Garden Railway Forum

Why not go to Eaton Park, Norwich and talk to the Model engineers there?

Today, 807 received a proper baptism. https://up.picr.de/47409239ma.jpg The Steel turtle had just received a new set of batteries and a light overhaul. She weighs about 40kgs, the body is made of 3mm steel plates. Turret can be turned endlessly (10core twist connection), water gun has a range of 5 t...

Rust-Oleum?

More work has been done. I added some more hidden lead and replaced the 0.8mm internal diameter pipe between the banjo bolts with 2mm internal diameter pipe. I now have to re-set the valves when the engine is hot. Never thought that expansion would have a noticeable effect in 5" gauge but it do...

No entries yet? OK, here we go: https://up.picr.de/46423700zt.jpg I always wanted a working water tower for my 5" gauge layout. Most German ones of the right (small) size are of brick construction or have a spherical tank. Some even have an inverted sphere at the bottom. This was way to compli...

I´ll volunteer to (and give you the choice if he shall inspect o-gauge or 5" gauge (or maybe both?).

Yesterday we hat a meeting at a firend´s track. There is a long uphill section. While firing up I heard comments like "that thing is never giong to pull anything" and "just put it on the mantelpiece". Jokes aside, the loco is running. I made it up the long incline, the pressure g...

I only know the Plank VULCAN being driven on the first axle.

Goes better than before, but still not as I want it to. Blower kan keep the fire alive now st 50 to 75 psi and even raise the pressure. Blastpipe still needs some tuning. As usual with traction engines the blastpipe is in the chimney, so there is less area for the exhaust steam to mix with the hot g...

Investigated further into the draughting issue: The exhaust steam enters a T-piece...at the bottom. So much for not obstructing the flow of the exhaust steam. The blower was also included in this strange contraption. As soon as I tried to unscrew anything, the exhaust steam pipe and the blower pipe ...

Still not happy with the draughting. I am only used to 5" gauge locos having the blower and blast pipe inside the smokebox. I would like to ask the experts here: As the exhaust steam enters the chimney above boiler level, how should the blast pipe and blower nozzle look in order to create a goo...

Sometimes the connection is a bit slow.
It is a free camera hoster.
You will hardly see the birds now as it is cold and rainy, so they stopped bringing in stuff for the nest.
The female sleeps in the box every night now.

Had a few laps on Saturday. The loco pulls me but needs more weight. Traction is a real issue. The new grate works well. When running, she can keep the steam. However, the blower still cannot keep the fire alive at standstill, even with 75 psi on the clock. (to be investigated). It is fun to ride th...

Birdbox webcam is active.
Today, the birds are moving in:

https://www.ipcamlive.com/65dc65a9b6422

Near Braunschweig we had an even more stupid lorry driver. He wanted to deliver things to a mill near BRaunschweig but the road gates were still closed as he was quite early. He then saw that the railway gates were open and he thought he would just drive his lorry on the railway tracks to the inside...

I am still looking for a proper model in 1:10 or 1:11 to bonvert a VW bus to a railcar.
Some yeara ago a company came up with the HO gauge DMC DeLorean time machine car (running on rails).
Sometime ago I took photos of a railcar based on an Opel Olympia.

There are so many possibilities.....

As an assessor I get lots and lots of documents to check. I have a huge file in the office containing only the best ones. German autocorrect went in and changes "Worst-case Betrieb" to WURST Case Betrieb. (Sausage case Operation). Some things turn robust by the change of a letter. Maximum ...

Wow, that seems pretty strong! I wonder how far it could get with a tender-mounted dustbuster? I was thinking how long the cable would have to be on a large garden railway and what happens under bridges / tunnels :shock: Come on, think out of the box: A leaf blower to power the loco which in turn i...

Hi Aaron, the spacing is always a bit trial and error. I use Anthracite coal. My LBSC Titfield Thunderbolt and my Maxitrak Swallow have had issues with clinker. A wider spacing of the grate bars solved this problem. I will just make another grate for 807 and try again. it´s always a long way to get ...

Another test run last weekend showed that the water pump is reliable now. That´s the good news. There still is an issue with draughting. Even at standstill using the engine blower or the electric blower I cannot get the pressure above 25 psi. As boiler and smokebox are one piece there is no leak the...