Garden Railway Forum

Personally, DJB single tone whistles sound crap on Roundhouse engines because you normally run them well under 40 PSI whereas Accucraft boilers are around 60 PSI so you get a better tone.

The Regner whistles work fine at low pressures and if you position them under the smokebox near the cylinders it looks like the steam cocks are open when you blow the whistle (I believe Graeme username GTB came up this idea when I was fitting one to a Lady Anne):



Here is the project thread for the Regner whistle:

https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 25&t=12218

Tom, many thanks, very interesting article, but I have to say, I don’t silver solder any more, don’t have the equipment.

Happy to help if you need bits modifying, send me a PM.

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2020 10:27 pm Happy to help if you need bits modifying, send me a PM.

Tom many thanks, i may just do that once the current situation has calmed down

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2020 6:21 pm Personally, DJB single tone whistles sound crap on Roundhouse engines because you normally run them well under 40 PSI whereas Accucraft boilers are around 60 PSI so you get a better tone.

Very interesting Tom. I think you can't beat a proper whistle. I like the idea of positioning the whistle steam effects for best aesthetics

So I have been running my fowler for some weeks now, and try to ensure I get it back to the "steam up" location before it runs out of steam. Managed to get the gas quite low so the valve does not blow off constantly, but I still think it is out of water before gas, when I just miss the mark getting it home.
As mentioned in another thread, I do have some (not a lot in my opinion) water from below the smoke box when first starting, after pressure is raised but the rest of the loco is cold, but i think this is normal.
My next challenge is couplings, I am not running any particular prototype, and for the rest of my stock (mainly LGB/Bachman) have the loop and bar, as this is easy to couple/uncouple but not very prototypical, but I have found the LGB coupling is almost a direct replacement for the RH single buffer and hook, an thoughts.

Jimmy,

Water from under the smokebox is quite normal. The cylinders are cold when starting so the steam condensates and turns back to water. This is then expelled when the locomotive moves. Once you have moved a short distance this will stop because the cylinders will warm up. To avoid this your locomotive would need to be fitted with drain cocks. Most locomotives are designed to run out of gas first although without topping up there may be very little water left. I have had the same concern as you with my Lady Anne so I now have a Goodall valve and part way through a run (around 2/3rds of the gas burn time so about 20 minutes) I give it a few squirts with the Superior top up bottle. I got mine from Jackson's Miniatures, but other suppliers stock them. The pressure will drop a little as the water is added. I don't add a lot as I don't have a gauge fitted, but enough to make sure there will be some water at the end of the run. I never add water at the end of a run. I wait until it has cooled down.

How much water are you guys filling the boiler with? Roundhouse recommend filling the boiler then withdrawing 30ml. If I do this with my Lady Anne there's always a fair amount of water left when the gas runs out, & that's after running for 30 minutes or so.

Ian, thank you for the tip, I will look in to the valve.

Big-Ted, I fill to the top, and remove 30ml as per the hand book, but when the loco runs out of steam, i can hear the burner still running.

What I was taught by Harri from Roundhouse that once your up to pressure and ready to go, turn the gas down to a whisper/sillent. As the model warms up, the gas pressure rises and the burner will again start to roar, turn it down again and anytime you start to hear it roar again. The older models, when filled as the directions state, by going totally full, then removing 30ml of water, keeping the gas turned down and not wasting steam out of the safety, the gas will run out before the water. Now the newer models with a sight glass, like my friends Lilla, will run out of water first, but with a goodall valve, he just adds water as necessary. Should you run low on water and the model starts to slow down due to a short fill of water or gas up to high, turn off the gas and leave the model alone to cool..do NOT add water to an overheated boiler if you have a goodall valve fitted. The thermal shock isnt good on them. These boilers are over engineered and will be fine once they cool down. Learning your model(s) is all part of live steam. Each will be different, each will have his/her own personality just as the real 1:1 scale ones do. Only time and lots of practice will you gain confidence in your ablites and the most run time out of the model. Keep the gas down low, safety not blowing off and running at the lowest boiler pressure possible is a challenge that many take up, seeing how long they can run on a single fill. Have fun!! Mike the Aspie

Aspie, many thanks, I am getting use to the model, and getting the gas lower, though the other day the loco stopped because the gas had gone out, bit of a balancing act, getting there slowly, and learning to understand my loco.

You are doing well, just keep at it. Its self beneficial, the more you run the better you get at it. At home, I can turn the gas right down to near silent and keep it that way. But at shows, with all the background noise which is very overwhelming for someone on the autism spectrum, I struggle to keep the gas down where I like it as I just cannot hear it well enough to turn it right down and not off all together. You will learn the signs of running low on water and know to just end the run right then and let the model cool. I used to have a Fowler, and would like to have one again someday soon. Look into one of the SSP Slomo inertia devices, it really transforms the slow speed running of these models. I have one on order for my Lady Anne. Mike the Aspie

Mike, I have looked at the SloMo, but the fowler isn't listed on the site, I need to email and enquire, just busy with work.

The 0-6-0 SSP Slomo will fit a Roundhouse Fowler as it fits into the Lady Anne, Russell and Silver Lady types (I have fitted these devices to these locos).

I have opted for the DJB Engineering whistle, and being a new loco, and as I do not have access to the necessary workshop equipment I asked Paul of DJB to carry out the fitting as part of his service. Finding a courier/post where I could ship and insure the loco for its fully value was fun (but that is another story )

However, Saturday was the first day to test my new whistle. A little slow to raise steam, but I assume that was the ambient temperature, steam up and away. The instructions inform any condensation in the whistle needs to released, and the whistle needs to warm, so once I had got the "hang" of it, it is quite impressive, and even down at 30 psi still worked well.

Lots of lovely steam

Aye, always nice to see. Quite like the colour, too. Thought about painting mine like that during construction..

Are you still running out of water before gas? My Fowler's always run out of gas first, odd..

Old Man Aaron wrote: ↑Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:56 am Aye, always nice to see. Quite like the colour, too. Thought about painting mine like that during construction..

Are you still running out of water before gas? My Fowler's always run out of gas first, odd..

Aaron, many thanks, i don't run it "empty", bringing it to a stop before either run out, so not sure. Come the warmer weather I will test that again, now i have more experience with it.

Had my Fowler out for a run at the weekend, when first bought it would not pull the cane wagons and molasses tank (which are all metal and very heavy) up my 1:25 gradient, now after some gentle running in no problems at all. I appreciate this is not quite to Aaron's standard, but I am happy with it.

Looks great, Jimmy. Again, love the colour. Long as you like it, that's all that matters. Good to hear it's running in nicely. I wonder how much a fully run-in Fowler could pull..