Here we have a beautiful little 3 1/2" Krauss 0-4-0 side tank. This is one of the fabled and collectible 'OS Live Steam' models made in Japan, and as such is particularly well thought out, manufactured and presented. This is only the second OS Krauss that we have had come through, and the other was over 10 years ago!
This is a brand new, un-steamed factory built loco. There's some tiny markings on the smoke box and chimney where a degree of surface rust has been cleaned up on the blued steel finish, but apart from this it's in perfect condition. There is an injector, an axle pump (which even has a nice little rubber dust 'gator', and a hand pump in the tank. Draincocks are footplate operated, and lubrication is from a mechanical ratchet job under the front, with a beautifully discrete removable section of running board under the smoke box. The hand brake is a cool little ratchet lever on the footplate with a balance weight on it as per the prototype. The detail in all the lost wax castings is top notch, from the scale outside Stevenson's eccentric straps, the dome mounted steam manifold, exquisite little safety valves, the cylinders, the crossheads,..... the more you look, the more you like it! The doors handles open the doors and the minute little valve rod crosshead oil pot lids function beautifully, but your eyesight will have to be good to appreciate that! The firebox door has a fully functioning air vent and the sanders are operational from the mechanism inside the dome! Quite apart from the general collectability of OS locos, this is a little gem of a model, with a huge 'x' factor. It's cute,.... yes I know,.... but it is, and more than that, it's mechanically very satisfying. That OS fella knew what he was doing!
The matching driving truck is included with the model and is also a lovely, well presented thing,..... but all the superlatives really belong to the loco, as hopefully the photographs will communicate.
Shigeo Ogawa was a life-long model engineer over in Japan, building his first steam engine on a flat-belt driven lathe in 1936 when he was nineteen years old. At the request of an American friend he designed and built a 1.6cc engine for a model aeroplane – such was its success that he formed a company using his initials as a name and went on to produce 200 of the “Type-1″ engine. The company, OS, went on to become a world-leader in model IC engines, produced in two stroke, four stroke and rotary forms for a wide variety of planes, cars and boats. The range obviously branched out into live steam models, 3 1/2″ through to 7 1/4″. Although OS are still in business, they are no longer producing Live steam locos, and consequently pretty rare and collectible.
As with most of our models, what you see isn't necessarily what you get!
We often photograph models pretty much as they come in to us, and then when someone phones to say they are interested we pull the model into our workshops and make sure everything is tested, sorted and ready to go. So if you see the odd model photograph with a fitting missing or a return crank in the wrong place, that's just how it came in and certainly not how it will leave.
For any more information please don't hesitate to give us a bell on 07816 963463
Stock Code:
#g
