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Author Topic: A Mamod locomotive in Nantes  (Read 358 times)

Tony Bird

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Re: A Mamod locomotive in Nantes
« on: August 12, 2019, 12:28:41 pm »
Hi Stoker,

How do the modern Mamod stock locos stack up against these early modified models? Do they still require modifications of a similar type to offer the same level of performance, or do they perform better or worse right out of the box?

I don't really know; I have never owned a new one, either of the old type or the new.  Back in the 1980's the Mamod was an inexpensive way into garden railways.  I know Steve Malins, the last I think of the family that started Mamod which is a shortened version of Ma lin's Mod els.  Steve always said that their products were 'Toys' and that boiler pressures were kept below 1 bar (14 psi) so they didn't have problems with boiler testing and for safety reasons when solid fuel became available they went over to using it. To get a model locomotive externally solid fuel fired with a boiler pressure of less than a bar is asking a lot.  A lot of the older steam model locomotives ran at a lot higher pressure but when the Mamod came one to the market Health and Safety was becoming the thing. Not many or the older Mamods worked very well straight out of the box.  It took people like Deryk Goodall and others maybe even me to turn the toy into a practical model steam locomotive. Basically it was fitting a new burner and increasing the boiler pressure that did it.  Most of the other work done was to improve the fits of the models existing bits which in some cases could be quite a lot of work.  The design of the model was very good but quality control less so. I don't collect models but people like Chris Cains know more about whether they improved over the years and whether the product now is better.  There are still a lot of suppliers of replacement bits about.
I don't suppose I am the one to ask; I only saw the ones that didn't work.

Take care.

I am out for a beer!

Tony.