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Old 8th March 2019, 06:07 PM
Gordon Bennett Gordon Bennett is offline
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Full Name: Michael James
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Coventry
Posts: 895
Default 3" Foden wagon for sale

For Sale 3" scale Foden steam wagon

After much thought I have decided to sell my 3" Foden. As many on here know, I suffer from Parkinson's. I depend on medication to have any kind of quality of life. Consequently I have to live in such a way that it gives the drugs the best chance to work. This includes not being too hard or demanding on myself. To this end, spending hours in my workshop in the depths of winter, in freezing cold weather is doing me more harm than good and is not the way forward.

This model was built by a gentleman called Keith Massey, who had a reputation for building engines to a high standard. This quality can be seen in many parts; the motion for example, is absolutely beautifully made. The crankshaft is made from one piece of steel and it sits in self-aligning ball-race type bearings. The eccentrics also feature roller bearings, as per full size. Many parts are fabricated, such as the trunk guides. Where castings have been used, I think the builder used his own patterns. The cab roof is an accurate representation of the full size machine as well; many models are not correct in this detail whereby the roof slopes in several directions. The wheels have new vulcanized solid rubber tyres on them.

I shortened the chassis as the lorry only just fitted in my workshop. I also planned to mount a steam powered winch on the back, similar to the GWR version. The actual wheelbase remains unchanged though. An added bonus was that the wagon now fits in the back of a reasonably sized estate car. Some of the jobs I completed on the lorry are purely cosmetic. Making the front axle assembly look as it should proved to be a time consuming task.

Now to the boiler... When purchased, I was aware the original boiler had a minor leak under hydraulic test. Despite this I purchased the model - with the approach that I was prepared to commission a new boiler to be made as at that point I intended to have the wagon for many years. I am a member of two model engineering clubs and the original boiler was inspected by each club inspector and their assistant. They all expressed the same concerns; there was no paperwork and nothing stamped on the boiler itself. Some areas of silver soldering gave concern and from a design point of view, it was considered there are too many tubes in the boiler. After discussing the matter, I decided to update the design and have a new copper boiler made by a professional boiler maker. I can provide more info on this if requested. The various brackets that hold the boiler in position have all been modified to suit the new boiler, which is just about ready to be fitted.

The cylinder casting is ready to go on; all holes are drilled and tapped. I machined a full set of screws, out of bronze, to secure the cylinder to the boiler barrel.

The wagon was just starting to go back together when, for various reasons, I began to struggle with motivation. Lots of parts are painted and are ready to go back on. It has the potential to make a very special Foden steam wagon, way above average. In all of the tasks I have tackled, I have tried to equal the quality the original builder achieved.

The fact the model has a new boiler, that cost me rather a lot of money, makes stating a price difficult. Therefore what I have decided to do is offer the model at two prices; one with and one without the new boiler. I consider some people may want to make up their own mind about fitting a new boiler - and do their own thing as well. If someone chose this option, they could contact me and make an offer for the new boiler later on - if I still had it at that stage.

Price:

Including the brand new professionally built copper boiler ...........£8500 ono

With the original boiler only, also made from copper.....................£6000 ono

Below are a number of photographs showing the wagon as bought and some detail views of various parts, showing the quality of the machining. I have also included a mock-up photograph of how I intended to finish the wagon, with a winding engine fitted - please note though, a winding engine has not been built and therefore is not part of this sale.

If anyone is interested in purchasing this model, please PM me to begin with.

I am not giving up model engineering, what I really want is a traction engine, a well built 3" scale Marshall or Fowler. Either finished or very nearly finished is okay.

I would like to make everyone aware that, as a result of my illness, my speech can, at times, be very poor.. Like everything to do with Parkinson's, I have good and bad days - and on very bad days I struggle to put two or three words together. I can't begin to say how frustrating this is for me. Anyone who wishes to speak to me needs to understand this.

Michael















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Michael James - The Traction Engine Artist
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