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Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:06 pm
by tom_tom_go
Progress!

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Dome and pipework now painted and installed.  Firebox door now complete with brass rod in place to be connected to a servo later on for R/C damper

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In the smoke box you can see the exhaust pipe at the front (nozzle still to be fitted) and the blower pipe to the rear.  The brass screws are temporary and will be replaced with painted hex bolts

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Smoke box now painted using a different high temp paint to offset from the boiler colour

Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:44 pm
by Keith S
Nice. I now agree that the engine will look good with blue body on a black boiler. I am quite envious of this build. Luckily for my bank account, Riverdale refuses to ship boilers to Canada. If I seriously could justify the purchase, that would really piss me off.

Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 11:56 pm
by Dr. Bond of the DVLR
Interesting that the boiler has only two flues rather than more smaller ones. I wonder why they chose to do that.

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:14 am
by MDLR
Mr. Bond of the DVLR:97855 wrote:Interesting that the boiler has only two flues rather than more smaller ones. I wonder why they chose to do that.
I suspect there'd be too much flue and not enough water space (remembering that scale boiler tubes would never keep clear) - there's got to be enough water space so the boiler will steam for a good few minutes before needing to be topped up.

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:51 am
by DolwyddelanLightRail
I noticed that as well, another thing which surprised me is how high up the tip of the blast pipe is going to be once finished. I would have thought that the blast pipe and blower would follow full scale firing principles and finish half way up the smokebox?

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:53 am
by Dr. Bond of the DVLR
I presume with that one its also a scaling issue and the jet of steam would have expanded too quickly to be of use in the ejector pump if the nozzle were lower down.

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:29 pm
by Keith S
One of the selling points of Riverdale boilers in particular is they are meant to be loaded up with coal and sent off to chuff around unattended like a gas-fired one. Well, more so than a conventional coal-fired one anyway. Perhaps this is why they use this particular configuration of tubes: the tubes can stay submerged even when the water gets quite low, like Brian pointed out. Perhaps they sacrificed a bit of efficiency to make the boiler more idiot-proof. Really with its dry firebox and large double flue, it has a lot in common with a gas boiler compared to a conventional coal one. It's a compelling design. I can't help thinking the tubes must be easier to clean after a run this way too.

Perhaps also the location of the blast nozzle is different than we are used to because of the particular draughting requirements of the two large tubes. They would have to taylor the "strength" of the suction generated by raising or lowering the pipe. I'm just guessing.

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 5:33 pm
by tom_tom_go
Whistle valve, blower, regulator and 1/2" pressure gauge attached:

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Just waiting on Locoworks to send me the running board set so I can bolt these on when I screw the smoke box into place. I can then run an air test and eventually fire her up :)

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:40 pm
by LnBmad
Exciting times these are!

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 7:10 pm
by tom_tom_go
Air test all good, however, no charcoal - how frustrating!

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 7:29 pm
by Lner fan Sam
Wow Tom! It looks a lot different to the chassis with one cylinder fitted we saw last summer.

Great work Tom. :D

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 2:40 pm
by tom_tom_go
Thanks Sam, it's come a long way from a pile of bits although she does not look very clean and tidy anymore after her first steaming ;)

So I spent last Saturday learning how to fire her up (and to not use charcoal from an instant BBQ as most of it isn't acutally charcoal) and managed to get her doing laps round the garden. I was impatient waiting for the coconut charcoal on order, however, soaked lightly in lamp oil this is much better to use to light her up before adding coal.

I am hoping this weekend to run her around at a more relaxed pace with longer stopping times. All part of learning :)

Will try this time to get you all some pics and a video.

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 4:45 pm
by Dannypenguin
Great to hear you've got her steamed! :) Looking forward to the pics and video! :thumbright:

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 5:31 pm
by tom_tom_go
Forgot to say thanks TonyW, chassis ran perfectly ;)

Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 7:44 pm
by tom_tom_go
No videos yet as until I get the R/C sorted she just belts around my track sling-shooting out of the tight radius curves.

A few pics at least though:

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Wiring and whistle in place.  To my surprise it all works and have tested R/C with a servo with no issues.  Air test with water in the boiler showed no leaks coming from the whistle set up:

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The servos will be fitted on the other side to control whistle, regulator and damper.

The Roundhouse safety valve just wastes steam so I am waiting on a supplier to source me a pop safety valve instead.

Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:29 pm
by laalratty
Excellent work, good to see it out on the track.

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:25 am
by MDLR
Looking at the safety valve bonnet and chimney cap, do I detect a GWR influence?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:14 pm
by TonyW
tom_tom_go:98534 wrote:Forgot to say thanks TonyW, chassis ran perfectly ;)
:thumbup:

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 8:42 pm
by Lner fan Sam
great progress tom! :thumbup:

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:00 pm
by Gremlin
looks marvelous, brilliant job