Garden Railway Forum

Tea for me, although not much recently (I've been having really bad insomnia, so I've had to cut back on the caffeine).

Completed the calculations for 4 more of the tests. for the two remaining running tests that worked properly, I got efficiencies of 60% and 50%. for two of the stationary tests, I got efficencies of 48% and 52%. will report back with the final set of results some I've got them calculated.

jez kirkwood:97399 wrote:Has to be Heywood's 0-4-0 'Katie' as this humble little loco is single handed responsible for the entire rail preservation movement....

really, I thought that was Dolgoch (or has this got to do with it keeping the ratty or the fairbourne open?)

i wasn't sleeping, I was merely taking a few moments rest.

Finished off the tests today. last 3 tests were with the loco stationary, to see if there is a difference in efficiency when the loco is in motion and stationary. I got some pretty good endurance from the gas tank during the tests today (the last test lasted over 50 min until the gas finally ran out...

Progress update. managed to get 3 tests in today. Would have managed to get a 4th in but i had to go to an interview at the squadron. below are a few pics I took. http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/w644/hmslion/100_1031_zps5b3b743e.jpg A bit blurry this one, just shows the external thermo couple be...

i'm not too sure how far up the fire tube the tip of the probe was during testing. when I adjusted the gas flow to reduce the temperature, it would settle at a new point and then started to rise again after a few minutes. presuably, if you theory is correct, when the gas flow increases, the point at...

ah, i see.

I have to say I am surprised that the efficiency was this high, although we were indoors in a moderately warm room. So was I, as that is close to the efficiency quoted for a early 20th century loco boiler. I went back and checked my calcs. and this time used the correct column in the steam table......

I'm afraid not. One idea though. could you cut a section out of the long side of the loop, then both sides would be the same length?

Matt one odd thing I did notice was that the temperature of the fire tube dropped when the gas flow rate was increased, and increased when the flow rate was cut. Intuitively (from a non engineer) at a certain point of gas flow, the faster the gas flows through the fire tube, the less is combusted a...

I've finished the efficiency calculations for the first couple of tests. For the first test, I got an efficiency of 78.2%, although this was will an incorrect reading for the amount of gas used during the test (the amount was higher than recorded, as there was still some gas left in the tank from a ...

Hello All. The first proper tests were carried out today. I'm afraid that I didn't take any pictures, will hopefully get some taken next time I do testing on Monday. I did two full runs, recording the temperature for the fire tube, the interior of the boiler, and the exterior of the boiler, once eac...

I don't know, I got my Lady Ann with RC for >£900, although I did see some GRS L&B coaches go for quite a bit a couple of weeks back.

Progress Update. Most of the work done over the last week or so has been ordering thermometers for the testing, starting on the interim report, and, making sure everything is up to date on the paperwork. Also, we've got a couple more parts for the testing. http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/w644/hm...

Things haven't been to bad yet here in Newcastle. We had a bit of snow last night, and it's been bitterly cold and windy for the last few days. we're meant to get the worst of it tonight.

Erm, Captain, I think we may have took a wrong turn at Drakes Island...

You could even bring the boiler to pressure, turn off the burner, re-fill the tank and relight it, (being careful to move it to a different spot in case butane "pooled" while you were filling it). Then you could be sure of minimum butane "wasted" getting up to temperature. The p...

I've heard of this garden railway. It was mentioned in a book I have on Britain's lost railways. There was a section on the L&B, and it went over the route and what's left of it (at the time the book was published, work hadn't started on reopening the line at Woody Bay, and the Exmoor Steam Rail...

Thanks for the replies guys. I've been doing some research today to prepare for the test. According to said research, the boiling point of water at 40psi is approx 140 degrees Celsius. given this, in order to simplify the test, I will let the pressure go up to the lifting point of the safety valve b...