Garden Railway Forum

Welcome to the 1,113th topic in this forum. Discussion of a basic tram loco for my as-of-yet-nonexistent Big Maple and Little Oak Railway started here: https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 32&t=14524


Anyway, I mentioned how I could probably build it for almost nothing. Well here you go, I got proof. This is part of an article about an old Bing you can see here: http://sidestreet.info/Gallery/Gallery21/Ga21.html

My sketch: As I have written it's a transverse pot boiler, with the stack coming out of the front of the firebox and the exhaust plumbed to it for draft. As with a Wilesco D2 I plan on using the spring on the trunnion as the safety valve, possibly with a tapped hole and screw in the block at the exhaust port to act as a regulator, but at the speeds it'll be going it's probably not necessary.
Thoughts on pellet firing? Seems like a cheap fuel and I imagine easier than coal?

Pellets could potentially work as a fuel source, but most of my (limited) experience suggests liquid/gas fuels make firing easier if you can get the burner right (and safe!). I've repaired pellet stoves and grills and they all use a blower fan to get the pellets burning hot enough. I'm not sure the draft from the chimney would be enough to keep the pellets burning and boil water.

...That said, there's only one way to find out! Do some testing and if it works, would certainly be easier and cheaper to build than a gas burner.

An alcohol burner wouldn't be too hard to build and rubbing alcohol is only 2 bucks a bottle at Walgreens, but pellets would be more realistic. You're right though, the exhaust from the tiny cylinder might not be enough to keep the fire going.

You said pellet stoves need a blower to get them burning hot enough, after that do they still need the blower?

The ones I've worked on kept the blower running the whole time they were burning. They also used an auger for continuous feed of pellets so maybe a small pile of pellets would burn fine once they get going. It's worth doing some testing at least!

Maybe. I guess there's only one way to find out.

Looks so cool! I love watching ingenious budget builds and this one looks like its going to shape up terrifically. Weren't the original mamod locos all pellet fired? if its good enough to propel a mamod around with a string of wagons it should be good enough to do the job with the oscillator?

Thanks Jake. The Mamods use solid fuel tablets don't they? I think that's what you meant, I was talking about using BBQ pellets, because I saw somewhere that that was a thing, but I can't remember what it was. One of the live steam websites, might have been Discover Live Steam.

This one here is pellet fired.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=337VLwOmEv8

Here's a video of a guy trying pellets in his loco and he explains what they're like. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rO_1okA7s ... l2ZQ%3D%3D
Apparently they burn very hot (a plus) and smoke a lot (a plus imo) but are low-carbon emissions (a plus).
They also require regular stoking (a minus) but that's 1 minus against 3 pluses.

Here's Thomas Techs' approach, no drill press, no lathe, just some bar locks, a power drill and some sandpaper. Seems to run fine. (I hope he didn't drink that Coke.) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nOBJvQrstt4

Hello Miles and to the best Forum on the internet.

I really like your enthusiasm and such a young age talking like a proper engineer with some outstanding ideas. Have you looked at how the De-Winton's operate, they have vertical boilers and are gas powered. They are a few members on here who have scratch built them, a couple have been battery powered (Peter Butler) is one that comes to mind on here, but some have also done gas. Both have been excellent builds, I think there is a De-Winton thread somewhere on the forum, unfortunately a don't get a lot of time at the moment to spend on our forum, is I can't help in the search, but it wouldn't take someone of your capabilities to find out.

Enjoy your journey Miles and please keep on with more of your excellent work.

32mm is the best in my opinion...

Thank you Rod. Transverse boilers are more appealing to me than vertical boilers, although I haven't seen a full sized loco with one.

I joined a month ago but thanks for the welcome.

FWLR wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 8:06 am 32mm is the best in my opinion...

Although cheap premade track is much more plentiful in O gauge, since the vast majority of American garden railways are 45mm, if I went with 32mm there would be very few other railways I could actually run on. Due to my nonexistent budget in the sense that it's so tight it barely even exists, I would be forced to make my own track.

Hi Miles,

You could make your running gear gauge adjustable, I have a Roundhouse Billy and if I went to someplace that had 45mm I would just adjust the wheels to 45mm with gauges you can get very cheaply online.
I know you are scratch building and I really admire that, but there is nothing stopping you doing the same with you wheels, unless of course you do a build with outside wheels, then it's a case with having to stick with it.

Anyway, carry on doing what your doing, I wish I started at a very young age like you, by the time you get to my age 71, you would have more knowledge than most I would expect..

dudeface wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 3:04 pm Although cheap premade track is much more plentiful in O gauge, since the vast majority of American garden railways are 45mm, if I went with 32mm there would be very few other railways I could actually run on. Due to my nonexistent budget in the sense that it's so tight it barely even exists, I would be forced to make my own track.

I went through the same decision process and decided to go with 32mm anyway. (That way I could afford the track!) Only recently have I had the sense to build the models with room to slide between 32mm and 45mm, but nobody around here really has 45mm track either. One nice thing about 32mm is that it can also carry battery-operated O scale models and a surprising number of kids' toys trains.

Another reason I changed my mind to 45mm is that 32mm (scale 18 inch gauge) in 7/8 scale sounds awfully unstable...! I like the big stuff in the garden so I want to stick with SE.

I've seen some very interesting Gn15 builds-- 15 inch gauge represented in G scale using HO track. It can make for a nice diorama but would surely be more difficult in the garden.

That sounds both extremely interesting and extremely unstable.

Here's a gn15 garden line. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jZWcF7sb4 ... FsZQ%3D%3D There is what looks like 45mm track behind it. The loco actually looks like it has a purpose, rather than being a gimmick. I like the look of the extremely narrow gauge. It could use a slightly bigger boiler though I think. One thing's for sure, you've re-changed my mind about gauge!

Edit: After watching this video I have to say I have absolutely fallen in love with this scale, and this layout is just beautifully done. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ij7p6wvrN5k And some bonus Gn10-ish at the end!