# Aster GWR Castle



## GaugeOneLines (Feb 23, 2008)

I see that the newest British outline engine (pilot model) from Aster broke cover this weekend, appropriately at Swindon. All you Great Western fans will no doubt be happy that it is a Castle. Andrew will no doubt regale us soon with the details, liveries and so on. I understand that delivery of production versions should be in Jan/Feb of 2009. 
That surely must give Accucraft serious food for thought as to where they are going wrong, five months from introduction to delivery for the Castle (and the 9F, AND the SpamCan!), meanwhile the Royal Hudson was introduced at Sacramento 26 months ago and it's STILL several months away from being delivered..............what can you say? 

David M-K 
Ottawa


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## tony23 (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi David, 
I'm impressed I thought I was going to have to wait a couple of years for the next British loco /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/shocked.gif"I will start saving now " 

I wonder how many cylinders she will have /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif


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## GaugeOneLines (Feb 23, 2008)

The proper number of course Tony. Aster only do it up the Company Way, they know no other way. Four cylinders.


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## rwjenkins (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By GaugeOneLines on 09/14/2008 12:05 PM 
That surely must give Accucraft serious food for thought as to where they are going wrong, five months from introduction to delivery for the Castle (and the 9F, AND the SpamCan!)...

Wrong? Personally I think a longer lead time is a good thing, more time to save up money and make some purchasing decisions. The Great Northern S-2 and GWR Castle are both engines that I would be seriously tempted to buy, but they'll be here and gone by the time I have that kind of money ready. Having to wait a year or more for some of the new Accucraft models might be frustrating for some, but it makes it much easier for this poor man in a rich man's hobby to make plans to buy one.


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By rwjenkins on 09/14/2008 6:35 PM 
Posted By GaugeOneLines on 09/14/2008 12:05 PM 
That surely must give Accucraft serious food for thought as to where they are going wrong, five months from introduction to delivery for the Castle (and the 9F, AND the SpamCan!)...

Wrong? Personally I think a longer lead time is a good thing, more time to save up money and make some purchasing decisions. The Great Northern S-2 and GWR Castle are both engines that I would be seriously tempted to buy, but they'll be here and gone by the time I have that kind of money ready. Having to wait a year or more for some of the new Accucraft models might be frustrating for some, but it makes it much easier for this poor man in a rich man's hobby to make plans to buy one.


I couldn't agree more. Living on a two-fold pension, one service, the other service disability related, finding money for the sweeter things in life is never easy, but I'm going to be dead for a long time. 

No sense in practicing for it yet. 

Accucraft 'Royal Hudson' build #41 has MY name on it.  

tac


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## tony23 (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi, Andrew has updated his web site and mentions the new 'Castle' http://www.asterhobbies.co.uk/pages/models/Castle.htm yes David it will be four cylinder but will it be compound /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif


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## F7 (Jan 29, 2008)

The GWR Castles had over 170 named locomotives, in the series, and some were named twice, one even has a different name on each side. I wonder how many names will be available from Aster and if there will be a British Rail locomotive as well as the usual GWR suspects? 

With the present apparent decline of the USD/GBP against the YEN just how much will it cost? 

OODLES! I suspect.


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Dear Mr 23 - it will not be a compound as the originals were not compounds - just four cylinders of the same size - 
GWR Castle class 4-6-0 
Specifications: GWR and BR 'Castle' class 4-6-0 built from 1923-1950 including re-builds of Star class locomotives 
BR numbers: 4037, 4073-4099, 5000-5099, 7000-7037 
Tractive effort: 31625lb 
Cylinders: (4) 16 in x 26 in 
Driving Wheels: 6 ft 8 1/2 in 
Bogie wheels: 3 ft 2 in 
Length: 65 ft 2 in 
Steam pressure: 225lb psi 
Fuel/Capacity: 6 tons 
Water Capacity: 4000gallons 
Total Weight: 125 tons 11cwt 
Valve gear: Inside Walschaerts with rocking shafts to outside motion 
Purpose: Express passenger 
BR power classification: 7P 
GWR Power class: D 
Route availability: Red 
Hope this helps. 

For those not too familiar with this beautiful locomotive - here is a youtube potted history... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AavDxi8X_s 

tac


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## F7 (Jan 29, 2008)

Even GWR 111 "The Great Bear" pacific locomotive was rebult into a Castle called "Viscount Churchill" 

Will Aster supply a kit to convert the Castle into a pacific? I don't think so.


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## JEFF RUNGE (Jan 2, 2008)

TAC, nice video. thanks for the link.


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

If you like YouTube then try 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWccM0s2x4M 

I'll be posting in this thread further data about the Aster GWR Castle as it becomes available. 

BTW The production prototype runs really well 

Andrew


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## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

So what exactly is the difference between the King and Castle classes. An untrained mind needs to know.


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Robert (or should I call you Mr Wind-Up?) 

The GWR King was derived from the Castle and is bigger, has smaller wheels and much heavier. The Castle has larger wheels is more compact and could go anywhere. A true all-rounder. 

The Aster Castle has 20 years of technical improvement since the Aster King and it shows. The lubricator is under the cab floor, the color is correct and the lining perfect. Stemm pipes are easier to get at and the valve gear much tougher. The cab is less cluttered too. It's a beauty and sounds and pulls better than the Aster King! 

BTW Your king picture has flipped horizontally. Maybe that was what was making you feel a similarity?? 

Andrew


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## NHSTEAMER (Jan 2, 2008)

One stupid question how is the Castle timed? From the videos I have seen it sounds quartered like any other steam locomotive. Did they time the cylinders as 2 pairs of 2?


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## GaugeOneLines (Feb 23, 2008)

At today's prices Robert, I'd say about three grand. As a Southern man all this (G)reat (W)estern (R)ubbish all looks much the same to me!!! 

David M-K 
Ottawa 

PS I would suggest spending about $100 on a couple of good GW books to give you a good grounding in the railway, it's stock and colourful history.


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## doublereefed (Jan 3, 2008)

Andrew, when you say 20 years over the king, is that the southern king arthur you refer to (as opposed to the gwr king George)? If so does that imply that the castle ran at some point on the southern? 
Thanks, 

-Richard


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## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

I flipped the photo of KGV to stress the similarities with the "Castle" - should have re-flipped the numbers, but forgot. 

I forced myself to read the book (Hollingsworth/Cook). I quote "In 1926,the Great Western Railway decided that more powerful locomotives were needed as the Castle class were stretched to their limits on some duties. At the same time a 20 year programme of strengthening bridges was nearing completion; furthermore, the report of an official body known as the bridge stress committee had recommended that for locomotives that had a low "hammer blow" higher axle loads would be allowed. All of this added up to making it practical to build a four cylinder 4-6-0 with 22 1/2 axle load; just as the Castle class had been a stretched "Star" class so the new locomotives were to be a stretched "Castle"" 

So now I know  Hope the production model ships soon - I have a rake of GWR coaches ready and waiting. 

Robert


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## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By doublereefed on 09/17/2008 11:02 PM
Andrew, when you say 20 years over the king, is that the southern king arthur you refer to (as opposed to the gwr king George)? If so does that imply that the castle ran at some point on the southern? 
Thanks, 
-Richard




I think Andrew meant that the new Aster Castle has 20 years of improvements over the Aster King George V. On GWR, the King was derived from the Castle (see post above.) On Southern, the King Class was a sort of stretched Schools.


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

The interesting thing about Castles when compared to Kings is that the Great Western Railway built just 30 King class from 1927 to 1930 whereas they built (or converted) 171 Castle class locos and the build continued through to 1950! This wasnâ€™t entirely a weight consideration, the Castles were more flexible, reliable and almost as powerful as their bigger brothers. 

Robert - anyone who knows their GWR locos would instantly spot that in your King photo the â€˜driveâ€™ had somehow moved from Right Hand to Left Hand. In all GWR locos the driver stood on the right hand side of the cab. So you could have flipped the number in your picture but we would still know you had been tampering with the evidence. Glad to know you have your GW coaches ready â€" kits should be in the UK in December and the rest of the world soon after. 

NHSTEAMER â€" Bill, on a 4 cylinder loco the inside right cylinder and outside left cylinder act together and the inside left and outside right act together. So you still get 4 beats per revolution of the wheels. In this way many of the stresses and strains are reduced and the hammer blow on the track is far less too. The other clever bit is that only two sets of valve gear are used. The outside cylinder valve events are controlled from inside Walschaert valve gear using rocking levers. The Aster model has 4 cylinders and valve gear arranged the same as the full size loco. 

Andrew


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## afinegan (Jan 2, 2008)

Very Nice, cant wait to see the model in action! 

Andrew


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## Mike O (Jan 2, 2008)

Andrew, 

Thanks for posting the pictures of the back head. Might be showing my ignorance here, but what is the function of the two levers below the cab floor. 

Tac, 

Great video. Thanks for the link. 

Mike


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

The picture posted by Zepyra, the one which is a reverse photo of 6024 King Edward I, is in fact running the special Torbay Express train. The photo was taken at Paignton Queens Park Station (not the mainline one which is adjacent) on one of the summer special excursions from Bristol to Kingwear. This loco operates this service. at week ends. on a frequent basis shared with an SR "Spam Can" Battle of Britain Class loco 34067 named Tangmere and one or two others. 

King Edward failed its run here last week end due to a hot axle box in the Taunton area. It had a dismal, Clas 67 E&WS RR as a substitution. 

Tangmere has issues in climbing the steep grades on the Paignton & Dartmouth line: it has had to be assisted by a helper on a few occasions. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztjE8XNnbwY 

In the above video you will see the loco on a turntable: It is freshly painted, I was one of the painters. This is one of the intermediate stations on the P&DSR Heritage line that I list in my signature.


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## F7 (Jan 29, 2008)

Andrew, 

I see that the new Castle has slide valves and not piston valves as fitted to the last British locomotive ie. 9F. 
Why? 

Patrick


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

Ok a couple of quick answers. 
Patrick. Aster selected slide valves because fitting piston valves was too difficult in the cramped space. They will definietly use Piston valves again when appropriate since they were very successful in the 9F / Evening Star. 
Mike O. The lever on the right is the bypass valve for the axle pump. The lever on the left is an oil pressurizing valve. Since the oil tank is under the cab floor, to help to get oil forward to the cylinders, a little steam pressure may be needed. 
Alan. Thanks for the King info. 
Hope that helps 

Andrew


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## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

Is the access to the oil tank better than the Duchess? One of the challenges with the Duchess was that it was easy to over-pressurize the oil tank and use the oil too quickly - I found that opening the valve for just a couple of seconds was enough to get the oil moving.


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