John

I agree with your comments. It was my first visit to Rugby and was
very enjoyable. However there are a couple of errors in your
photographs.
The pictures concerned are the ones titled, Ayesha & Toby and Ayesha
the original. These were of my loco, Arthur Binfield, an unpainted
atlantic built in 1928 by Arthur Binfield. At the time Arthur was
working with Greenly on the RH&DR. Not much is know on what the loco
is based on, but I think it looks very much like an Atlantic version
of a Romney engine. He was involved with Jackson-Rigby and I believe,
that at one stage he was the owner. The loco does contain Jackson
Rigby castings. I am often asked if I will paint the loco, but at the
moment I am reluctant to do so as I feel that it is still as Arthur
built it. To paint it would require a complete strip down and that to
me would remove his personal touch. Maybe if the day comes that it
should require some major work, such as a new boiler, I may then
paint it. As could be seen at Rugby, it still runs as sweet as a nut.
I run it quite a lot and have traveled many enjoyable miles behind.

Ian





--- In halfinchlivesteamforum@..., "John Baguley"
<baggo@f...> wrote:
> Spent a most enjoyable day at the meeting at Rugby last Sunday. This
> was my first experience of working 2 1/2" locos and now I can't wait
> to get one of my own up and running. I got to meet in person some of
> the people I had only known via email such as Des Adeley, Gerald
> Chandler, and Roger Palmer amongst others. I've created a photo
album
> and uploaded some of the many photos I took there.
>
> Of special interest was the appearance of'Ayesha Too' who had her
> first official steaming. Unfortunately she suffered from a
> non-functioning displacement lubricator and had to retire early. She
> looks a very nice and fairly simple loco to build. Laser cut frames
> and castings were on sale at the meeting but I resisted the
> temptation! (for now anyway)
>
> Another interesting loco was one of the few versions known to exist
of
> 'Uranus', LBSC's 4-8-4 3 cylinder beast. And what a beast! She was
> brought up by Simon (sorry, didn't get his surname) who was
restoring
> her for a friend. At the last steaming problems were found with the
> twin water pumps but these seem to have now been solved and she
> hurtled round the track for most of the day. A very nice loco.
>
> The Rugby track is very impressive and set in very pleasant
> surroundings. It's a pity it's 60 miles away!