Model of the Month August 2009
John Wenlock's Roundhouse 'Lady Anne'
Whilst Roundhouse Engineering started their production life
with the Victoria tram engine, they quickly introduced a more
mainstream generic range in the shape of Lady Anne and Dylan.
These were both twin cylinder, meths fired 0-4-0 models, with slip
eccentric valve gear, Lady Anne being side tank and Dylan saddle.
You could buy them in the early '80s, memory saying that they first
surfaced in 1983 at the Llanfair Gala in the Institute.
John's loco is the second generation of Lady Anne (still
currently in production though in totally different guise as an
0-6-0 for a start). It was regarded by a majority as better
looking than Dylan, which meant that model deleting from the range.
The original Lady Anne had an open cab, and John's was the first
model to boast a fully enclosed version, a wider body and larger
cylinders, though John removed the wooden dumb buffers! It was
produced in 1984, the first with very substantial photo-etched
bodywork. John bought it secondhand at a swapmeet in Chester
in the mid to late '80s, and it has given sterling service since.
Roundhouse at that time used a form of rocking arm valve gear. The
pivots wore through lack of lubrication, with the resulting 'lost
motion' affecting the valve events. New pivots were made by
John, no further problems coming from that area. The 0 rings
were renewed in 2006, otherwise it has been utterly reliable.
The locomotive is impressively powerful, capable of pulling
13 bogie coaches even up the gradual gradients of the Clwyd and Dee.
Duration is comfortably 45 minutes, as long as the meths tank is
topped up, and of course running is almost silent apart from the
exhaust beat.
Despite having a number of bought in and self build locos,
John uses Lady Anne regularly, even on visits to other lines, and it
is always the pathfinder when the Phurcombe Hall layout is erected.
It is named 'Inchbrook' for no particular reason other than John
liked it, infinitely preferable in his eyes to 'Blanche'.
If you are ever lucky enough to be offered one of these
early models, snap it up. You will pay less than for one of
the current budget new locos available from a number of suppliers,
but do not worry about age because the service and parts
availability from Roundhouse is acknowledged by everyone. A
mint Dylan, though a later gas fired, was snapped up from the M2M
this year at the AGM.
