sometimes, something other than just more cars is just the ticket!
george 53 Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 WOW That's cool, Harry! 1/38th scale? yeesh that's small. Needed a pair of Opti Visors for that rascal??? It came out REAL NICE!
Foxer Posted April 11, 2011 Posted April 11, 2011 It's pretty small... only about 8 inches from the tip of the locomotive to the back of the coal car. HA! My 1/24 VW is only 6" tip to tip! You large scale guys are bias. Looks good, Harry.
gunner Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Very cool history there! Thanks for showing it. As I looked at it I had to wonder how the heck did they get coal into it as they traveled? I don't see an opening for the coal. I'm thinking you had to be a very brave person to be an Engineer back then.
Harry P. Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 Very cool history there! Thanks for showing it. As I looked at it I had to wonder how the heck did they get coal into it as they traveled? I don't see an opening for the coal. I'm thinking you had to be a very brave person to be an Engineer back then. In the second and third model photo you can see a small round door at the bottom of the rear of the boiler. But with that goofy piston assembly pointing out from the back, my question is... how did they reach that door??? And remember... if anything ever went wrong, the engineer could just step right off. It only went about 2 MPH! It was actually slower than walking speed!
bsoder Posted April 16, 2011 Posted April 16, 2011 Well I think I would say "unique"... I will say mini-craft has picked some unusual subjects!...beautiful job on this Harry
Agent G Posted April 22, 2011 Posted April 22, 2011 Neat build there mate. I'm thinkin' midget stoker........................ G
Chuck Most Posted April 23, 2011 Posted April 23, 2011 Freakin' FLYWHEEL dwarves the rest of the locomotive!
TheCat Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 Harry - Another great build!!! I love these odd builds. Great job on the details.
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