Loco/tender attachment

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Keith S
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Loco/tender attachment

Post by Keith S » Thu Jan 10, 2019 5:20 am

I was looking at my "Billy" engine that I have modified to have a tender. Of course the tender is for show, as the loco has a butane tank in the cab and operates on a single fill of water, like most RH engines. I made a little drawbar for it, that screws into the hole where the centre buffer was. I used a crankpin so that the drawbar has an unthreaded part to swivel on, and a spring to keep it from dropping off the tender's pin when it's slack. I also put a little hinged plate at the back of the cab, so there isn't a gap visible from above.

Of course everybody likes details on their front and back buffer-beams like safety chains and vacuum pipes and such, but I don't believe I've seen many people take the time to have any sort of representation of how all this is carried through the locomotive.

In a real narrow-gauge engine with a tender, would there have been safety chains? I know they are required on big locomotives if there is no double drawbar- at least that's the rule in Canada.

What about the vacuum hose? Would they have a connector between loco and tender just like the one between the loco and a wagon?

Seems silly to have a vaccum stand at both ends of the loco without some kind of hose running between the engine and tender. Does anyone have some suggestions?

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GTB
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Re: Loco/tender attachment

Post by GTB » Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:02 am

Keith S wrote: Thu Jan 10, 2019 5:20 am Seems silly to have a vaccum stand at both ends of the loco without some kind of hose running between the engine and tender. Does anyone have some suggestions?
There was usually a lot of 'stuff' between the tender and loco on one built as a tender loco. At least one, possibly two water hoses. Possibly two brake hoses, one for the train brake and one for the loco/tender brake, depending on the brake system fitted. Also some sort of springing on the drawbar, either a spring buffer(s), or draft gear.

Even the home made water gins often used behind locos in Oz running on longer cane and timber trams, would have had a water hose at a minimum.

Although you've fitted one, another thing rarely seen on models is a fall plate between loco and tender. Not generally used on North American locos, but usually present on British tender locos.

I'm sure there are all sorts of exceptions in preserved locos, but they aren't always typical of steam era practice.....

Regards,
Graeme

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Keith S
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Re: Loco/tender attachment

Post by Keith S » Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:24 am

Thanks Graeme - I appreciate your answer but I should have asked my question more clearly...

with respect to the vacuum hose, I'm wondering if it would typically have the same quick-disconnecting hose-coupling as the hoses do between wagons -if so I'd like to use a set of brandbright ones.

With respect to the water hose, I'm just wondering what that would look like, where it would come off the tender, where it would stick onto the locomotive, How it was connected and disconnected, etc. Also I have some DJB injector castings. If the injectors are located under the cab, then I assume the hose from the tender just plugs right into an injector?

With respect to safety chains: I know on standard-gauge Canadian locos they are a requirement if there is only one drawbar. I'd like to know if safety chains appear on small narrow-gauge British locomotives, and if so, do they look like the safety chains one sees on the buffer-beams of many 16mm scale locomotives? If so, great, because again I have a set of Brandbright ones.

Basically in summary I would like to use some Brandbright buffer-beam detail parts like safety chains and vacuum hoses between my loco and its tender. Just not sure if that's similar to what one might see in real life.

If someone had a photograph of what all this looks like say on one of the Ffestiniog locos that have a tender, that would be great.

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Re: Loco/tender attachment

Post by TonyW » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:53 am

Linda water hose: https://photos.smugmug.com/Trains/2014/ ... 807-X2.jpg
Linda vacuum hose: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NNsRgRES-8I/T ... C09818.JPG

Blanche is different and has them both on the right-hand side: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6QZUza4wr2k/T ... C09829.JPG

Note that there is no quick release ... the hoses are held in place with Jubilee clips. There are no safety chains that I remember. Blanche has a fall plate, Linda does/did not.
Tony Willmore
Rhos Helyg Locomotive Works: http://www.rhoshelyg.me.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RhosHelygLocoWorks

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IanC
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Re: Loco/tender attachment

Post by IanC » Thu Jan 10, 2019 3:32 pm

I am not sure about narrow gauge locos, but on standard gauge tender locos besides the drawbar there would be buffers, water hoses for both injectors, a vacuum hose (or air pipe) and if fitted, a steam heating hose. Hope that helps.
Ian

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Keith S
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Re: Loco/tender attachment

Post by Keith S » Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:23 pm

Thanks guys, especially for the pictures Tony. That looks as though a bit of brass rod and a pair of the springs that Brandbright uses for vacuum hoses would work perfectly.

Maybe it seems a bit silly to go to this level of detail on a "Billy" but I've already put the vacuum ejector pipework and vacuum hoses at either end, and at the AGM I bought a pair of "injectors" from DJB, and well once one gets started on the little detail parts it's really hard to stop.

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