Other pages of interest about my Petrol Hydraulic: Workshop

I have always had a soft-spot for the 40hp, armoured Simplex tractors supplied to the British army in World War I, but I also prefer sit-in locos. Though I had originally planned a replica of the loco shown to the left, I am now tending more to a sit-in design.

I used to have a Meridian Models 009 model of this loco when I was a teenager.

This is what I have to work with - and a blank sheet of paper.

Gathering information and ideas at this stage. I am also rather pre-occupied with POEM to worry too much about the petrol-hydraulic for now.

I have been "doodling" with AutoCAD on designs for a ride-in 4-wheel loco and I am not impressed; the proportions look all wrong and too "cutesy". If I do a ride-in loco I think it'll have to be a 4-axle loco (i.e. Bo-Bo).

It will also be a nice addition to POEM, which is also based on a WWI trench loco.

Websites with info and photos of the 40hp, armoured Simplex:

Simplex Narrow Gauge Locomotives Tin Turtles War Department Light Railways

Light Railway 3090 (aka Motor Rail serial number 1369) was the subject of a restoration sponsored by the UK's Channel 4 TV.

The 40hp Simplex came in three variants:

"open" had no side-doors and a simple roof "protected" had side doors and a simple roof (see photo) "armoured" had side doors and an enclosed roof

Photos of all three types are on the "Simplex" page of the Tin Turtle website along with a lot of other photos taken during the restoration.

Photo copyright Moseley Railway Trust and used with permission.

I know of three 40hp Simplexes in the UK: the Amberley Working Museum, the Moseley Railway Trust and the Leighton Buzzard Railway.

As POEM is taking substantially longer to complete than planned, the petrol-hydraulic has been put on the back-burner for now; I just don't want too many projects on the go all at once.