Name Plates for the Billy

[Keith S]

Hi, here is my much-photographed Billy in its final form, with her new name plates from MDC.

I called her "Omingmak" and of course she's number one, being the only piece of rolling stock for the railway, other than a pair of rock wagons. In fact as far as the railway's fictional history goes, she's still in a crate on a ship from England, since there's no permanent way and no actual railway. When the funding is in order, the engine will be working on a small scenic seaside railway yet-to-be named, pulling a swift sixteen half-observation coach (yet to be purchased) and two rock wagons, for some incidental light freight.

Anyway, some may not like "Omingmak" or even be able to pronounce it. Well, try pronouncing some of those Welsh names. Just as difficult. "Omingmak" is, in the Inuvialuktun language, the word for a weird animal that runs around near where I live, called a "musk ox". It's like a prehistoric goat.

Here is a picture of one:



Here is the locomotive with her new name and number:










See the resemblance? No? Well, I can. The Omingmak is ancient, powerful, resilient, and, let's face it, smelly, and in the winter its breath snorts out like steam from its nostrils. Very steam engine-like, if you ask me, and it's my engine so I can name it whatever I like.

[dougrail]

She's an absolute beaut, and the detailing has paid off very nicely!

[LMS-Jools]

Great name

[Narrow Minded]

I'm not really a fan of the Roundhouse Billy - but you've done a cracking job on that one, it looks great !

[Marquis DeCarabas]

Anyway, some may not like "Omingmak" or even be able to pronounce it. Well, try pronouncing some of those Welsh names. Just as difficult. "Omingmak" is, in the Inuvialuktun language, the word for a weird animal that runs around near where I live, called a "musk ox". It's like a prehistoric goat.

<completely, utterly off-topic>

&#5123;&#5316;&#5123;&#5328;&#5319;&#5509;&#5200;&#5328; - eh? How fascinating. What dialect is near you - Sigilitun, Inuinnaqtun or Natsilingmiutut?

Welsh is easy, as it uses Roman orthography - (I was dragged up sort of bilingual) and the Inuktitut syllabary is really quite interesting, very specific grammar - even more inflexible than German:

Inuktitummik ilisailauqsimajunga - but not enough to hold a conversation - currently (still, really, after many years) getting my head round Maori grammar.

[Keith S]

It's probably "Canadian Inupiaq" or "Sigilitun"; in Inuinnaqtun or Natsilingmiutut or any of the eastern Arctic dialects, it's "Umingmok", which I didn't think looks as nice on a brass name plate. Although I take any of those phonetic spellings with a grain of salt. There is a modern tendency to replace any "k" sound in the Inuit dialects with a "q" when they are spelled using the Roman alphabet, which is pure pretentiousness. ("Kajak" instead of "Kayak", I mean, does either one really sound correct in Inuktituk?)  Anyway, I chose "Omingmak" out of all the different ways white people try to represent the word in various dialects because I thought it looked the nicest printed on the side of my locomotive.

Narrow Minded- I'm happy you like my engine. I did try to make it look English, which is a chore when it's got style elements from the German Koppel engines. Poor Billy. Not properly German with her outside frames, rounded edges and polished brass bits, but not properly British with her short little side tanks and oval spectacles. Oh well, I built a "Billy" specifically because I will never be accused of trying to build a "scale model" (which I find odious). My engine is pure whimsical/generic "narrow gauge" without any regional flavour or any attempt to make it resemble a real railway's engine. That way, I can put a tender on it, paint it whatever colour I like, name it whatever I want, and pair it with any kind of rolling stock I think looks nice, without offending the "scale gods".

At first, I didn't like the "Billy" either, but strangely, when I was saving money for a Roundhouse engine, and watching youtube videos of them, it started to grow on me, and I thought a Billy with a tender would actually look pretty good. I originally wanted a "Lady Anne" but now I think I've created something a bit more unique. Not trying to sound all pretentious or anything. I just think it's a friendly-looking engine.

[Paul H]

Keith,
You mention the outside frames as a non-German trait. There were some German built locos with well tanks that also happened to be outside framed. They were not a majority by any standard but they did exist. See, there's a prototype for everything...

Paul

[Narrow Minded]

You've certainly acheived your goal and then some! Lovely little generic loco and I'm looking forward to seeing it at the head of the rake you have planned

[Marquis DeCarabas]

Although I take any of those phonetic spellings with a grain of salt. There is a modern tendency to replace any "k" sound in the Inuit dialects with a "q" when they are spelled using the Roman alphabet, which is pure pretentiousness. ("Kajak" instead of "Kayak", I mean, does either one really sound correct in Inuktituk?)  Anyway, I chose "Omingmak" out of all the different ways white people try to represent the word in various dialects because I thought it looked the nicest printed on the side of my locomotive.

Yes, very much so, stems from the P & Q Celtic languages - however we're wandering very far away from garden railways. I'm tempted to call one of my stations on the new garden railway Da'naxda'xw, as we're near Harbledown, though not Harbledown Island.

I like your 'Billy' a lot.

[Keith S]

Keith,
You mention the outside frames as a non-German trait. There were some German built locos with well tanks that also happened to be outside framed. They were not a majority by any standard but they did exist. See, there's a prototype for everything...

Paul

Good point, and I'm sure the oval spectacles and stubby tanks are by no means exclusively German either. I can no longer remember what exactly I was going for in terms of nationality. I don't particularly like the looks of German engines, (I mean any steam engine looks good to me, but I find the style a little "foreign" to my tastes)

I wanted the engine to at least appear mechanically feasible, and in my research on the Koppel and/or Barclay 0-4-0s I realised that they are inside-framed well-tanks. The Roundhouse engine clearly does not represent a well-tank, at least not where the "well" is on a real koppel or barclay engine, so to me the engine is almost completely freelance in the first place. I seriously considered a "Katie" as well, but I felt like I wanted a tender, and since Katie has the big saddle tank I felt there was less justification for it. The same for Lady Anne. I also like how "billy"'s boiler sits a little higher on the frames. If I ever do get to build my own garden railway, my present idea for the fictional "back story" is that it will be a latter-day scenic steam railway run by volunteers, and that frees me from having to have a specific era or nationality for the rolling stock.

P.S. M. deCarabas, I meant to type "Kajaq" instead of "Kayak". I see you got my point anyway. I would love to talk languages with you sometime, obviously you are fascinated by them, as am I, although I am almost completely uneducated on the subject. I speak English and French, and had a mind to try and learn Welsh from the "rosetta stone" program, but haven't gotten around to it. I once tried to learn Cree, but gave up.

[Pendo Pilot]

This may help you Keith...

1:54s in...

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[Keith S]

Hmm.. maybe I'll try something easier- like finnish.

[Marquis DeCarabas]

Hmm.. maybe I'll try something easier- like finnish.

Fifteen cases......

[James-Buzz]

Stunning Loco

[Keith S]

Thanks guys, glad you like the engine. Yesterday I ran the engine outdoors for the first time. There is an island in the city harbour that used to have a fuel storage tank farm many years ago. I've often thought the old pads where the tanks used to sit would make an excellent spot for a garden railway, so I've set some rails up there. The land belongs to Her Majesty, and I don't imagine she wants it for anything right now, also vandals would have to be either very determined or very lucky to happen upon the railway where it is. Here are two grainy pictures:

[Marquis DeCarabas]

Very nice - hope you enjoyed yourself.

Is this temporary line perhaps the nearest one to the Arctic Circle in the world?

[Keith S]

I don't think so, my house is in Yellowknife, which is at 62 1/2 degrees latitude. In the UK, Inverness is about 57 degrees, which translates to about three hundred miles south, if my math is correct. However, Trodheim is about 120 miles more Northerly than Yellowknife. There are several model railway clubs in Trondheim, so it's a good bet someone there has a garden railway. Then there's Fairbanks Alaska, slightly further north, you know how americans love railways, and maybe there's even someone in Rekjavik or Murmansk that has a garden railway. THere's a good chance it's the most northerly garden track in CANADA though.

Some little improvements to the roadbed this weekend, and I may be able to make a decent video of the engine puffing around the little clump of trees on the island. What it really needs though, is more rolling stock. I tried loading the little wagons with rocks, but while that resulted in more satisfactory effort on the part of the locomotive going up the grades, it makes it whoosh DOWN the grades like a roller-coaster. A longer train would probably even this out a little. Or some more levelling work.