Sold February 2024 Back to Archive

6 inch scale Fowler B6 DCC crane engine - stock code 11721

For those in possession of a well-equipped workshop, a liking for large engines and vaulting ambition - projects don't come much larger than this one!

A well-advanced 6 inch scale Fowler B6 DCC road locomotive, being built in crane engine form - currently running out at around ten feet long, over six feet high and weighing in at around a ton and a half, the builder estimates it will be around 2 1/2 tons when finished.

The ongoing build has featured in several articles in "Engineering in Miniature" magazine. Professionally built to a high standard throughout, work, parts and material to date includes:

  • Commercially built CE marked steel boiler with expanded tubes
  • Wheels and axles
  • Front end assembly complete with perch bracket, smokebox with door and fittings, crane brackets and chimney
  • Machined cylinder block with guidebars and weighshaft bracket
  • Machined crankshaft
  • Pair machined expansion links
  • Machined flywheel with hub cap
  • Set of HP & LP Clupet rings
  • 3/8" Penberthy injector and pair of steam valves
  • Part-fabricated tender and belly tank
  • Hornplates
  • Rear springing gear

Complete with drawings and the set of patterns used to cast the rear hubs.

To say this one was a reluctant sale is, perhaps, the understatement of all time. It's only the arrival of a much-wanted full-sized Fowler, itself requiring complete restoration, that has persuaded the builder to part with what has been a labour of love this past ten years.

This would give a flying start for anybody contemplating the build of such a machine, with much good quality work done and a good deal of expenditure already behind it - the most significant things left to purchase are the gears and rubber tyres.

scale 6 inch
length/inches 120
width/inches 50
height/inches 74
weight/kg 1500
wheel material steel
axlebox type plain bearing
cylinder material cast iron
valve type slide
valve gear Stephensons
reverser type pole
injector(s) 1
year built 2015
boiler maker Station Road Steam
CE mark yes
working pressure/psi 200
boiler type locomotive
boiler material steel
boiler construction welded, expanded tubes
road speed(s) 3