# accucraft BR Britannia Class 7



## Mr Magoo (Mar 1, 2008)

Has anyone purchased the Accucraft BR Britannia Class 7 and if so what are your comments on the loco as I am thinking of buying one. Also does anyone know what the dimensions of the loco and tender are as they donot give it. Accucraft are not very good on the info side of things, you get more info for a cheap $45 DVD player than there loco's. 
Regards
Wayne


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## SalM (Jan 2, 2008)

Wayne.............the engine tender combo is a little over 26 inches long. It is a nicely made engine that is not fragile in its construction. Being familiar with spirit firing is helpful. It is a strong puller with a distinctive chuff ti it. It makes steam in 4 minutes and runs for another 25/30 minutes. It looks best pulling some British type cars or wagons. It is a close coulped engine so I keep the engine and tender connected all the time even when stored. I give it a thums up.


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

Here are the specs Trevor gave to me. (Trevor designed it. It is a gauge1modelcompany engine, but accucraft is handling the US sales).

Fuel- 140ml
tender-200ml
boiler-250ml
length- 660mm
height- 120mm
width- 85mm
weight- 6.5 kilos
min. radius- 2m (Trevor has stated that it needs a good 2 hours run in time to loosen all the valve gear enough for it not to stall out on 2m curves, but if it did at first, it was due to things still being tight).

Remember, British trains were small.

Sal, you obviously got your replacement engine. Seems to run fine for you?


Seems as though getting the wick lengths just right is vital with this engine, but once you do it seems it runs just dandy. Another tip is to open the oil booster just briefly then close, or it will run through steam oil. 


If you still want one, I don't think there are many left, but I know accucraft still has them available on their site.


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## Ding Dong (Sep 27, 2010)

Everything I have heard about this engine has been positive, even on the British sites. Well designed and well built, so ditto Iceclimber, except for the bit about British trains being small.

So lads, in your best Jim Backus voice, "Oh Magoo........ Youve done it again"

Rob Meadows

Los Angeles


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

Compare a British Pacific type (BR class 7 4-6-2) with an American Pacific type (K4s 4-6-2). Which one is bigger? I was wrong to imply all British trains are small, but this one certainly is smaller than it's western relative. 

For further proof, check out the specs for Aster's K4s 4-6-2 with the Britannia. Both are in 1:32 scale.


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## Ding Dong (Sep 27, 2010)

"British trains were small"

An LMS Duchess, built in the late 1930's, hauling the Royal Scot from London To Edinburgh with 18 coaches on, during the busy summer period is hardly a small train.

Rob Meadows

Los Angeles


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Mr Magoo on 10 Mar 2011 05:09 PM 
Accucraft are not very good on the info side of things, you get more info for a cheap $45 DVD player than there loco's. 
Regards
Wayne


That's because AccuCraft are not the initiators of this model. It is made by the company that build FOR Accucraft, but it was funded and designed by another company here in UK.

I've seen three running so far, and all went very well indeed, and looked good in front of 10-12 'blood and custard' passenger coaches. The first run of the prototype showed it hauling 22 heavily-built British coaches from a standing start, and on a curve. 

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

OK, let's put this baby to bed before it gets acrimonious - sure, British trains are teeny-weeny tichy-wichy, itsy-bitsy little things by comparison with US/Can trains, but so are US/Can trains by comparison with Russian trains. Guess I'm the first one to mention that, eh? 

It's horses for courses. A small and highly built-up country that invents the train in the fust place, and puts most of the infrastructure - bridges, tunnels and so on - in place before the end of the 1840's, cannot be expected to have the gigantic machines we associate with North America, where most cities did not even exist as such at that time. A quick look that the railway map of UK in the late 1800s might come as a real surpise to you over in the US or even Canada. 

It's one thing to have a single-track line that runs 'from sea to shining' sea, but to have 40,000 miles of track in place that, as we have been recently reminded, is one third the size of Texas, just has to be impressive. 

I reckon respect is due, rather than denigration. 

tac


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

My comment was not intended to be taken in a negative way. I said what I said and backed up what I said. Tac, you are right, all that track is indeed impressive. My comment was more to let Wayne know that even at 1/32 scale the boiler would be a bit smaller, hence the shorter run time, but with the axle pump properly set, it really doesn't matter.


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

Jeremiah,

You are right on that point, a good axle pump can surely aid in nice long runs. On my Flying Scotsman I have often gotten 50 minute runs, like this one...










Although I did have to replenish the water in the tender about three times...


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

Tom, that is a nice running loco. Did you build her from kit form?


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

J,

No, that one was factory built. I did, however, build my Duchess...


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## afinegan (Jan 2, 2008)

Iceclimber, 

You better come to diamondhead next year so you can actually see all of these magnificent machines run! 
It's the best event in near the southeast USA that has the most live steam gauge1 engines show up at one time! 

I am sure others will convince you also (I already plan to be there since I missed this years - didn't miss the 3 before that though)


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

It is definitely my intention to one day attend. Currently with my job, it just falls after our Christmas break so I couldn't make it. I could fly over for a quick 2 days, but we'll see what happens. This past Christmas I used my funds to fly up to NH and climb MT. Washington.


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Posted By tacfoley on 11 Mar 2011 01:10 AM 


That's because AccuCraft are not the initiators of this model. It is made by the company that build FOR Accucraft, but it was funded and designed by another company here in UK.

I've seen three running so far, and all went very well indeed, and looked good in front of 10-12 'blood and custard' passenger coaches. The first run of the prototype showed it hauling 22 heavily-built British coaches from a standing start, and on a curve. 

tac
www.ovgrs.org 



Hi Tac,
Sorry, I don't think that you can say "heavily built", unless you were there to pick them up.
Also, it all depends how free running the coaches are. 
We had a Britannia running here on Sunday, and it had a real problem with spinning wheels.
Everyone else was running with no slipping, but the Britannia just kept slipping.
I have suggested that we do some testing to see if something is not letting the full weight bear on the drivers as certainly a 'thumb' pressing on the dome helped it out.
All the best,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

Jeremiah,

I second what Andrew says about Diamondhead. This was my 16th year, out of the 18 DH SteamUps. I tell people if I had my life to live over again, I wouldn't have missed the first two.

Click below to see some pics and vids of previous Diamondheads...

2003 and earlier, 2004 Pictures and some videos, 2005, 2006 (Canceled because of Katrina), 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. http://mssls.info/TomM/Diamondhead 2007/index.html


p.s. Here is the proper way to climb Mt. Washington!


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By David Leech on 11 Mar 2011 09:11 AM 
Posted By tacfoley on 11 Mar 2011 01:10 AM 


That's because AccuCraft are not the initiators of this model. It is made by the company that build FOR Accucraft, but it was funded and designed by another company here in UK.

I've seen three running so far, and all went very well indeed, and looked good in front of 10-12 'blood and custard' passenger coaches. The first run of the prototype showed it hauling 22 heavily-built British coaches from a standing start, and on a curve. 

tac
www.ovgrs.org 



Hi Tac,
Sorry, I don't think that you can say "heavily built", unless you were there to pick them up.
Also, it all depends how free running the coaches are. 
We had a Britannia running here on Sunday, and it had a real problem with spinning wheels.
Everyone else was running with no slipping, but the Britannia just kept slipping.
I have suggested that we do some testing to see if something is not letting the full weight bear on the drivers as certainly a 'thumb' pressing on the dome helped it out.
All the best,
David Leech, Delta, Canada 
Oh dear, Mr Leech, you seem determined to pick me up at every opportunity that I unthinkingly make available to you. So let me have another go at my response that might be more satisfying for you, and will not provoke any more untoward comments - it must indeed be a slow newsday in Delta BC. 


Here y'are - 'I've seen three running so far, and all went very well indeed, and looked good in front of 10-12 'blood and custard' passenger coaches. The first run of the prototype showed it hauling 20 *not obviously heavily-built but nevertheless substantial-looking and fitted with quite a lot of seemingly well-made and not a bit flimsy interior detail British coaches and a single two-truck car followed by a two-axle closed car outside-framed car not unlike a so-called Syphon-style bodied rail vehicle of apparently quite solid-looking but could well be balsa-wood and thus very lightweight and flimsy - the whole lot appearing to be free-running but I cannot be absolutely sure if they actually are - in fact the wheels might not be rotating at all in which case it would be a remarkable performance indeed]* from a standing start, and on a curve.' 
How's that for you?

Now, please, get off my back.

Thank you.

tac 
www.ovgrs.org


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## iceclimber (Aug 8, 2010)

Tom,
I would have loved to go up the cog, but it was shut down for the season. I had a sugar burning engine getting me up the hill.


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Thankyou Tac, 
I appreciate you being absolutely clear on the facts. 
Also, I have no intention of getting on your back, so I can't get off it, can I! 
All the best, 
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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