The H.J. Coventry 1/2" scale, 2-1/2" gauge K4. Friends seeks ANY design details that you can supply for this engine. Please see below, thank you.
Wanted:
Materials related to the 1/2" scale, 2-1/2" gauge Pennsylvania Railroad K4 (or K4s), by H.J. Coventry of Baltimore MD
Drawings,
castings, chasses, or complete locomotives sought for Pennsylvania
Railroad Live Steam Model in 1/2" scale, 2-1/2" gauge by H.J. Coventry,
Baltimore Maryland.
Please scroll down for photos and information.
A side view of the H.J. Coventry 1/2" scale 2-1/2" gauge Pennsylvania RR 4-6-2 Pacific of the "K4" class. Please contact us if you have drawings or blueprints for this locomotive. Details below. Thank you!
The 1/2" scale, 2-1/2" gauge Pennsylvania Railroad K4 Pacific 4-6-2. Published by H.J. Coventry in 1924. Design details sought. Please see below. Thank you.
The 1/2" scale "K4".....
What it is: Mr. Coventry's first published design for a live steamer. Debuted via a brief series of construction articles in THE MODELMAKER magazine in 1924. Drawings and castings were sold by Mr. Coventry from his home at 2701 Talbott Avenue, Baltimore, MD in the 1920s and 1930s.
1/2" scale (half inch scale) means that one-half inch on the model, represents one foot (1') on the real, full sized locomotive.
2-1/2" gauge means that the distance between the model's left and right wheels (or better explained as "the space between the rails that it operates on"), is two and one-half inches (2-1/2"). The locomotive operates on rails that are 2-1/2" apart.
The original "masters" for the blueprints (masters were "copied" to make the blueprints), and the original foundry patterns, from which parts were made so that builders could build this model, were lost decades ago. It is not known if they exist. It is believed that they were destroyed, but no-one can confirm this.
There are probably a few sets of castings and blueprints "in circulation", ones that Mr. Coventry sold between 1924 and about 1945 and that were never built, or were partly built. There may be sets of blueprints with completed locomotives that people built in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. These blueprints, or copies of these blueprints, is what Friends seeks.
What Friends seeks to do: obtain blueprints so that this locomotive's design details are not lost or "forgotten about". This is the ONLY published design of H.J. Coventry for which Friends does not have the design details. If Friends does not obtain this design's details, in the coming decades this information will likely be disposed of by those few who have it, or, it will be retained by those who have it, but in time, nobody will know where it is, and it will in effect be lost forever. Eventually this material tends to be lost, disposed of, or forgotten about, especially when those who have it pass away and it's left to others who don't know what it is or who don't have an interest in it. A "driveway dumpster" is often the destination for old live steam blueprints. My goal is to prevent the H.J. Coventry K4 drawings from becoming extinct by the passage of time, or by direct disposal.
AS SUCH, blueprints, drawings, and/or un-machined (or partially machined) castings, and/or a "partial built chassis" (or completed locomotives) of & for the 1/2" scale, 2-1/2" gauge Pennsylvania Railroad K4 class 4-6-2 "Pacific" drawn by H.J. Coventry of Baltimore Maryland in the 1920s or early 1930s, are sought, so as to give this locomotive design a safe home, and to preserve its design details for posterity. Please note that some drawings for this locomotive may also be from as late as the 1940s, as Mr. Coventry drew and redrew his designs several times over the decades.
Foundry patterns and blueprint masters for the H.J. Coventry 1/2" scale P.R.R. K-4 also sought. They may exist. Nobody knows. Patterns are of wood or brass or aluminum, and are all marked HJC. If you have any HJC wooden, brass, or aluminum metal foundry patterns, please contact us.
Please check your basements, garages, barns, and shops for any of the above items. Please email Friends Models if you have any items. If you have blueprints (drawings) and are willing to photocopy them, please contact Friends.
I need your help. The 1/2" scale H.J. Coventry K4s is the only published design by H.J. Coventry for which Friends does not have the design details. If Friends is able to obtain blueprints or copies of blueprints, the design details will then be able to be stored with the rest of Mr. Coventry's designs and will no longer be "lost".
Thank you.
The 1/2" scale K4 by H.J. Coventry. Please contact Friends if you can supply drawings, blueprints, design details, blueprint masters, foundry patterns, castings or partial built locomotives. ANY materials related to this model, are sought. Thank you.
"My goal is to prevent the H.J. Coventry K4 drawings from becoming extinct by the passage of time, or by direct disposal".
