Alan Stepney

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gwrdriver
Posts: 3439
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 10:31 am
Location: Nashville Tennessee

Alan Stepney

Post by gwrdriver »

I'm sorry to have to report I've just now received notice from his son John that Chaski member and regular on many other model engineering sites and boards over the years, Alan Stepney, passed away on Friday. RIP
GWRdriver
Nashville TN
Bruce
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Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:30 am
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Re: Alan Stepney

Post by Bruce »

Sorry to hear that. A few years ago I bought a very interesting 1.5" scale live steam chassis project here in Los Angeles from an antique dealer who knew nothing about live steam (lucky for me). No one around here knew much about it. It turned out to be an 0-4-4 Billinton D3 tank engine with nicely detailed bronze, one-off castings (spring hangers, trucks, frame stretchers cylinder block, etc.). I found out that a deceased guy in Palas Verdes had built it who had had a home shop foundry. The machine work on the engine was very nice but it looked as though the project had been abandoned after the running chassis was nearly complete. I Machined the valve castings that came with it, slapped on the cylinder heads and ran it on air. It chugged along as square could be. I decided to pull the pistons and when I did, found no rings on them. I made the rings from bronze according to "So You Want To Build A Live Steam Locomotive?" installed them and fixed some of the problems with the frame. I did some research and erroneously discovered that it was an Adams Tank and bought a set of model plans from Reeves for a 5" Adams. I had already posted pictures of it on Chaski and Alan Stepney picked up the thread. He seemed very interested in the engine and did some research for me. We simultaneously discovered that it was a Billinton D3. He gave me lots of tips and fed me some more detailed photos and suggested dimensions for a boiler. He was very enthusiastic and helpful, just as he had been years before about my posts in regards to my son Oskar's 3/4" scale Maisie. He also helped me with info on an old British motorcycle, another of my life-long projects, as enthusiastically as he had been with the locomotives. I have not yet seen another model of this engine, save for an O gauge build in an old Railway News magazine. I finally, on a suggestion from Alan, contacted the National Railway Museum Archives in York, UK and they sent me 1 1/2" scale drawings of the prototype which had been photo copied many times over and were a little distorted and off scale as often happens. The prototype drawings are very busy and detailed far beyond my comprehension but I've manage to nearly complete a copper boiler based on them and Alan's sketches. RIP Alan.
JJG Koopmans
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Re: Alan Stepney

Post by JJG Koopmans »

I have had a couple of interesting email exchanges with him. He was a source of very good information and his website(s) are proof of that. He will be missed,
Jos Koopmans
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Bill Shields
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Re: Alan Stepney

Post by Bill Shields »

Alan and I rode out and back to Kidderminster a few years ago. I had the footplate out, he had it back.

Sorry to see him go - another wealth of experience lost to the fraternity.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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