Garden Railway Forum

I am looking at doing a Roundhouse steam loco from one of their kits. I am really looking forwards to doing this, as although I can machine many parts and even make a boiler etc, I just don't find the time these days to stand in the shed and get things going, so this option brings a jigsaw puzzle to the game.

There is very little price difference in any of them, so which one would you go for? George is only available now in a kit. I have added the option of picking more than one, in case like me you are stuck on which single one. It would be great to see what people on here vote for.

If you have done one from a kit I would be really interested to hear your honest opinions on them, be them good or bad, just so I know what to expect, but I do like honesty, no matter what

To be honest, I am stuck on all of them, but I think, George, Lady Anne and a Fowler are marginally ahead of Billy and Katie, but not by much at all.

Just from looks I would say go for the Fowler as it is a model of a real loco plus if you want something more different you could make your own side tanks.

Fowler is a real nice loco, I have never got my hands on one but I do like them

Have you considered building a coal fired loco while building the kits? I'm in the middle of building a coal fired Billy using a Riverdale boiler. My thought was if I'm building it, might as well do something different with it than roundhouse provide stock, mind you that doesn't mean coal firing is only option.

Really the only difference between any of these engines is cosmetic! I suppose there might be some minor differences in performance due to being an 0-6-0 or an 0-4-0, or maybe due to different boiler capacities, but I'm sure if so, it would be minor.

Personally I picked the "Billy" because I liked how the boiler sits a bit higher above the frames than the others. I am about to modify the cab to make it look more typically British this winter however.

Other than that, I think you'll really have to decide for yourself which one you think looks nicest. My engine gives fantastic performance, if you don't mind me saying so, and I can't imagine any of the others failing to do so if assembled correctly. I don't think there's any real difference between them.

I actually built a meths fired Dylan from a kit, twenty-mumble years ago. Even then building was no problem, and a problem I had with setting the valves was solved with a quick visit to the Works (which is only around a hour away from me by road).

MDLR:113293 wrote:I actually built a meths fired Dylan from a kit, twenty-mumble years ago. Even  then building was no problem, and a problem I had with setting the valves was solved with a quick visit to the Works (which is only around a hour away from me by road).

Great to know the kits are a good kits, that's just the sort of thing I needed to know. I would assume they have only got better with age, like all of us

I will be interesting to do it from every single component, should be fun. Just raising the funds at the moment to buy it all in one go to save £12 postage on each item, lol

I've voted for George - but with the caveat that I'd build it without the tender and with tank-top coal bunkers and a full cab back. I reckon that'd make a lovely little loco...

Good luck with your build,whatever you decide!

Andrew.

You could save even more on post & packing by going up to Donny and collecting the kits yourself!

I would go for the Katie for a first kit loco, it's a lot easier to fit 2 axles and rods plus the body work is nearly all pre formed with only a few tabs to bend and 3 joints to solder.