Latest Additions to the Steam Shed (Video now added)

[Chris Cairns]

With well over 10 live steam locos, some for collection purposes only, plus currently spending more time in Aberdeen with no internet connection, I've decided to just add my working live steam locos to this posting.

1st Addition

Meet Ginny, a Samson Locomotives modified Mamod from 1988.




This was a Buy It Now or Best Offer on ebay in January this year. I sent an e-mail to the seller asking some questions about the modifications, as they were not clear in his listing. Being satisfied with the response I made an Offer, and this was accepted. Never done this before, but the Offer that was declined was for the same amount that I offered?

It is fitted with a replacement boiler (I assume silver soldered), which has a blanking plug, uprated safety valve & push to operate whistle fitted on the top (interestingly they had no washers fitted, so I've used Mamod rubber washers until I can get a supply of fibre washers). There is no sight glass window or tube, but the back plate is fitted with a clack valve. I thought this was connected to a tank at the rear of the cab, but it is just an Enots valve which has been surrounded by some body work.



It has a ceramic gas burner with a small gas tank, an inline lubricator, pressure gauge, and a cab regulator. Probably 'O' ring pistons as well, and a much modified reverser valve up front.



A lot of body work upgrades including stove pipe chimney, smoke box overlay and cylinder covers, hinged cab roof, and additional weights under side tanks, which make this one very heavy Mamod lookalike. It also has proper steel loco wheels, although not obvious from my quick photos.




It also has sprung centre buffers, so I'll need to make a converter wagon from a Mamod flat bed wagon, with Mamod coupling on one end, and centre coupling on the other.

I've run it a few times, but it seems to need quite a bit of regulator to get it started, and there is not much more movement required before it achieves derailing speeds. By setting the front reverser valve to half open it is a bit better under control. When time permits I will dismantle the regulator housing to clear up any blockage, change seals, etc. to hopefully improve this regulator control.

Chris Cairns.

[Matt]

Wow! That looks great!

[Chris Cairns]

2nd Addition

I won this incomplete SL1K, plus a buffer less (otherwise mint & unused) open wagon, on ebay also in January this year (making up for lost time after my 4 week S.E. Asia railway tour).



It was fitted with 45mm wheels, and the cylinders were spaced out with a lot of Mamod gaskets.



I originally got it as a source of spares for my other locos, but after receiving some more spares I decided to make it a complete SL1K.

This required fitting 32mm wheels, cutting the Mamod gaskets down to size, a steam chest nut with rubber washer, 'O' ring & washer plus spring to fit on top of steam pipe, new buffers for rear drag beam, new set of coupling rings, a cab back & handrails. As I had no spare whistle it was fitted with a water top-up valve.

Initially running in was conducted using some old solid fuel, and then after adjusting the slot on the rear drag beam, I used a meths burner. Running was very sluggish and erratic, but this lead to my discovery of the poorly manufactured reverser/regulator valve ( http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about423.html ).

Following a request for a loco from a young Forum member, it was offered for sale. However that sale fell through due to various circumstances including 'as mine would probably sit on a shelf gathering dust '. Interestingly that member would now seem to be getting an RS1 railway set instead.

It was then offered to a 2nd young Forum member who had expressed an interest in it, and who wished it regauged to 45mm, and the safety valve removed to keep the cost down. It was duly packed up, and after checking the postage rate at my local Post Office, a PM was sent with the total cost. I last heard from this member 21 days ago promising a PayPal payment, but that has not appeared so this deal has also fallen through.

Oh to be so immature again! With the current financial crisis, this only means that it will go up in cost!

So this loco sits boxed up awaiting its fate.

I got some buffers for the open wagon from Dream Steam, and this will join my fleet of open wagons to which I'm adding coal loads from AnDel Models.

Chris Cairns.

[SillyBilly]

Ginny is the type of mamod I like, looks very busy.

[ACLR]

they look great Chris

[andysleigh]

Ginny looks very nice.
reminds me that i saw an internally fired IP Jane at hollycombe not to long ago.

[MuzTrem]

Aye, looks rather better than the standard Mamod IMHO

[Chris Cairns]

OK, the SL1K is finally going to a new home.

But do not worry as I still have 2 more Mamod locos to feature in this posting soon, plus a very special steam railcar at some point.

[Chris Cairns]

3rd Addition

I was looking for some spares for my Troublesome SL1K ( http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about395.html ), plus some spares for my IP Jane/PPS Janet rebuild (aka the IPS Janet). So when this incomplete SL3 was listed on ebay I was interested.



It was badly listed with only 1 photo, so I asked the seller some searching questions. These were answered satisfactorily, but also included further photos in the listing, which only helped push up the final winning bid - mine!



It had the safety valve replaced by an alloy screw & rubber washer, no wheels or coupling rods, no chassis spacer, no rear drag beam, buffer plate & buffers, and no cab back. There was also something funny about the back bottom of the boiler (this turned out to be another alloy screw which was poorly fitted).



As others have posted online that they have had Mamod loco boilers with holes in the bottom, I can only assume that these were crudely fitted drain screws before the readily available syringes & silicone tubing came on the market. I managed to solder a brass screw into this hole, and it is the black meths residue blob just behind the meths burner chassis spacer above.

I used the chassis frames with the riveted cylinders to fault find my Troublesome SL1K. That lead to the discovery of the poorly manufactured reverser valves - http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about423.html So part of the reverser on this SL3 was used to service the SL1K (2nd Addition above), and this SL3 is currently fitted with a Dream Steam replacement which is due for fitting to the IPS Janet, once I've repaired the faulty ones. So I decided to make this loco a runner again.

The steam pipe had been poorly soldered onto the top of the boiler tube, so this was unsoldered and a washer, 'O' ring & spring fitted Mamod style. A replacement safety valve was fitted, and initial steaming with a meths burner proved that my brass screw was steam tight, but the whistle had an annoying leak. This was held in place with those soft metal washers, and unlike those on the stationary & other mobile Mamod engines, are a real pain to remove as you have limited throw due to the operating lever being stuck in the slot on the cab front. I finally got it removed but the boiler insert was leaking. Initially I tried using a solder tip on my butane soldering iron, placing it into the insert, but this did not get hot enough to melt enough solder. So after filling the boiler with water, and lots of wet towels around the insert to save the paintwork, I had to use the flame on this soldering iron. Unfortunately I only got half of the insert soldered up, before the cab front paintwork started to suffer. So it will need to be de-riveted for a full repair.

This loco also helped answer a question I had for some time. At a previous Merstham show I picked up part of an SL3 balloon chimney, but how was this fitted? The following photos show this clearly. Take a normal chimney, surround it with the brass balloon insert, and put it into a smoke box.





Only thing missing is the collar at the bottom of the chimney, but as MSS use this balloon chimney on one of their locos, I'm hoping that I can get a collar from them.

Sadly I sold a spare SL3 cab back to Mamodevon when he was building up his impressive Mamod collection, so I will have to do with a bare metal cab back I got with some parts for the IPS Janet rebuild.

Another Mamod, this time heavily modified with Mike Chaney upgrades, to follow shortly.

Stay tuned!

Chris Cairns.

[Chris Cairns]

4th Addition

I've always been impressed with the fine regulator on my IP Jane, which offers much better control than the standard Mamod regulator/reverser valve fitted to the old style Mamods & the current MSSs.

However the only similar regulator available from PPS or Dream Steam (formerly IP Eng) requires you to cut out part of the cab front, and then ends up with the uprated safety valve somewhat high up on the T piece (the uprated safety valve on the IP Jane is shorter and more in keeping with the loco's looks).

Instead I've been trying to get a Mike Chaney regulator, but the 2 I've seen on ebay in my infrequent visits went for far too much money.

So when I saw this Mike Chaney modified SL1K, which had R/C fitted on the regulator as well, I set out to win it & I was successful.



It has Mike's replacement boiler which I assume is silver soldered, fitted with a Goodall type water top up valve, uprated safety valve, and a water sight glass tube that actually works properly (unlike the IP Eng/Dream Steam/PPS ones with their air bubbles).



It has a dead leg lubricator which is fitted with a drain screw (a feature brought back on the former IP Eng lubricator by Dream Steam), and 'O' ring pistons.



A Merlin gas burner has been squeezed into the chassis, offset fitted due to the pipe work of the lubricator, and the chassis holes for providing air to the solid fuel burner tray blanked off.



To accommodate fitting Radio Control on the regulator, it has had a large bunker fitted to the cab back, which is rather crudely supported by a 3rd axle. This has to be free to move in 2 axes, so the rear drag beam has been removed.



It also has a chuff pipe or exhaust restrictor fitted, and is fitted with centre buffers.



Unfortunately about the only part that was not upgraded was the wheel set, and all of these are loose on both axles.



I did have a set of 32mm wheels spare, but when the sale of the 2nd Addition above became a 32mm sale (previously a 45mm sale), then I lost those spare wheels.



So I've not had the opportunity to try steaming this loco until the wheels are sorted out (they control the cylinder timing after all).

Originally I did not like the bunker set up with the 3rd axle, and was going to convert this into a tender loco with R/C, similar to Ian Heppinstall's famous Titan loco, seen at the recent Merstham show. However during taking these photos I've had second thoughts, and will look into whether this bunker could be still used. The main problem I see is not having the rear drag beam supporting all the bodywork & chassis at the rear.

I will need to fix the loose wheels first before a steam test, but I'm sure it deserves to be fitted with upgraded steel wheels at some point.

I have one more very special addition to the steam shed, in fact it is actually too big for the shed. But you will just need to keep watching for updates to this posting, as it is well wrapped up in a box awaiting a proper garden railway for its 1st outing. I would need to clear up my studio before I could get it into the photo frame properly to do it justice. It is big but does run on 32mm track.

Thanks for looking at this posting.

Chris Cairns.

[SillyBilly]

I like it, lots of decnt upgrades.

Oh my lord, you've bought a Garratt?

[Chris Cairns]

Oh my lord, you've bought a Garratt?

I'd love to but well outside of my price range.

Here's a clue - Totally enclosed vertical gas fired boiler mounted on the power unit

[SillyBilly]

Somthing Regner?

[steamyjim]

Oh my lord, you've bought a Garratt?

I'd love to but well outside of my price range.

Here's a clue - Totally enclosed vertical gas fired boiler mounted on the power unit

Locomotion railcar?

[Chris Cairns]

Locomotion railcar?

Very close, but they are actually called Railbus.

But which variety is it, as there are 3 steam powered versions available? Take your pick!

[steamyjim]

I'm going to say single cab as i think thats what was for sale on ebay recentlyish

[Chris Cairns]

Correct, and it is just called the Steam Railbus. Other steam options are Steam Railbus Twin Cab, and Engineering Department Railbus.

It came with a driving trailer, and I was subsequently offered 2 centre coaches as well.

I thought I'd grabbed the photos off ebay, but cannot find them. It has been lined out by Lightlines, and looks similar to these ones - http://www.lightline16mm.com/Manufactur ... ilbus.html

[steamyjim]

Very nice!!!

Yours is from Rails of Sheffield isn't it?

[ACLR]

Great purchases Chris

[Chris Cairns]

Yours is from Rails of Sheffield isn't it?

Nope, it was from a private seller. There have been a few of these Railbus on ebay recently, but most have been 45mm and I do not think it is a cheap option to re-gauge.

It was not cheap, but fortunately I had just completed a good spell of contract work, so I treated myself.