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Foreman
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 Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 10:16:42
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The Cricket is back in production, although perhaps for a limited time only. $575 at http://www.purkeystoytrains.com Available in red, black, blue or green.
I exchanged e-mails with Mike Krionderis, the new builder, yesterday, in the process of ordering one. Cricket now has a new boiler with a working smokebox door -- the previous models had a "J-tube" -- a flue which turned up and became the chimney. I am told by owners that this directed condensate back onto the burner, necessitating frequent cleanings.
Pressue gauge is standard, single fixed cylinder, a 5.79:1 gear ratio, so that it can pull out stumps. For more information on the original engine, see Marc's write-up at http://www.sidestreetbannerworks.com/locos/loco72.html (concerning an atypical Cricket) and the companion piece by Michael Rourke, the original builder at http://www.sidestreetbannerworks.com/locos/loco72.BLW.html. (Rourke routinely ran one on a 9" radius display layout!)
Purkeys says production will be limited to 45 engines. (They may be using up parts from Rourke). As of this morning at least 8 orders were in. (A friend of mine got one too.)
Anyway, if you've always wanted one, back and better than ever.
Best regards, Mike |
Edited by - on 05 Oct 2006 11:52:45
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Engineer
1st Class Member
USA
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Foreman
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 11:20:27
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I ordered one too (in black). I was number 8 of 45 and always wanted a Cricket.
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Engineer
1st Class Member
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 11:24:15
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This is a terrific locomotive, especially as a starter. My son has one that he bought with birthday and babysitting money. He has run it countless hours and had a fabulous time with it. He's out of college and getting his life established now, so for a while it's mine to run. I'm happy about that, and if I didn't have it I would have already put in a reservation.
As Chip Rosenblum once remarked, the Cricket will pull a train up a telephone pole. |
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Engineer
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 12:54:00
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That certainly is good news!!! Site did not come up for me, tho. Cricket was my first engine; one of the last that Mike made. It is a great engine and can be bashed too
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Foreman
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 12:59:35
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I am happy to see the "Cricket" back, and for so reasonable a price. If anyone has ever entertained the thought of purchasing one, now is the time.
Yes, the first Crickets did have a "J" tube flue that, if the operator was not carefull, could direct the flow of condensate back to the Cub Torch burner and extinguish the flame. Later models used a straight flue and a dry smokebox with a condensate drain hole in the bottom, but the smokebox door was JB Welded in place at final assembly.
KO-5 |
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Foreman
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 13:32:42
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Mr Starr;
You need an Ozark Miniatures OM-0023 end beam L&P coupler on the front end beam of your "Cricket" so ya can pull things back where they came from.
Larry Herget  LS2173
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Foreman
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 13:55:47
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Cricket PS: I just read the Cricket's product description on the toy shop's website, and I have two pertinent comments: they are right about WD-40 not preventing rusting of ferrous metal parts. The WD in the product's name stands for water displacement which is what the product is designed to do. WD-40 may loosen stuck things up, but it is not a surface protectant nor a lubricant. The second comment pertains to the "soft soldering" of the steam line into the boiler. Aster used this approach on their B-1 Baldwin locomotive with unhappy results. In the B-1's case the whole of the boiler and fire tubes were silver braized together, while the steam lines to the cylinders and the blower were soldered in place. I'm not sure of the real reason for this approach, maybe a misplaced safety issue? But what has happened in a minority of cases is that operators have "force fed" the alcohol fired burner with a draft fan and a dry boiler, and melted out the solder joints. I know this because I have fixed three examples in the last ten years, and I own one of them now (see photo on my profile).
I also know of at least two incidents where operators have melted off the smoke box doors on the later Crickets with the straight flue and the JB Welded smokebox doors. I witnessed one of these incidents at a BAGRS Bay Area steamup about five years ago. The operator had run the loco out of water and turned up the heat when the loco started to slow down! Mike O'Rourke stood behind his product and completely re-manufactured and re-delivered the unit.
The new Cricket is gas fired as well, and in the wrong hands much damage may be done to the soldered, not braized, steam line connection to the boiler. The soldered connection will melt out in the 450F to 525F temperature range while the high temperature paint on the loco (depending on the formula) will survive 500F to 1000F; not a good canary in the mine.
I have an issue, abet a small one, with soldered joints on any part of a gas tank. Especially so if the gas tank resides in the loco's cab where sub-incandecent radiant heat can raise the gas tank's temperature to whatever degree. Solders start to loose their strength at temperatures much lower than their liquidus point (depends on the alloy, give us a table Chris), while the gas laws tell us that the gas tank's internal pressure is rising; not a comfortable equation.
Having whined sufficently over these details, please let me say that I intend to purchase one of these puppies, in red, for my ever expanding collection of Crickets; this will be number seven.
KO-5 |
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Engineer
1st Class Member
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 14:34:27
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| Lordy, Kevin, are you trying to corner the market? When you end up with over half of the total production, the street prices are going to rocket up, aren't they? |
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Engineer
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 14:54:58
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quote:
Originally posted by highpressure
Mr Starr;
You need an Ozark Miniatures OM-0023 end beam L&P coupler on the front end beam of your "Cricket" so ya can pull things back where they came from.
Larry Herget LS2173
Larry,
The sad part of it all is that my poor Cricket needs a lot more than that! The locomotive was a casualty of the forest fire three years ago that burned my house. Yes, I am a candidate for a new one, soon as I can afford one.
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Foreman
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 15:07:30
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Hi all,
I am not confident that all of the info on Purkeys' website is current. Reading it, I wondered if they did not crib from some old material by Mr. Rourke. I am going to send Mr. Krionderes a note with a link to this discussion, so he will be aware of the concerns and the general interest.
Regards, Mike |
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Foreman
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 18:34:55
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While the cricket looks really cute in its own way, since then drawings of the prototype have surfaced. The "real" one had two double-acting cylinders making it self-starting. Would be a nice switcher...
Regards
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Foreman
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 20:03:43
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No Vance......they're going to Cricket up! The Rocket was another locomotive.
Each one of my Crickets are very different from each other, but that also could be said of most of the entire run. That was one of Mike's trademarks, the artist in him could not rest till perfection was achieved.
Yes, I admit it, I'm in love with the Cricket locomotive even if the reasearch of Susan Parker has dumped cold water on its mysterious past. One would be hard pressed to call the beast that she has resurrected from the archives "cute", but the whimsey evident in Berkeley Locomotive Works rendition still overcomes the reality of the original's industrial ugliness.
Best regards,
KO-5 |
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Engineer
1st Class Member
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 22:11:21
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quote:
Originally posted by HMeinhold
While the cricket looks really cute in its own way, since then drawings of the prototype have surfaced. The "real" one had two double-acting cylinders making it self-starting. Would be a nice switcher...
Regards
Henner,
In defense of Mike O'Rourke's design, I recall a conversation I had with him many years ago. We were discussing a two cylinder version of his design, because it only made common sense that the original was made that way. He told me that he did experiment and built one, but it had so much power that it pulled wheelies all the time. So, he scraped the idea. I guess sometimes you have to make compromises when you scale down. |
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Foreman
USA
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 22:19:13
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Larry,
The sad part of it all is that my poor Cricket needs a lot more than that! The locomotive was a casualty of the forest fire three years ago that burned my house. Yes, I am a candidate for a new one, soon as I can afford one.
[/quote]
Bob,
Sorry for your loss in the fire.... If any good came of that, at least you have a really neat piece of lineside "wreckage" for your layout! |
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Engineer
1st Class Member
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Posted - 05 Oct 2006 : 23:14:55
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The stuff on Purkeys is absolutely current. I have exchanged a few e-mails with Mike Crionderis and they are his official distributor. Since he bought the design and a lot of parts from Berkeley, there's a good chance the description is taken from the same source. And why not?
The two-cylinder model is very cool, but apparently the excessive power was a problem that could probably have been remedied with a chunk of metal under the smokebox, but that's another project for someone else. Maybe if you bought a Cricket, you could also buy a spare cylinder and experiment with it.
Kevin, I remember a couple of your Crickets. I especially like the side tanks and considered getting another one just to put some on it. |
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