Jetty Engines was the work of one man, Hayashi-san if my notes are right, who was trying to manufacture and sell a small 0-4-0 locomotive based on the C4C tank locomotive built by Krauss Corp, Germany. His philosophy was that he wanted an very inexpensive model, distributed by anyone who would carry it. I had the opportunity to meet with this man once before he literally dissappeared. I was living in Tokyo at the time and saw a short writeup by Marc Horovitz in Garden Railways. I contacted Marc, who gave me some contact information in Japan, and Hayashi-san visited my home one Saturday on the west side of Tokyo.
The locomotive that Marc had reviewed did not have a reversing mechanism, but Marc had kindly supplied some drawings that enabled Hayashi to build a reversing link based on a simplified Walschaerts design. This is the locomotive that I saw. We were unable to run it for mechanical reasons that I don't recall. The construction was first rate and the design unique. It was alcohol fired and required a blower to raise steam, and had a firebox door that allowed lighting but also controlled the rate of burn, according to the explanation offered. It had no sight glass or lubricator, the latter not needed because of high tech "O" rings, again according to the explanation.
That's all I know. I tried several more times to get in touch with Hayashi-san and a Japanese trading company that he had mentioned he was working with, but that was it. Maybe it was personal! If anyone knows any more about this locomotive and builder I'd like to hear about it! -Richard
