I think that the first thing any beginner should do is to join a local club (assuming that there is one), then you can see various engines running, ask questions and, probably be offered the chance to drive one as well as hearing of any engines for sale. Y ou also get the benefit of advice from the boiler inspector.

Hi Graham,

Pleased to hear you are a club member, as Brian's advice is excellent.

The more people you ask, the more differing views you will receive, which can be counter productive.

I dont know how Maxitrack can make the Alice loco for less than £4,000 with a copper boiler (even if TIG welded).

Their Jack design as a kit is advertised at just over £11,000.

Alice does not have an injector or superheaters. It is rated at 4 adults, whereas Don Young's 5"g Hunslet design can easily pull 12. Just because a loco has a nice paint job and a bit of polished brass does not mean it will be a reliable and efficient performer on the track.

I am not a fan of Sweet Peas having seen one bounce off the Bristol track during IMLEC in the mid 1980s. There is a view which I share that the marine type boiler is inferior to the loco type boiler, but there are equally others who disagree, and many many Sweet Pea owners and builders are more than happy with their own examples.

Probably the best loco to buy is one you know of, and have driven, and know it's history and the owner/builder. Anything without any boiler certificate paperwork treat as a loco without a boiler for valuation purposes.

Apply the same standards you would when buying an old secondhand car, and as per cars if you dont know what to look for take someone along with you who does.

I am currently helping a friend who bought a secondhand 5"g loco from a well known dealer. Many good examples to this design have been built, but this example has a number of significant issues and simply will not steam. The representations of the dealer regarding the loco's performance cannot possibly be true.

Cheers,

Julian

I went though this loop a year ago and ended up going for a 5" Sweet Pea. I don't find it particularly attractive and almost went for a Holmeside which would have been too big for my workshop. I am a member of a club but the problem is that you ask four people a question and you get five different answers. The advantages of Sweet Pea are that a lot of have been built; there is an active and helpful Facebook group with 250 members; castings and parts are available and there is Jack Buckler's book for words and music. The book is a bit hit and miss at times and there is a file on the Sweet Pea Facebook site that shows errors and recommendations.

I have been working on mine for a year without any previous experience and I now have a rolling chassis.

A YouTube clip got me slightly more excited about Sweet Pea and it is a prototype Bagnall running in a quarry in the Lake District that is open to the public. See it HERE.

Good luck, Nick

PS: Because it is narrow gauge a Sweet Pea comes up as quite a big model and is relatively powerful for its size.

Edited By Nick T on 08/10/2016 10:43:27

Greetings, looking at the video, it would appear that the loco shown "Woto" has Walsharts valve gear rather than the Hackworth of sweet pea, or are my eyes needing testing again?

Brian B

Woto sure does have Walschearts, but so does my Sweet Pea. Mine also has a proper loco firebox, so it's probably been expelled from the ranks of Peas