"How much did the plans cost?" I had some Friends Model castings (I am NOT a relation!) that I traded for both the Coventry D30 loco and the Compound drawings. I had a previous incomplete set from a Ray Riechenberg who had run an ad in Live Steam Magazine in 1995 for the Compound castings. Further correspondence with him indicated that he had drawings for the D30 loco and I purchased these. His drawings were blue lines made from other bluelines and were hardly readable. I also purchased a D30 boiler that he thought was made by Coventry. While Ray's stuff was a little rough (some original Coventry castings and some obviously pulled from castings used to make other castings) I have a complete Compound set. My D30 castings were purchased from a friend who thought they were a 3.5" Little Engines Pacific! Some investigation by me found them to be the Coventry D30 and somewhat incomplete. This was long before John Kurdzionak started reassembling the catalog of Friends Models and various pieces of Henry Coventry's designs. When John K started advertising in Live Steam, I contacted him and made the deal. His drawings are black line from the original (or near original) tracings and are very clear.
Of course, Coventry did the Compound in Live Steam from Dec 1970 to I think Dec 1972. These issues can be had for a couple of bucks each on eBay by searching "Live Steam". Both the Coventry originals and the Bill Fitt drawings prepared for the magazine will have to be examined for errors.
Photo's show my Compound and loco casting sets as originally received and current state of the loco...
John Friend
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