Planet: Special 

Many thanks!

@@AnthonyDawsonHistory I am guessing she's a bit different from the other engine

@@eliotreader8220 The two main differences are an all-steel welded boiler and an injector. Otherwise it operates and performs exactly as the originals did.

The two for service on the Kaiser Ferdinand Nordbahn were built by Robert Stephenson & Co in Newcastle, so they're included amongst those built in Britain :-)

It's too bad that we have a working replica of John Bull, but the museum which has it declines to get it back into operable condition.

@@furripupau It's a shame the replica is of John Bull as it stands now in its mussed up state rather than as delivered.

@@AnthonyDawsonHistory It is kind of odd, but I think it is understandable. It was easier to simply measure the original as it existed and duplicate everything than it would have been to try and replicate original parts that no longer existed.

It's only a 50psi boiler (or equivalent at the cylinders). It's the same with Lion, too. She moves off at her own pace, too. That said we've run the replica of Planet at 30mph and potentially nearly 40mph.

@@AnthonyDawsonHistory Quite a speedster for her age (well, design age anyway)

Thankyou, Bev. That means an awful lot! Do you fancy helping out with the design of an 0-4-0 version? There's also a 2-2-0 one being built in the Czech Republic!

With the Planet replica they learned how to operate the valve gear when the 'bottom' end was completed and the engine was turning over on compressed air to set the valves. However, despite this, when it was first steamed, they could make it go neither forward nor backwards, and the learning curve, hands on with the locomotive, was vertical. Back in the 1830s experience from Rocket, Northumbrian etc would have provided key skills for operating such a locomotive. But with the replica it was back to basics and working from first principals to get her to move.

Thankyou. More like that on the way once things start running again.

Glad you enjoyed it

When you've driven or fired her - as I used to most weekends - you fall in love with her. She's gorgeous.

@@AnthonyDawsonHistory been going to MOSI since i was 2.

Thankyou

Welcome aboard! Literature wise, I know it's bad form to blow your own trumpet, but if you want technical see:www.amazon.co.uk/Locomotives-Liverpool-Manchester-Railway-Anthony/dp/1526763982

@@AnthonyDawsonHistory Would you happen to go over the tech of those locos in the book? I'm having the hardest time finding books that go over things like that.

@@Mr.Rogers143 There's a whole chapter. And a whole chapter in this: www.amazon.co.uk/Planet-Samson-Locomotives-Design-Development/dp/1399092642

It's insulation to prevent heat loss (radient heat). There was a layer of wool felt between the boiler barrel and the mahogany cladding.

@@AnthonyDawsonHistory Thankyou!

George Stephenson was the first engineer to see that the wheel and rail belonged together, as he said 'like man and wife'. Something his son also learned. One of the man reasons that six wheel Patentee came along was to reduce axle load.

They already had hand brakes fitted as parking brakes in January 1830. I was one of the regular firemen on Planet and also trainee driver, so I was disappointed not to go with her to the GC.

@@AnthonyDawsonHistory what is it like to drive and fire the working replica of Plant do you feel as if you have walked back in time?. do you know any thing about how they used Planet during the filming of the episode? i have read that during the filming of the film young Winston which was made on part of the Longmoor railway film crews did not know much about steam locomotives or how to use them correctly and i understand at one point they got under the feet of the late wild life artist David Shepard because they did not tell when they needed his engine to be ready for use in filming and this caused a lot of trouble.

@@eliotreader8220 Other than having a blower and an injector, she's identical to the original machine. So it's exactly like working on the original. So it's like stepping back in time - same with any other replica locomotive or piece of historic working machinery. Even more so with Planet as the crew turn out in period appropriate attire.