Garden Railway Forum

Erm, coal getting off sounds odd...

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:31 pm Erm, coal getting off sounds odd...

Strange but true!

A quick update on the Railmotor.
Any form of modelling has taken a huge back seat at the moment but I have managed to have a couple of steam ups. The down side of large scale steam is that it cannot be played with quickly. At least two hours are needed for a good run from cold and at the moment two hours when my diary is empty and it is daylight are few and far between.

The loco does run reasonably well but I have had an ongoing problem with the water gauge. Initially it was a bit grubby so it was removed to be cleaned. This of course meant that a fair amount of dismantling was needed and various seals were disturbed. I must have not got the glass seated right as it cracked the first time I steamed her up. This means dropping the fire and waiting until things are a bit cooler to dismantle again and then firing up to check things.......

I have managed a quite a few laps around the local track and the grin factor is enormous. However the other factor that has become apparent is that unlike with 16mm steam you end up filthy after a stint on (behind?) the footplate. This became clear when I went of to take an evening service after a steam up and got greeted by a church warden with the comment "Cor, you don't half pong".

Hopefully my diary will clear over the summer and my day off might become a reality again.

If any one is in South West Wales and fancies a steam up with something larger than 16mm drop me a line.

I think I am going to give up on railways, move to Rockall and become an 'off-grid spoon whittler'.

My local ME society have had a steam ban for the past month or so due to the tinder dry conditions and vast amounts of highly flammable undergrowth around. The park where we are located had also banned BBQ's for the same reason (Four major blazes had been due to wally-type behaviour with disposable BBQ's. I mean what kind of twerp empties a still burning tray of coals into a clump of gorse as they didn't want to set the grass on fire, but I digress)


The steam ban was lifted yesterday due to the more traditional summer weather and so I decided to fire up the Railmotor.



I had the best run I have ever had with her, plenty of steam, a good fire and everything else going great. I trundled around the circuit at a good pace for the first lap and then stopped to fill the tanks with water. On opening the regulator she shot off like a scalded cat, I shut the regulator and nothing happened. Have you every tried to stop a small and very hot steam engine that is trying to go like the clappers?

It appears that the regulator linkage has broken or become detached. never a dull moment with steam engines.

Sounds like a really rewarding experience, Jim. As you know, I'm not heavily into live steam, but I can see the attraction of being hauled around by a living, breathing, puffing and wheezing steam loco. I've often wondered how the drivers cope with sitting in the slip stream of the exhaust output. Do you wear goggles?

Rik

My shed-cred would be damaged severely if I was seen wearing goggles.

I have had to buy a second 'clergy issue' Panama hat for best use as my old one is covered with smuts and the odd burnt bit after an afternoon driving one of the club engines.

Much as I enjoy steam in the larger gauges there is a lot to be said for just pressing a button and trundling off behind a battery or ic engine.

I managed to strip the regulator down today only to find that it seems to have more than a passing resemblance to a Mamod's


I still have no idea what caused it to stay open as the lever and rod moved but seemed not to have any effect. I wonder if a bit of crud had got stuck on the face kept the two pieces apart, it all looked good on examination and she ran well on air.

The only thing I can think of, is that after the first run some limestone from the boiler got into the regulatorvalve, lifting the spring and thus opening the throttle to full. When you then try to shut the regulator the limestone acts as a bearingball keeping the valve away from the valveplate.
What happens to the spring when it's getting hot? Does it weaken?

It's a very simple device, it should not be too difficult to get it working properly again..

That is about what I was thinking. The spring seems okay and it appears quite strong. I will steam it tomorrow and see how it goes.

Well the Railmotor is now behaving itself and has now been put away for the winter.
However another engine has appeared on the scene. I was not looking for another steamer but an elderly member of the club needed to find a new home for an engine that he had owned for a number of years.....

Pictures to follow tomorrow when I get back to my PC.

Before I go any further, I would like to make it clear that I had no intention of another engine joining the stable. The Son and Heir has his gronk that gets a lot of use and I have the Railmotor.

However a member of the local club has decided at the age of 89 to sell his engine. He can still manage to drive it but the maintenance has become a problem as he no longer uses his workshop due to age related problems. The engine was built by another club member and in its 40 year life has been a bit of a fixture at the club. The member offered it to the club to purchase, but we have just acquired a 7 1/4" steam engine and are building another. There is a large 5" narrow gauge engine that needs a rebuild and various other projects that would mean that this engine would not be looked at for a good long time.

There was a desire to keep the engine on its home line and get it rebuilt ASAP so its original builder and last owner can still use it. It was decided that myself and another member would purchase the engine between ourselves and rebuild it, with an eye to selling it back to the club or another club member at some point in the future.

Ladies and Gentleman I give you......

ZULU CHIEF



It is a 3 1/2" Mountaineer, designed by Don Young and based on the FR's ALCO. Despite being 3 1/2" inch gauge it is a bit of a lump as it is a 2ft prototype.

It is seriously worn out. The boiler is good, the paint is awful and there is a lot of play in the motion/valve-gear/horn-blocks etc.

I am not joking when I said a lot of play, the big ends have about 1/4" of play in them. How it still ran is a bit of a mystery.

Very jealous Jim, looks like you are drifting further away from 16mm!

The terrible drift....
There is a bit of that, but it is mainly to do with the fact that there is a club right on my doorstep. I can't see me giving up 16mm at all. (In fact I am currently sorting out loads of bonds track to get it ready for a possible portable layout.) Once I move away and this convieniance no longer applies who knows?

The advantage of the large stuff is that I work on it away from home. In my current parish it is quite difficult to be off duty while still in the house.

It is quite interesting looking at the prices of items in the model engineering scales and how they compare to 16mm. The railmotor was less than a nice second hand RH large engine and the Gronk was second hand mamod money. More bang for your bucks I suppose.