> isn't this the catalog illustration mike o'roarke used > to illustrate the prototype of the cricket?
Yes, same loco. Since Mike began and ended his career as a locomotive builder, a late-19th-century trade press article has come to light with full drawings of the engine. It answers many of the questions Mike had during development of the Cricket, most importantly "what's on the other side of the loco?" Turns out, it was a 2-cylinder loco, which makes sense. Mike actually built one or two 2-cyl. Crickets, but the flywheel of the Cracker is obviously taken from Mike's best guess. I think you could take a couple of Graham Single motors and make a splendid Byers model, similar to what many have done with the Graham Twin for Shays and Climaxes. <http://www.trainweb.org/gearedsteam/byers/byers.htm> regards, -vance- Vance Bass Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Small-scale live steam resources: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass
