The ASTER Roster

The table below gives an extract of the specification of all ASTER live steam locomotives from 1975-2016. The table is also available, with a complete history of ASTER locomotives, in my e-book The Unauthorised History of ASTER. ASTER made re-issues of some of their models which sometimes had a different specification. These re-issues are mentioned in the table and also mentioned in my e-book in the description of the locomotives it concerns. The specifications below are based on the first issue of a locomotive type.

The Southern Steam Trains website also held an ASTER roster with some extra information. Since some people prefer it to the roster I made the links are included here.

The columns of this table have the following explanation:

Year: The (approximate) year that the model became available. The release date of a locomotive is not exactly known; sources like pricelists and catalogues differ sometimes in the order that the locomotives became available.

Locomotive: Name given to the locomotive type in this book, sometimes divergent from the name ASTER used.

Size: W: Weight in kilograms, L: Length in centimetres

Wheels/Cyl: Wheel arrangement conform the Whyte notation and number of cylinders

Valve: Valve gear used as follows: All = Allan straight link; Bkr = Baker; Gre = Gresley conjugated; Osc = Oscillating cylinders; Slip = Slip eccentric; Step = Stephenson; Wal = Walschaerts; W/S = Walschaerts outside, Slip eccentric inside;               

Boiler: Boiler type and boiler content in cc/ml.

Fuel: A = Alcohol; C = Coal; G = Gas.

Pump: A = Axle pump fitted; Ao = Axle pump Optional; At = Axle pump on tender; H = Hand pump fitted;

Radius: Minimum radius the locomotive needs for running; the ASTER specification is sometimes ambiguous, especially for the smaller locomotives.

Qnty: Total number of kits and RTR versions. The number of kits and RTR locomotives made for each type are not generally published. I tried to make a count by searching on the internet and using the numbers mentioned in the book Metal Model Trains.

Remarks: Remarks