Garden Railway Forum

Presumably, as it's atomised water make real steam, it will be even more effective in the garden on a chilly windless day? The 'steam' from these devices is an aerosol and it is generated cold. It can't cool and condense to form a thicker cloud in cold still air, as steam will. Although like the ex...

Now this looks interesting. I wonder if it's achievable without DCC? CVP Products in the US make a DCC based r/c system called Airwire 900 designed for garden railways using onboard batteries and it can drive DCC sound decoders. They make a device they refer to as a converter that picks up the DCC ...

This year's GSSU was held over the weekend just gone, at Gembrook in the Dandenongs, on the outskirts of Melbourne. Graham Fordham has posted a couple of videos of the proceedings online that may be of interest to those unable to attend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93mcGZtZXRE https://www.youtub...

Today was a nice sunny day with light winds and the loco had its first run in steam on its home track. I decided to run it on the big wheel with a light load of three cars and the first photo shows it sitting in the shade on no.2 road ready to go, just as the safety opened. Dylan-l.jpg The second ph...

A bit more progress on this model. After finishing two live steam loco paint jobs, I've moved on to wiring up the Harman so the mechanism can be tested. I was a bit uncertain how well this model would run with just two little N20 gearmotors. Wiring has progressed to the point of track testing and it...

I find a tarnished brass finish is a lot easier to achieve when using metal blackener on a brass part...... 8) On a plastic part I'd be inclined to spray the part with brass enamel, give it plenty of time to harden up (at least a week mimimum) then tarnish it with a wash of water based acrylic paint...

If you haven't already found it, this site has photos and data on pretty much any Shay ever built. https://www.shaylocomotives.com/ 70 tonners were mostly class C locos with three trucks running on standard gauge. Big locos even by US standards. Good luck. At least they used standard bevel gears, so...

Moving pictures don't do it for me, but if that's your thing, using 'lining model locomotives' as a search term on Youtube turns up some relevant hits..... https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lining+model+locomotives They should keep you occupied while Andrew has a crack at becoming a docum...

I've done a quick look around and Walsall Model Industries do narrow gauge type castings to be machined up for live steamers. I use Walsall castings on my live steamers, usually only on the inside frame locos. Outside plate frames usually hide spokes and it's cheaper to turn disc wheels out of soli...

I think we've had this discussion before, but back in my 4mm days I used a bow pen and Humbrol but I thinned the Humbrol enamel with a small drop of Linseed oil. I've also seen reference to using linseed oil in Ian Rathbone's book on painting and lining. Boiled linseed oil would probably be better,...

I haven't run a train since early July and I've just spent three days clearing the jungle that had grown up around the track since then. The works foreman was sent out in the gang motor on an inspection trip to check for any damage from a recent storm and ensure the track was clear for the branch li...

I'd always thought you had to thin paints for a bow pen (not that I've tried it since my first abortive attempt around 60 years ago!). Interesting to hear you used Humbrol straight out of the tin. As well as reducing the viscosity, adding solvent reduces the surface tension of enamel paint, so the ...

Did you make templates to draw around, or some other method I'm not aware of? I tend to be allergic to templates and jigs.......... The lining on this model was mostly done using the spring bow pen from the drawing set. The type I have has a removable point, which I replaced with a piece of brass r...

philipy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 30, 2023 9:27 am Thanks Graeme. I hadn't realised that Skylark was that low, either.

Consider the Groudle Glen Bagnalls, which are probably right up your alley. 2' gauge, but the cab is so small the driver has to sit to fit..........

Graeme

The tallest figure that will fit in the cab of Thornas is about 85mm high. That makes the cab about the same height as a Kerr Stuart Skylark. The TVT engineer is 85mm tall and he just fits in the Skylark cab. I wouldn't worry too much, Skylarks weren't alone in having low cabs. Anyway, the average ...

Time marches on and this model has finally left the paint shop, leaving only one model currently in the queue. The original plan was that this loco would be finished in time for the GSSU last year, it will just make it for this year. I wasn't that sure of the shade of green at first, but the lining ...

I'm also not sure what's wrong with the motor mount but that was one piece I kind of rushed and meant to come back to later... I guess it's later now :oops: I had a kind of revelation an hour or so ago and I think I may have found a better answer. I know your motor is 25mm diameter but how long is ...

BTW I cannot access the gearedsteam website as it gives me a great big red warning that I have (somehow) infringed their copyright. No idea about that one, it's not an error message I've ever seen online. I used the site heavily and downloaded photos when I was researching prototype info for the Cl...

First question is what is that vertical thing inside the cab? I’m guessing it is the steam dome. Then what is the long ‘chimney’ on top? UScdesigners rarely used inside cylinders on steam locos., mostly on early ones copied from UK practice. In later years, the yanks preferred the working parts of ...

I lamented my bad luck and replaced the dead Deltang RX65 with the only spare I had, a micron MR603B. As it turns out this motor controller seems to have braking as a built in feature, the speed remains very steady in varying load conditions including while running down hill. Some sort of friction ...