SSP slomo

[btiratsoo]

Hello all

I have had a significant time away from garden rails but a friend has reignited my interest in model railways of all scales. I am now looking to recommission my Roundhouse Mildred and would like to fit an SSP Slomo but it seems they have stopped making them.

Is there an equivalent available or does anyone know where stock may be found?

Cheers
Ben

[FWLR]

Might help, but its a product that was made to order i'am afraid...

https://www-kleinanzeigen-de.translate. ... _tr_pto=sc

[TonyW]

These guys http://wilsonlocomotives.com.au/ are planning to start making them again, available next year.

[Andrew]

In pre-Slomo days we learnt how to manage and control our locos. It is easier than driving a car.

On a good day! I find smooth stopping and starting can be tricky, if either me or the loco aren't in the mood for it, and I've been driving 16mm steam engines for over thirty years! My new RH Small England seems to be pleasingly docile...

My Russell has a Slomo, and I do enjoy the different experience that offers, and the way it helps smooth out the lumps and bumps along my line. I'm not wildly keen on the whirring of the gears, but I can live with it - I'm glad they'll be back in production again.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[ge_rik]

Having just hosted a visit from Zach and his mate, Theo, I can testify to the effectiveness of his Momentum Van as a much cheaper alternative. It's advantage is that it can be attached to any loco. Its disadvantage is that it needs to be towed behind the loco.
https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=9667

Rik

[btiratsoo]

Thanks for the replies and the heads up about Wilson Locomotives Tony.

Thanks for reminding me of the momentum van Rik, it’s been so long since I had the garden rail bug that I’d forgotten about that. I believe it was just being conceived when I last paid much attention to the 16mm world. Lovely idea.

Cheers
Ben

[Andrew]

"George", "Mildred"'s otherwise identical other half, had a tender, which looked rather nice - and could house a "Zeecars" type of flywheel mechanism, beneath some dummy coal? My version of the Momentum Van work OK, but wasn't heavy enough, but you should be able to get plenty of weight into a tender. That's assuming you want a tender engine, of course!

[btiratsoo]

Thanks for the idea there Andrew. I'd like to keep Mildred tender free for now, but if that is the case I will certainly look into it. The idea of the slomo has been rekindled after watching videos of a layout called Hambledon - the end to end shunting at very slow speed using live steam appeals to me.

[Andrew]

Hambledon's great, isn't it?

I operate an end-to-end line (it goes all the way round the garden, but the ends don't meet up because there's an 18" difference in height), and generally it works for me - I sometimes have to remember to find the right "headspace" though! My line's only short, but even with "Russell"'s big boiler I tend to only get two round trips in per steaming, because - when done "nicely", rather than in a tearing hurry - running round at each end takes several minutes, and any other shunting, station stops (or photo ops!) take more. On the whole, it feels more purposeful, although I do sometimes wish I could just watch the trains roll by...

[FWLR]

I have used those Zeecar's on the tender for my RH Billy.

FA18BB88-F113-40F8-AE4F-DBB8A666076D.jpeg (1.42 MiB) Viewed 3656 times

BF9A0203-8260-4CC3-9D32-05D6BC75EF5C.jpeg (409.36 KiB) Viewed 3656 times

471EC957-EDCD-44A7-8815-F1E2D872E999.jpeg (769.24 KiB) Viewed 3656 times

300B828E-AA85-4489-8193-ECE49852873A.jpeg (582.44 KiB) Viewed 3656 times

C0CC9C52-A49A-4984-A5C2-DEEC78A8331A.jpeg (679.87 KiB) Viewed 3656 times

This was all 3D printed on my printer with the coupling links and the chassis. It works great, but I do have to reduce the clearance a bit more so it can go over points. I did use real coal also and I think it looks more authentic. It's a lot cheaper than the Slomo's, but then again like Rik says, I do have to pull it behind the loco and maybe it's not as controllable, but I can get smooth running. It all depends on were the gas valve is set at. It's worth a try I would say and they aren't that expensive, well they weren't 2 years ago. I did use two also.

[Keith S]

I recommend a "momentum wagon" as well. I am a massive supporter of the idea. I personally like it when the train has momentum, not just the locomotive.

I run my "Billy" with manual control, and I find the van makes it run more realistically, as it makes the engine work a bit to shift the train, as well as smoothing out its progress over dodgy bits of track. It allows me to set the regulator to a reasonable speed and when the loco hits a tight spot or a bump, the train gives it a "nudge" to keep it going.

Also, I like being able to see all the empty space between the loco frames. I like to see that it's the steam in the cylinders doing the work and not some mechanism hidden inside. I know that's not what "slomo" does but it does look like with the gears and chains visible. Of course with a momentum van you still get the "whirring" sound of gears, but not from the locomotive.

[Phil.P]

Isn't it cheating a bit?

Would a finer taper on the regulator-valve help?
That and flat wagons, each with a brick on them..


Phil.P

[btiratsoo]

I like the brick idea!