The “Maori Maid” Model.

Illustration No. 2 (“Maori Maid”) is a model of the “C” class locomotive. In the building of this model the only parts of the mechanism not fabricated in my workshop were the electric mechanism, wheels (2), cylinder castings, and a piece of strip brass. The boiler was originally a piece of brass tubing. The tubing was sawn off to the length required, and a section cut out underneath to enable the electric mechanism to fit up into the boiler. The firebox was made from a piece of sheet brass fitted over the boiler, and shaped. The cab was made from a piece of sheet brass cut to shape, the windows being subsequently marked and sawn out. The roof of the cab, was then made, being filed and fitted, the whole being soldered together. In the cab dummy fittings are used entirely. The smoke box door was turned from a flat piece of brass, fitted with dummy hinges, soldered on. The funnel and the three domes were turned from a piece of brass rod, and in similar manner the whistle, safety valve, lamp, pumps, and valves, were turned from odd pieces of brass. German silver (polished) was used for the bands around the boiler. The front and back bogies were built up in brass. The cowcatcher was built up with 1-16in. brass rod, bent and soldered to shape, and the connecting rods and valve gear were cut and filed to shape, and polished. The tender was made from a piece of sheet brass cut to shape and soldered. In the tender are two hand brakes, turned from a small piece of rod, as were also all the hand rail knobs. The engine is painted (hand lacquered) in green, with the smoke box funnel and under-carriage black, and the domes were polished and lacquered. The cab and tender roofs were painted black. This model works well on eight volts D.C., and can be started, stopped and reversed from a switchboard situated near the main line. In coupling up the tender to the locomotive, I had to allow a greater margin of clearance than is usual in real practice, as the small curves on my railway line are such that if this clearance were not provided the tender would foul the cab. (This model took nine months of my spare time to build.)