10/12mm 0-2-0 saddle tank ?

[Harry von Fleischmann]

I realise N gauge is the answer but it’s expensive - so…..any advice as to where to get a cheap saddle tank loco?
Cheers!

[fred]

Have a look for Del Prado trains on eBay - they do some decent static train models and are cheap. Not entirely sure what 0-2-0 saddle tank means…

[Harry von Fleischmann]

Thank you! It’s really just a small loco with two sets of wheels….

[Michi]

I realise N gauge is the answer but it’s expensive - so…..any advice as to where to get a cheap saddle tank loco?
Cheers!

Have a look at diecast or plastic toys of Thomas the tank engine's friends "Bill", "Ben" and "Percy" - all of them are 0-2-0 saddle tank engines. Maybe you can find one that will match your scale. You will have to replace the boiler face though...

[eilif]

Assuming you don't need it to run, if you can get to a train show or check a local train shop and ask around for an unworking example.   Sometimes older, unworking locos can be had for a tiny fraction of the cost because they're not detailed or functional enough to be worth repairing.

[Peterem]

A couple of things to bear in mind. If you're checking listings in the UK (or US) we count wheels rather than axles, so you'll get a better response asking about 0-4-0 tank locos; to us the term 0-2-0 just seems confusing.

How closely are you wedded to an 0-2-0/0-4-0 Saddletank?  That's quite a small loco to start with, and N Gauge (1:148 for UK models and 1:160 for European) is going to make your model look even smaller against your figures.

There are N Gauge loco kits. but even without the motor and its associated gubbins they will still cost you. For instance the saddletank in this range  https://www.pdmarshmodels.com/collections/n-gauge will still set you back £20 and you will have to mock up the underneath. 3d print suppliers won't be much cheaper. Otherwise the del Prado locos probably are your best bet, although the range tended to concentrate on larger and/or more modern locos. I still have a couple of their older steam locos to convert into something useful when I can get round to it.

Good hunting,
Peter

[Peterem]

To echo Eilif above, I spent today at a vintage model train show - lots of tinplate Hornby, Lionel and Marklin trains clattering round the tracks all day - and one of the traders there had quite a few surplus n-gauge steam loco bodies on offer for 3gbp each or 2 for £5. No chasses and no saddletanks either, but that could give you some ideas.

Peter

[2010sunburst]

Hi mate
You are looking for an 0-4-0 engine.  An 0-2-0 engine doesn’t exist, it would only have one axle….
As you only want a non functional loco, going for a broken or display only model as suggest by the lads is a good call.  If you want a continental outline engine go for something like Flieshmann or other European manufacturers.  For British outline go for one of the cheaper makes like Graham Farish.
Good luck…..

[Harry von Fleischmann]

Thank you and apologies for not replying sooner. 0-4-0 it is then, as I imagine any fule shud kno I imagine…..hem hem.

I am quite wedded to the N gauge scale as it’s to fit in with some N gauge track and bits I have liberated from my parents collection whilst clearing the house. I had an OO/HO airfix saddle tank loco (still have it tbh) and simply feel hugely nostalgic towards them…..my idea is to build up some post war factions to fight out actions around N gauge buildings etc in the same way I did as a kid. This time with a bit more structure and fanciful names - the Weatherfield Light Railway Collective vs The Hull Inner Border Guards…..

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I was looking forward to the railway equivalent of a unicycle ^__^.(0-2-0 or A).

There was a diecast range very many years ago called 000 which was roughly the same size as N gauge. - but I suspect that is collectors prices. I had some but they have disappeared over the las t fifty odd years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_scale#OOO_models

Be aware that Graham Farish is now a brand owned by the Chinese company Kader (same as Bachmann )and is one of the two main N gauge manufacturers and they are not cheap. You might find some older original GF stuff second hand.

What you need to cultivate is contacts in the field of 4mm to 7mm* scale narrow gauge modelling. They use N gauge mechanisms for their motive power and might well have some now unused bodies - you will need to provide a replacement chassis.

* - model railways use a perfectly sensible scaling system which maps 19th Century units of measurement to the modern world, so HO is 3.5mm to the foot, OO is 4mm to the foot (00 gauge still runs of H0 track - hence gauge not scale) and 0 Gauge is 7mm to the foot.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

If you have access to a printer, there are a range of locomotives available with free or paid for STLs.