It is freelance and one of a pair built by a friend who was an engineer. He used some ideas from several different prototype steam locomotive designers in the past. It is 7¼" gauge, coal fired and superheated.

@ Thanks! I’m new to UK locomotives. If it’s easy, would you mind sharing the rough prototypes that inspired this freelance? Just a railfan wanting to learn more :)

@@CommandoSwat I'm sorry I can't remember the details other than the brake gear is similar to that used on the old London & North Western locos, and I possibly the snifting valves are similar to the London Brighton and South Coast type.

The one in the video was one of two the same which built by a friend. I have built three of my own. Some are commercially available, in UK for example by Station Road Steam.

Yes it was. Because of teh bad weather we only had three locomotives steam up, it would have been more impressive to have had more!

Thank you for supporting

Thanks for watching the video and for asking this question. This engine and another almost identical were designed and built by an engineer for private customers, so unfortunately you won't be able to acquire one like them.

Thanks for watching and asking this question. No it couldn't, in my opinion. A coal fired boiler has thicker copper parts because it has to contend with much higher temperatures than a Mamod, which would probably fall apart so it would be very dangerous. I hope that is useful.

@@micksavage yes i thought so its not somthing i would attempt anyway coal burns hotter than mamod fuel so yes your correct about it being dangerous thanks for the reply

@@Gary-cvr23 You're welcome Gary.

Hi Alex, Thank you, that's very kind!

Thanks for taking an interest in this Shay Here are all the details: Shays are divided into four main classes. Class A: 2 cylinder, 2-truck; Class B: 3 cyl, 2-truck; Class C: 3 cyl, 3-truck; Class D: 3 cyl, 4-truck. Lima went on to build 2767 Shays and is of course now better known as the Lima Locomotive Works. Paul Frank is a greatly respected model locomotive builder in the UK. For quite some time he'd wanted to build an early geared locomotive. Many of the early Shays were wooden framed but wisely he preferred a metal frame and asked around for any photographs of metal framed examples. Eventually somebody gave him a photo of works number 131. This was a Class A, 36" gauge locomotive built for T.L. Hackney in April 1885. It weighed 10,000 lbs and had a tractive effort of 2,422 lbs. And it had a metal frame. He pinned it up in his workshop and began work on it. Success depended on two things. The engine and the gears. The original cylinders and engine would have been a casting but Paul's design was a clean sheet design to be fabricated and welded. Game over if it had distorted but it didn't so one difficulty was eliminated. The bevel gears needed to be in the region of 2:1 gearing but commercial products were usually of unsuitable ratio and vastly expensive. After many hours trawling through 'Gears and Gear Cutting' by Ivan Law and using a Myford dividing head and a baby Adcock & Shipley mill a set of gears was finally produced. He built the original boiler from a piece of scrap copper tube, 12" diameter, 24" long with a wall thickness of 1/4". It had 58 firetubes. The inner tube forming the firebox was 10" diameter, also with a 1/4" wall. The frame is formed from two lengths of channel 69" long. The chassis and body are similar to the original machine although the roof is shortened to enable the driver to sit in the loco and Paul added two diagonal struts to the front, a feature of some other similar machines. The driver's weight is counterbalanced by a hundredweight of lead under the water tank (which, incidentally, is made from scrap brass door kick-plates!) The wood is varnished beech sourced, I believe, from wood lying around waiting for a good use! This miniature Shay was completed in 1998; calculations indicated a tractive effort of around 200lbs and it weighs half a ton.

Joining a model engineers' society will probably offer you opportunities to drive a steam locomotive. Some heritage or commercial miniature railways also offer driver experiences for a fee.

@@micksavage thanks!