'Phoenix' is a 2-foot gauge live steam locomotive built by Keith Watson and Keith Tingle in Australia in 2001. It has recently been imported into the U.K. and is currently undergoing engineering acceptance with a view to visiting suitable railways here.
I've been involved in standard gauge preservation for over twenty years but a few years ago I also joined the 2-foot gauge Derbyshire Dales Railway and these smaller gauges are starting to grow on me. I'm old enough to remember when most trains were steam trains and I think myself fortunate for that experience. But, as time goes on, people who remember these steam days become fewer. If the preservation movement is to continue, we need to bring in younger people with no direct experience of steam trains. Miniature railways and narrow-gauge lines are a good way of introducing younger children to the excitement of railways because, being smaller, the locomotives are less intimidating.
'Phoenix' is a locomotive with great character which appeals to adults and children alike. It's based on the small H.K. Porter design of contractors and mining locomotives built in large numbers in the United States in various sizes and various gauges. To make life easier for our younger friends, 'Phoenix' has been informally called 'Sam the Steam Engine', or simply 'Sam'.
You can find more photgraphs of 'Sam' at 'Phoenix'.
