To the Aster Lion specification page | Lion History notes
The Lions are here, now!

The next British outline live steam Gauge One locomotive from the Aster Hobby Co is the Liverpool & Manchester Railway ‘Lion’ 0-4-2 tender locomotive.

The original is depicted above at Edge Hill Station c. 1838 in a painting by Jim Petrie, in the collections of the Merseyside County Museums.
This locomotive will be available both as a kit of parts for the owner to assembly or as a factory built up fully tested model. Standard livery will be as Lion is currently preserved. A ‘Titfield Thunderbolt’ livery version is also promised. Ready to run comes with its own carry box in the form of a plastic 'Toolbox' - (very trendy! PT)

Brief Specification

Scale and Gauge: 1/32nd scale for Gauge One - 45mm / 1.75" track..
Boiler: multi-tube copper ‘C type’ boiler, silver soldered throughout - working pressure 50psi
Boiler controls and fittings: regulator, blower valve, safety valve and clack valve
Lubricator: Roscoe displacement type.
Cylinder: single double-acting cylinder (10mm bore x 14mm stroke) with D valve driving through 2:1 reduction gear to give 4 beats per revolution. Slip eccentric reverse.
Tender: contains alcohol fuel tank and water filler inlet for refilling whilst in steam.
Minimum radius: 1 metre. Will operate on LGB track if required
Approx. dimensions: Length OB 32cm, width 85mm, height 13cm.
Availability: Now! Kits and factory built ready to run.

Price: Kit £875 RTR £995.
A range of suitable passenger vehicles based upon the 1930 reproductions are now available.
Also there is an open carriage truck available, sorry no picture yet!

Call/eMail for pricing of these rolling stock items.
READY TO RUN OR KIT BUILT?

If the instructions supplied with the locomotive are followed and a reasonable amount of common-sense is applied, then a ready to run factory built Aster ‘Lion’ will work first time out of the box.

Careful operation over a “running-in” period will allow your model to pull a prototypical train for 8-10 minutes on one boiler filling. It should be mentioned that it will be possible to keep an Aster ‘Lion' in steam indefinitely if the boiler water is regularly topped up via the tender filler valve and the meths and oil recharged from time to time).

A ready to run Aster ‘Lion’ will give great pleasure and the satisfaction of owning a superbly designed and built live steam model, which with care will last a lifetime. The alternative is to build your Aster ‘Lion’ from a kit of parts. Building Aster locomotives adds a whole new dimension to the pleasure of live steam model railways.

All the parts will be fully machined and painted (except boiler cladding and lower firebox cladding) and will be easily assembled following the detailed instructions and drawings provided. No previous experience is required but common-sense will be repaid by a superb running model. Only hand tools are required. The kit builder will need no soldering, brazing or other fixing techniques.

The Aster ‘Lion’ will be a good live steam model kit to start with perhaps trying one of the more complex Aster kits later.

Marc Horovitz has reviewed the Lion and also produced an excellent set of notes with illustrations on his Website - just click here to see these.

back to the top