LB&SCR A1/A1X Terriers: A1X, so what changed?

Today we're taking a look at the Terrier in it's rebuilt A1X version.

21 of the original 50 Stroudley A1's were rebuilt this way and as 14 of the 15 Terriers that made it into BR ownership were of this A1X type they are likely more familiar to people now.

There are quite a few variations on the A1X (almost as many as there are engines!) and we'll be showing the options for those soon but for today we present the A1X in it's "purest" form.

As with the A1 shown last week you can use any name and any number with the engines and they come with all 21 of the original names and numbers set up and ready to go.

The most obvious change is the new extended Marsh boiler and new smokebox, and therefore the reshaping of the wheel splashers, and the removal of the condensing pipes either side. The A1X was changed from the condenser and pump system to the more familiar injector system and this can be seen by the wisps of steam coming from the injector pipes between the front and middle wheels, and obviously with a different set of controls in the cab.

 

Also changed are the sanders having lost the sand boxes above the running plate which were part of the original wheel splashers and are replaced with steam powered sanders (some of the Isle of Wight rebuilds kept a combination of the new and old splashers, retaining the old sanders, and this is one of the options we'll show later).

The old copper capped chimney has been replaced with the much plainer Marsh cast version and both buffers now carry vacuum brake pipes as well as the original air pipes.

The top view shows the significant changes that were required for the replacement of the water pumps with injectors and the addition of the vacuum brake.

On the left hand side of the locomotive the exhaust (black pipe) from the vacuum brake can be clearly seen running all the way to the smokebox and the intake (grey, insulated wrapped pipe) from the top of the boiler.

Also visible are the 2 copper pipes that drop down the front of the water tanks which take the water from the boiler to the injectors and the other long copper pipe which is the re-routed exhaust from the Westinghouse air pump. Some brackets and firebox tools are also squeezed in to make the whole scene very "busy" compared to the cleaner appearance of the A1.

Next week we'll take a look inside the A1X cab and see what all of these changes and additions have done to the driving position.

LB&SCR A1/A1X Terriers: A1 Cab

Before we begin today we wanted to address a question that is being asked on an almost daily basis...
"Are you doing X named Terrier?"
To which we've been replying - READ THE LAST BLOG POST! We're not sure if people only look at the pictures (in which case typing this is probably pointless!) however the last blog post covered how the naming is going to work.
To summarise, you can have ANY name (5 to 11 characters) and number (2 digits) that you want. We'll be including files to show the names and numbers of ALL of the original Terriers however you can name the engines ANYTHING you want to.
ANYTHING!
Thank you for reading.

Ok, now we've got that off our chest...

Today we're taking a first look inside the cab of the A1 Terrier as originally built. A very spartan and clean appearance compared to later locomotives and even compared to the A1X variant which we'll be looking at soon.

Looking towards the driver position

And looking to the fireman's side

Even the backhead has a minimal number of controls, clearly lacking any kind of steam injector taps as these engines used a condenser to pre-heat the water and pumps to push it into the boiler.

The rear of the cab just has a handbrake and the coaling door (which uses notches in the back wall to hold it open), with the cylinder cocks lever on the driver's seat.

The large windows give a really good view ahead and you can clearly see one of the water taps (bottom left of the picture) which allows the water into the pump. These are locked in place using a wing nut.

Finally the driver and fireman head out views which still allow full use of all of the cab controls.

That's it for today. On Friday we'll be taking a look at the A1X version of the Terrier and its modernisations and modifications.

LB&SCR A1/A1X Terriers: What's in a name?

Happy New Year everyone!
We hope that you all had a good Christmas and are enjoying the start of 2017.  We've been very busy back at work and have a few things to show this week.

Today we are delighted to show the completed A1 Terrier, in game, in Stroudley's Improved Engine Green livery; seen here as No. 73 Deptford.

Also shown is the dynamic naming system for this livery which will feature on the the A1 and A1X Terriers. The engines can carry any name from 5 to 11 characters which covers all 50 original class members. You can also have names less than 5 characters although these will be padded so will not cover the whole tank side.

Here we see an A1 named as No. 59, Cheam

.. and a fictional engine No. 99 Victory

As you can see the name spaces correctly across the entire tank side and begins with a larger first character.
The shortest engine names were Cheam and Ewell, the longest were Bishopsgate, Whitechapel, Rotherhithe and Crowborough.

The engine can also be given any number from 00 to 99 and both of these are dynamic and can be changed by simply typing the number and name into the engine number in the scenario editor.
This system will also be used for any other liveries that have names anywhere on the engines.

That's all for today but over the next couple of weeks we'll be looking in the cab of the A1, and also taking a look at the A1X variant, some of the optional parts available and we'll discuss the A1's Advanced Mode condenser system and water pumps which will make for a whole new experience when it comes to filling up the boiler.