Garden Railway Forum

Hi Andrew… that lighter gas you mentioned from newsagents.. does that have some sort of inbuilt adapter then?

Just posted here viewtopic.php?f=29&t=14366

The bottles I bought don’t have any thread so I can’t attach the adapter sadly.

Hi everyone,

I just acquired a Mamod SL1 loco. First ever live steam model.

Should I be looking out for a particular type of butane bottle?

I bought some camping ones, and they don’t have any thread to screw onto? So my brass attachment is useless.

Thanks!

Thanks for the help Andrew! My pleasure! It's giving me a warm glow, because it's normally me asking the questions - my technical knowledge is very limited! If you want to run it quickly and can't get to a DIY shop, the gas they sell in newsagents for cigarette lighters works, no adapter required. ...

This steam railway lark definitely shows shortcomings in the grey matter in my case! Yup- I was able to remove the gas cylinder Problem solved!

I heard they're a bit temperamental yes. The plan is to sell it, I think. But I'll have a play first.

Thanks for the help Andrew!

Believe me I’m very reluctant to start drilling holes

Removing the roof sounds like a plan!

For running, do you reckon you’d open up the gas regulator fully then control with the regulator on the front of the engine, or the other way around? I guess I’ll just have to have a play!

Thanks so much Andrew! Between yesterday and today I managed to find more info online too. The issue I have now is there's no hole in the cab roof to insert the filler attachment/adapter! But oddly, I moved the regulator and gas flowed through! So it has been filled at some point? I'm wondering if I...

Thanks Andrew and Don. I like the Regner idea. I may use a cheap diesel for now until the layout is complete.

I just acquired this lovely SL1K… first live steam loco. I then realised I couldn’t put the burner tray in, owing to the cylinder thing being in the way. I’m totally new to this… but I’m assuming this is a gas conversion? There was also the brass attachment you see in the clear bag. Thoughts welcome...

Thanks so much Rik for the insights and the videos!

You can also tame a steam loco, by adding heavy stock to the train.. However, adhesion can then be a problem, and you have to have a delicate touch to avoid wheelspin of the loco. I would seriously suggest you start with something battery powered. The addition of radio control, adds much 'play' val...

Thanks everyone! Gosh, you’re not wrong about Mamods being a hobby in of themselves! I think the loco would occupy far more time than the railway! I’ll pick up a diesel for now from somewhere. And regarding slow running with live steam - that’s achievable with Roundhouse, etc? It seems to be. Whenev...

Been a little slow lately but hoping to get the groundwork done in the next couple of weeks. I thought looking for locos might motivate me- especially if I buy one and see it sat there! The plan is to get an electric (diesel) logo as a kind of test-loco before investing in live steam. OR, I consider...

Much appreciated - thanks Graeme. I sent you a private message.

I’d enjoy it I think. Sounds very satisfying! Does anyone have a good guide I could look over? Issue with not using set track is I’m confined on space for the loops - and I didn’t want to risk messing up my first ever layout by getting the bends wrong! Silly question but once the tracks are bent, th...

Thanks Graeme - I’d certainly be open to learning. I do have a soldering iron at least!

Update: we have track! Most of the straights anyway. I need a lot of set-track curves and points… 6 in total. Coming from the 00 world…. I can’t believe the cost of points. It’s looking like £450 just in those? If anyone has any they’d like to offload I’d certainly appreciate being able to shave the...

Looking to see if anyone has any spare track they’d like to offload?

I need around 360cm ( 4 x 90cm) straights, 6 sets of points and 30 curved sections overall.

Thanks!

Last qu for a bit ... hopefully... the track bed will be ballast - the track won't be fastened down except on the bridge. For the 'dogbone' loop - per the diagram, would you suggest going with flexible track and bending it to shape, or pre-made curved sections for at least some of it? I do want it t...

Thanks for the responses everyone, and for the useful links, Graeme- much obliged.

I'll go with the bridge idea. That seems the most straightforward- literally.

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Wed Feb 22, 2023 1:17 pm There may be space for the track to remain level and deviate around the steps in a cutting, or even a tunnel if the top step is raised?

Would need to be a tunnel under the top step- but that's very deep. I'm going to proceed with the bridge