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Welcome
to my pages about 'Gentoo 2', a 7¼ inch gauge Feldbahn Class 0-6-0
steam locomotive manufactured by Station Road Steam. In these
pages I hope to share with you my experiences of owning and operating
this locomotive. Since creating this webpage in September 2014 a
lot has happened to my Feldbahn including a complete rebuild with a new
style of cab and the addition of a tender. You can read all about
the engine and its modification in these pages, or by clicking on the
link above go to the pages about the Stafford locomotive that I
previously owned.I had been running one of Station Road Steam's Stafford class saddle tanks for more than three years when Mike Palmer sent me some photographs of the prototype 0-6-0 version of the Feldbahn, and as I had been suggesting that he build such a locomotive for sometime it probably wasn't a surprise to him when I asked to purchase one. The loco was delivered so quickly that it had to wait a few weeks for its first run while I built a new driving truck, but on September 7th 2014 the first run was an unqualified success. Almost all of the members of the Pinewood Miniature Railway Society who were at the track on the day had a go at driving and enjoyed the experience so much that I had a job to get a drive for myself. More than 11 miles were covered (but I drove less than 2 !) and at the end of the day the consensus of opinion was that the Feldbahn was a superb engine. Everyone liked its design and thought that with the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement it had a very nicely balanced appearance. For the second run I kept the engine to myself and set about learning its characteristics. Having covered over 23 miles that day I think that I now understand it pretty well, and as part of the day consisted of a nonstop 10.05 mile run (24 laps of the Pinewood track in 1 3/4 hours) it's obvious that the Feldbahn is running very well.
The question people most often ask me is "are you happy with the Station Road Steams locos ?" The answer is unequivocally YES as shown by my purchase of this second engine ! I spend most of my spare time tinkering with model engineering projects which means that I know how expensive raw materials are and how many hours it takes to make parts, so I would say that the Stafford and Feldbahn locos represent very good value for money. Sadly I don't have a workshop equipped to make the large parts needed for locos like the Feldbahn but I can spend my time modifying the loco to personalise it. If you look at the photos in the gallery pages you may see some of the modifications that I have already made to my Feldbahn simply because I could, and they are all explained in the modifications pages of this website. It will be very hard to improve the performance of the engine, but that won't stop me (and probably many other owners) from adapting it to suit their individual needs or preferences.
I hope that you enjoy this website and that you may find some of the information on these pages useful to you. There is a link at the top of the page that will take you to the pages of this website devoted to the Stafford class locomotive. Please note that as the operation of the Feldbahn is identical to that of the Stafford if you click on the "operation" menu tab you will be taken to the Stafford pages of the website.
NOTE: The content of this website represents the views of the author, which may not be supported by Station Road Steam who manufacture and sell the locomotive.