Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

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Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:41 pm

As an early 40th present to myself I decided to get a GRS/Bowande quarry hunslet.

It's arrived today & all is not well. The chimney & safety valves are at angles rather than straight. The saddle is also not sat straight with the tank going uphill towards to the chimney & the smokebox doesn't close properly.

I'm very disappointed as its a model I've wanted for a while. Has anyone else had this issue with one of the models?

The photos don't show the saddle angling up properly.
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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Jimmyb » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:55 pm

Have you contacted the vendor, I am sure they will replace it for you if it was new, otherwise the vendor needs to claim against the courier.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:15 pm

I'll be calling them tomorrow to sort it out. I'm not fully sold on the quality compared with accucraft or roundhouse & think I am going to ask for a refund. I'm very disappointed with the model overall.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by big-ted » Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:46 pm

Crazy. I also picked one of these up. In the same livery and also as a 40th birthday present...!

I've not given mine a run yet. I plan to do so Saturday, but having poked around the build quality seems excellent. The folks at GRS are very helpful. I'm sure they will sort you out.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Wed Mar 30, 2022 7:03 pm

How bizarre, we both ordered for a 40th present.

I'm sure grs will sort it out for me.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:44 pm

Well I have got to hand it to John at Grs. He has had a headache with dhl getting it back to the shop with them saying they've been to my house on several occasions for no one to be home even though we've waited specifically for them to arrive.

The models gone back & John couldn't believe it had been sent in such a state in the first place. He's talked me into a replacement which will hopefully arrive before Easter.

I will report back once it's in steam on the railway.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by big-ted » Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:07 am

Good stuff!

Suspect your patience will hate me, but here's a taste of what you have to look forward to:

https://youtu.be/ukXkG-L1R74

I need to call John in the morning as I can't figure out what I need to use the Goodall valve, though I think it's fairly standard.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:14 am

Cheers for the taster Ted

Your model seems to run exceptionally well at slow speeds. Have you done a haulage test with it to see how much she pulls?

Going to knock up 6 or 8 slaters Dinorwic slate wagons for her to pull.

Si

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by big-ted » Mon Apr 11, 2022 7:17 am

Simon-m wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:14 am Cheers for the taster Ted

Your model seems to run exceptionally well at slow speeds. Have you done a haulage test with it to see how much she pulls?
Nope. In truth, I cut the video right before she stalled. I've only steamed it twice, so still figuring out the gas & regulator settings. I'm sure it'll pull everything I ever want it to, but I'll likely keep it to reasonably prototypical loads. I have those three tinplate tippers in the video, & I'll probably add a few more to the rake as I build them. A rake of slate wagons will look great though!

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:38 pm

Well my little hunslet arrived today for the second time.

This time Alice arrived unharmed & in 1 piece. I have had a horrendous day at work today driving lorries up cart horse tracks to farms.
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I drive artics usually so this drove me Insane to the point I nearly quit as I don't do this. The hunslet was a welcome relief when I got home & so I decided to have a steam up & relax after the stress of the day.

Still needs more running in but my observations so far are that it runs well for a small engine. Having steamed it twice I have found that the boiler runs dry before the gas the runs out.

The loco is fitted with a goodall valve however it doesn't work with water just spraying back in your face.
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The goodall valve has a large rubber sleeve on the inside but if removed I think it will not make the boiler airtight as I cannot see it working correctly.

The other thing I'd the lubricator with steam oil. Both roundhouse & accucraft locos are empty after running them, this hunslet hardly uses a drop of oil, I'm sure it's fine but again not something i've had before.
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It has run though & I think it'll improve with more running in. Tomorrow I'll be calling GRS to speak with John regarding my issues as I need to clarify if these issues I have are meant to be like this or not.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:46 pm

https://youtu.be/yvElOGXxP9A

Quick link to YouTube of her running

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Lonsdaler » Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:35 pm

You need to find a hose from your top-up bottle that is a good fit for the Goodall valve. I struggled as well with a generic water bottle, so cracked and bought a Regner top-up bottle. The hose on that has proved to be a good fit for both my engines fitted with Goodall valves.
And nearly all the roads up here are like that!😂
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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:42 pm

Phil,

Where did you get the regner top up bottle from?

Cheers

Si

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by big-ted » Wed Apr 13, 2022 5:46 am

Glad you got it sorted Simon. Looks great!

Yep, I've not figured out the top up valve yet. I haven't managed to phone John as I need to get on the phone early in the morning here in Canada to catch him before he goes home.

I've no shortage of tubing of various sizes, but thought I'd try & get away with using a syringe instead of a top up bottle. I work for a medical company so tubing & syringes are easy to come by. Having tried various sizes though, I get the same result as you. Water spraying back at me even if I take the valve out the boiler to test it...

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Wed Apr 13, 2022 7:40 am

Phil,

On your advice I've found & ordered the regner top up bottle. 2 of my friends told me to order a proper top up bottle years ago although I've been using my roundhouse ones ever since.

Ted,

As we are both having the same issues I will report back on the goodall valve once the regner bottle arrives that Phil has said works. To be fair the fit of the roundhouse bottle seems fine but I'll take Phils word for it.

I'm still going to call GRS this morning to ask questions regarding the oil. The instructions that come with the model are basic at best not covering various points that could be better.

Si

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:29 pm

Right chaps an update.

I've spoke to Mark at GRS & he has told me to cut some of the silicone tube on the goodall valve to shorten it. Its tight sometimes & makes the goodall valve stops working.

The oil issues isn't an issue as such. It uses very little oil so that's a bonus.

I'm going to give the valve a cutting tonight & see if it can make it work any better.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Lonsdaler » Wed Apr 13, 2022 6:51 pm

Apologies Simon,
I'm away from home and not checking in often. I got my bottle from the UK Regner dealer, who's name escapes me at the moment *edited to add https://www.gardenrailways.co.uk/. Not sure why the tubing on that bottle works but not the tubing on my unbranded top up bottle, but it did solve my issues. Good luck with your experiments👍
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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Wed Apr 13, 2022 8:55 pm

Phil,

I've got a bottle winging it's way to me from Strikealite. Unfortunately the regner dealer is out of stock of top up bottles.

Right, following Marks advice at GRS I've done a modification to the goodall valve by taking off a slice of the silicone tube. Unfortunately at the moment I cannot take a picture as my phone died & it's now here on charge by my bed. Basically the tube is too long & needs to be shortened so that water can just squeeze through. I will add a few photos of my modification tomorrow. I have steamed the hunslet a couple of times this evening to get her run in & whilst I still get a spray off the goodall the mods seem to work.

With the top up working I've discovered the best way to fire the little hunslet this evening.

First set the burner so It has a rasp sound. My usual method of firing most locos is to turn the gas right down once the pressure is achieved but doing this with the hunslet seems to drop pressure quickly & you get a stall. The loco seems to need a push off everytime & doesn't seem to gather enough pressure to move off its self no matter how the burner is set.

One thing I have noticed is that if you let the loco blow off I usually get a massive burst of steam & water shoot up out of the safety valve which puts the burner out. I tend now to let it get close to 60psi then open the regulator & clear out the cylinders.

Once done the little hunslet settles to around 40psi & will chug nicely around my track. Its a bit undulating in places so it does stop if pressure drops & needs a little push to restart. It flys off afterwards & will run at rather swift pace. I'm hoping with another few hours running it'll have got loosened off & may steam a little better.

It's still nowhere near Accucraft or Roundhouse but I am still happy with her running round the garden. I think I still have more lessons to learn with this one regarding firing.
Last edited by Simon-m on Thu Apr 14, 2022 7:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by big-ted » Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:25 am

Interesting. Definitely keep me posted how you get on. John had mentioned the same to me before I had steamed mine, that many of the valves had the tubing cut too long & just need trimming slightly.

Clearly I don't fully understand how the valve works. I figured the tubing seals the hole in the brass plug when acted on by boiler pressure, but that applying a greater pressure from the other side, with a filler bottle, overcame this pressure and allowed water past the tubing and into the boiler.

My tubing is cut slightly longer than in your pictures. If you manage to get it working please post pictures of your cut tubing & I'll do the same!

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Re: Bowande/GRS Quarry hunslet

Post by Simon-m » Thu Apr 14, 2022 7:46 am

Hey up Ted,

I cut mine last night & it's working, I still get spray back but it's filling the boiler, you can tell by the spikes on the pressure gauge & water gauge glass.

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