Stainless Steel Rail Clamps do exist
Several train club members have used different brass rail joiners with the following results: LGB brass work fine until they get brittle and simply break in half (over 8 years) AristoCraft . . . weak even using the screws. Metal is too soft in my opinion. Aluminum . . . weak and prone to oxidation Brass rail clamps . . . one brand simply has broken in half in a matter of months. Stainless Steel rail clamps work exceedingly well without electrolysis or loss of physical bond or loss of electrical contact in the year I have used them outdoors in rainy Oregon. (I ordered from St. Aubin Station 1 888 STAUBIN Orders, 1 815- 334-9100 Info, 1 815 334- FAX). Gary of Eugene, OR www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy - Original Message - From: M. Paterson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 12:13 PM Subject: Re: Epiphany! I do not have a source for ss joiners. I do wish to comment upon the use of brass joiners. I have been using the brass joiners with al rail for over 8 years without any problems. I am not pushing any electrons through the track. Yes I have seen electrolysis between the joiner and the rail. This has served to bond the joiner to the rail and when I have had to break the joint the rail does not appear to be materially damaged. Mike __ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
O.T. - Barrels and platforms on trestles, and covered bridges
I keep imagining putting out a trestle fire with a barrel of water. Somehow I keep loosing the fire fight. I suppose the water might help wet down cinders. Can you imagine dropping water from 100 feet or more and hitting a cinder? Did they tip the entire barrel? Did they scoop the water out with a ladel? My trestle is a scale 200' high. Imagine hitting burning bents or braces from that height by tipping an awkward barrel. If one did not suffice, then you'd have to trot 100' down the tracks to the next barrel and carry it back (no rolling allowed since there were not sealed barrels) to try again to put out the fire. I don't think this worked for fire. I bet it worked for cinders or tiny smoldering brush. Gary of Eugene, OR www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 2:53 PM Subject: Re: O.T. - Barrels and platforms on trestles, and covered bridges Trent, The barrels were for fire control. There was nothing worse than fire on a trestle and they did happen fairly often. Otherwise the platforms were also an escape route for workers when a train went by. Covered bridges were just a way to protect the large investment in building a bridge from weather. Bob
Dragon live steamer
Of course anyone who wishes to make this loco may change the pisser to a fish blowing steam or a dragon or a gardener with hose or elephant or etc. ~Gary of Eugene, OR - still hoping someone has working plans for this creative project. The picture was relevant to the topic at hand, which was/is a steam turbine locomotive. Although very simple in design, the Pisser is a steam turbine. It also shows just how simple a locomotive can be. Being a simply designed turbine was the only reason for my sharing the picture. Nuf said. Trent
Next BAGRS Project Loco?
I am more interested in shop drawings for the next Home Made simple steam project. Gary of Eugene, OR Does anyone know who I can give credit to for the design of the Pisser locomotive? I don't even remember who sent me the pic. Somehow, I can imagine Chip Rosenblum (sp?) being involved. grin Later, Trent [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: That'a friggin' hilarious!!! http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam/files/pisser.jpg
Re: Bear!
Despite the illegal factor I bought a can for my father. My dad was afraid of the gang activities around his Los Angeles suburb and said if he was attacked like a neighbor (swat team stopped that problem after neighbor was hurt) using a gun was possible but would not stop the gang only one or two perhaps. My dad also did not like the idea of shooting someone. He does like the idea of bear spraying a gang and then defending in court his non lethal and illegal (gun is not illegal) deterent use on a hostile group of thugs. One step ahead of you Picked some up this morning - although they are illegal to possess in Canada. You can sell them as bear spray and you are not allowed to use them - gotta love this confused country (Canada) The down side is if the bear is close enough to use pepper spray it better work and not make him/her angry. cheers Ferdinand A pint can of bear pepper spray may be a good idea for all in the neighborhood! (available at gun stores) If you ordered a stockpile you could sell everyone a can and make some money to help your train budget. Gary of Eugene, OR (all I contend with are daily visits by 3-5 deer, 3-4 racoons, and birds ~ I have it easy)
Terror Trestle
The trestle took five months of spare time, but I took 5 weeks off to prove to my son and wife I could do something else. The other factor...I work at home providing foster care for adult schizophrenics. This means I am at home more than many, with plenty of work tasks, but I was able to do some work in 1/2 hour segments that would not be possible when I worked a time clock job. I did find ways to speed up assembly. Honestly, I got real tired of making the 8' tall bents. That part of the trestle took about four times as long for each bent than a 4' bent. Reason? Well, the bent has more cross braces, more braces between bents and just plain more staples and more glue than it takes to make two 4' bents. I like the result. It is rock solid after putting in cross braces every fifth bent. Club members thought I lost my mind, but love running trains over the trestle. I will make more track after I repair the broken retaining wall. Glad you liked the trestle. ~Gary Lane Eugene, OR - Original Message - From: Jim Curry [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 12:15 PM Subject: Re: Track, curves, Gary, That trestle works of yours is about the most impressive model rr structure I've seen. I didn't take the time to read, how many years did that take to build? Jim
Re: steam oil vs koi ponds
I personally would love to see photos of this ballasted deck girder bridge and pond. Gary of Eugene, OR - Original Message - From: Peter Jobusch [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2001 5:10 PM Subject: Re: steam oil vs koi ponds Our East Serendipity Railway crosses Walled In Pond on a scratch built ballasted deck girder bridge about 62 feet long. The pond is relatively small (about 800 gallons). The trains are all live steam. No serious polution problems in the seven years we've been running over the pond and through the woods ... We have not bought any fish since the first batch, but they are Comets, not Koi. Pete Jobusch At 12:32 PM 2001-05-16 -0700, you wrote: I am in the stages of completing my garden (steam ) layout . We have two koi ponds that will be circled by tracks that live steam engines will travel my question is , if anyone else has the same situation and if so have you noticed any problems from steam oil contamination of the pond and if it was a problem for the fish . My Steam up Start up area will be away from the ponds . Paul Gamlin
Garden trains
I designed my RR around existing landscape. I will make pockets only of miniature plants and buildings. http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/ Currently I have to rebuild a cinder block wall. I plan to replace with stone, if we can afford it. If not I will try to build the wall myself with rock and making sure adequate drainage exists. The prior wall allowed for no drainage. P.S. ~ Did a small on cement floor train show featuring a 12' x 30' layout. Two ovals intersected twice offering a double chance for collisions. Each loop had a passing siding so four trains could make a circle. There was also a straight track with two switches I set up for kids using LGB's uncoupling loco and a starter power supply to ensure top speed was slow. We had an incredible steam engine crash into a flat car with video camera crash! All on film! The Frank S was at top speed and the sparky Forney was going slow through the crossing. The electric "Yardmaster" was asleep at the rheostat. The video has it all with the steam engine coming suddenly into view and hitting with a solid thump! Everyone loved the crash, even the two engine owners after ascertaining no damage was evident. Gary of Eugene, Oregon - Original Message - From: "Geoff Spenceley" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 2:23 PM Subject: Re: New Member Introduction Thanks Tag, You are probably right, except that more sparky GRers are now running steam too--and keeping their gardens! I wonder how many members of this list have miniature gardens of some degree. I'll look forward to the pics. and will respond. Cheers, Geoff. Certainly I will send - day after tomorrow when I get back from the 16mm AGM. I always keep a pretty close eye on what is going on in the US via SitG and Garden Railways and the perception is that the scenic lines have always tended to be electrically powered. I would love to be proven wrong on this:-) There have always been some good scenic steam lines in the US of course. I remember with pleasure the late Grover Devine's garden railway and his articles in early copies of both SitG and garden railways. -- Yours Aye Tag Gorton Longlands Western Railway Co Trematon Office ICQ* 96182312
Re: hot wire
The most heat resistant wire commonly used I know of is for electric stove element wiring. Takes the heat and keeps its underwear on the entire time. Of course the wire size is larger than needed, but no trouble with it delivering the required juice despite heat! Gary of Eugene, Oregon - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 4:21 PM Subject: hot wire Hi, Does anyone have a product number and source of heat resistant wire to be used to wire up headlight and cab light on live steam locomotive? Maybe clearance lights too! Mr. Lunkenheimer believes some of the locomotive crews are sleeping on the job after dark behind the shed house. Keep your steam up! Walt, Mr. Lunkenheimer's associate
Pattern list
I would argue that if the patterns were at a central location and heirs pop up that they also would not know what to do with the patterns and the whole lot would be at risk of going under a bulldozer load of dirt at county landfill. Of course any holding patterns could put a sign on the box to contact this list or three names of others to contact to transfer the patterns. ~Gary of Eugene, OR The ease of a list with email capabilities is a great benefit of your suggestion. An advantage : no centralized location to have all the patterns at risk of loss. A disadvantage : The pattern falling into the hands of heirs with no idea what it is or what to do with it/them.
Are the screws possibly reverse threaded on the Mikado Axle Pump?
Is it possible that the threads are backwards of normal to prevent the screws from coming loose? ~Gary of back to cold and wet Eugene, Oregon - Original Message - From: "Phil. Paskos" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2001 5:36 AM Subject: Re: The Joy of the Mikado Axle Pump The Mikado Axle Pump kit has been a real treat so far. I am trying to get the screws off the eccentric rod assembly. Mine seem like they used the serious threadlocker and they won't come off. Did anyone else have this problem? If so, how did you remove the screws? Thanks and stop laughing -- Regards, Joe Betsko Pennsylvania USA Bala Cynwyd Railway: http://jsb.pennsy.home.att.net Primer for Novice Live Steamers: http://www.gardensteamers.com/tips.html Share Live Steaming Tips: http://www.gardensteamers.com/exchange.html iMac - Hey, I don't do windows! This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.printcharger.com/emailStripper.htm
John Simkovich TEST = Success
We all got your message John. Your e-mail works. Gary of Eugene, OR - Original Message - From: "John Simkovich" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2001 2:11 PM Subject: TEST Hello everyone, I am testing my system to see if this message is going through. It does not seem to be going though. Would someone please reply that I know it is working. Thank You. John
John Simkovich
Hi John, All you do is hit "Reply" or start a new message and use your "Address Book" to send sslivesteam group a message. So far every message has come through just fine. ~ Gary still cold and wet in Eugene - Original Message - From: "John Simkovich" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2001 2:07 PM Subject: RE: The Joy of the Mikado Axle Pump Would someone please tell me how I go about putting a comment or question up on this Board Thank You. John -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Joe Betsko Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2001 4:04 PM To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam Subject: Re: The Joy of the Mikado Axle Pump Chuck, I was going to use the pick axe from the backyard... "Charles W. Walters" wrote: Joe, A jackhammer? Dynamite? Atomic bomb? Chuck Walters - President Central New York Large Scale Railway Society http://home.twcny.rr.com/cnylsrs -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Joe Betsko Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 8:48 PM To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam Subject: The Joy of the Mikado Axle Pump Hi, The Mikado Axle Pump kit has been a real treat so far. I am trying to get the screws off the eccentric rod assembly. Mine seem like they used the serious threadlocker and they won't come off. Did anyone else have this problem? If so, how did you remove the screws? Thanks and stop laughing -- Regards, Joe Betsko Pennsylvania USA Bala Cynwyd Railway: http://jsb.pennsy.home.att.net Primer for Novice Live Steamers: http://www.gardensteamers.com/tips.html Share Live Steaming Tips: http://www.gardensteamers.com/exchange.html iMac - Hey, I don't do windows! -- Regards, Joe Betsko Pennsylvania USA Bala Cynwyd Railway: http://jsb.pennsy.home.att.net Primer for Novice Live Steamers: http://www.gardensteamers.com/tips.html Share Live Steaming Tips: http://www.gardensteamers.com/exchange.html iMac - Hey, I don't do windows!
SoCal Gold Snow
For those who don't know, Lake Arrowhead is a gorgeous lake glittering like a diamond among the mountains in Southern California. Air is clean up there! Big Bear is a nice lake, but less gem like. Of course Lake Arrowhead is fairly well and lavishly developed during the last twenty five years. Big Bear had lots of gold mined from the area, in fact more gold was hauled from that area than most or any other county in California. Any RR pictures from that era available? ~Gary of Eugene, OR once a Southern Calif fellow - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 5:47 AM Subject: Re: SoCal Snow In a message dated 2/27/2001 10:16:16 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Where in SoCal? Lake Arrowhead-near Big Bear. The mountains east and north of LA Bob
AristoCraft track
AristoCraft track has no coating...just different alloy. I installed AristoCraft stainless steel rails in LGB and/or AristoCraft plastic sleepers/ties. This rail never will tarnish. Great for sparkies, less cleaning! I did spray some rail with tan stain. Looks a bit rusty. - Original Message - From: "Joe Betsko" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 3:22 AM Subject: Re: Track Roadbed and Operating Pit Mike, I believe that there is some sort of coating on the Aristo-Craft track, possibly to improve conductivity or to distinguish it from LGB's. The A-C brass track takes forever to weather. I have had the track for almost a year outside. I could take a green 3M pad and scrub off the coating to expedite the weathing process. I would do this on a test section. On the other hand, my LGB track is nicely weathered. I went with the A-C track because it was ready-to-use and inexpensive. Oh well... "M. Paterson" wrote: Joe, recommend that you do not paint the rails. The brass will weather in (about 6 months here in CA)and turn a dark brown. Painting, I found causes numerous problems down the line because you either never full remove the tape residue or the paint flakes or both. I have painted al rail and unpainted brass, all code 320. The Al rail (Micro Engineering) is hand spiked in redwood home made ties, the brass (LGB)is in plastic. All rail is bent on site. mike --- Joe Betsko [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Charles and List, This page shows some of the progress I made today http://www.gardensteamers.com/track_install.html Right now, I have a level point to point set up and it's great to be steaming in the meantime! Charles, a drain pipe would eventually surface on my property after trenching about another 15 feet or otherwise it's "Steam in the Pond" for me! Or I could put in a pipe with holes - not sure of the exact term at the moment... I like the mat suggestion. Thanks! Charles Brumbelow wrote: Drainage to what? Sump pump? Or are you on a slope where the drain pipe would eventually surface? I suggest something removable to keep the feet off the concrete(?) floor. Door mats made of recycled tires is a possiblilty which comes to mind. And something to keep the butt off the concrete wall . . . Just a couple of thoughts . . . Charles -- Regards, Joe Betsko Pennsylvania USA Bala Cynwyd Railway: http://jsb.pennsy.home.att.net Primer for Novice Live Steamers: http://www.gardensteamers.com/tips.html Share Live Steaming Tips: http://www.gardensteamers.com/exchange.html iMac - Hey, I don't do windows! __ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ -- Regards, Joe Betsko Pennsylvania USA Bala Cynwyd Railway: http://jsb.pennsy.home.att.net Primer for Novice Live Steamers: http://www.gardensteamers.com/tips.html Share Live Steaming Tips: http://www.gardensteamers.com/exchange.html iMac - Hey, I don't do windows!
Re: AristoCraft track
http://www.aristocraft.com/ I checked Aristocraft's web site and could not find Nickel Silver rail. Is it manufactured by AC or another company? ~Gary Eugene, OR on a dry day! - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 1:07 PM Subject: Re: AristoCraft track For about the same money you can get nickel silver rail from Aristo. It will take on a beautiful brown patina AND remain electrically conductive. I use N/S on my elevated track and illuminate the passenger cars behind the Hudson or K-4 when night running. One advantage of N/S over stainless is the ease of soft or silver soldering the N/S and the ease of machining, drilling, tapping, etc. This is very handy if you are building turnouts, etc. You can get 8' lengths of brass, aluminum. S/S or N/S rail shipped via UPS and use Aristo of LGB flex ties. I do not manufacture N/S rail any more, so I have no monetary interest in either the rail or ties. Aristocraft Trains does manufacture and market a rail bender based on my design and I do get a small royalty on the benders. Keep your steam up! Walt Lunk
My thoughts regarding Track Roadbed and Operating Pit
Personally, I have often thought it would be far easier to dig a trench to allow operators or audience to see the train layout from a more eye level than to cart in endless wheelbarrows of fill to raise all the landscape except a path. When I was considering making a trench I liked the idea of draining the trench with a sock covered drain pipe (sloped of course downhill) with a French style gravel fill around the pipe to encourage drainage and to keep the trench area dry for walking. http://www.drainpro.com/french.htmFrench drain system construction http://www.insync.net/~zwater/frenchdrn.htm French drain system http://www.varicore.com/ A multiple smaller pipe drain system http://www.homeimages.com/wwwboard/messages/1429.html message board discussion about drain fields Hope something out of this helps! Garden Railways magazine recently had an article about a fellow who did make a cement pit for legs and fanny while steaming up. I got lucky, I have a section of yard that slopes steeply. This section has a trestle. The trestle is 70' long permitting people to fiddle with trains at any height they find comfortable between ground level and 8' high. http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/photos of the trestle made instead of ditching to permit easy access to trains for any height of visitor. ~Gary of Eugene, Oregon - Original Message - From: "Joe Betsko" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 7:31 AM Subject: Track Roadbed and Operating Pit Fellow steamers, I am in the middle of digging a trench along my straight away. So far, the pit measures 4 ft by 4 ft by 15 inches. I plan to build an operator's pit/path to fiddle with those manual locos along the lines of 4 ft wide and 12 to 15 ft long (depending on my back). My concern is about the height for comfortable access to the manual loco along the pit path. 24 inches? 30 inches? 36 inches? I am leaning toward 30 inches...thus raising the roadbed by 15 inches. Has anyone else done this on the list? If I could do this the whole way around, there would be a turtle back effect in the middle. Has anyone bothered to put in PVC piping for drainage? -- Regards, Joe Betsko Pennsylvania USA Bala Cynwyd Railway: http://jsb.pennsy.home.att.net Primer for Novice Live Steamers: http://www.gardensteamers.com/tips.html Share Live Steaming Tips: http://www.gardensteamers.com/exchange.html iMac - Hey, I don't do windows!
Dew cleaning magic
I live in dew infested Oregon. Despite dew's presence almost daily, steam oil seems to cling to the rails. Pushing the cloth covered sanding block around with a loco cleans it off pretty well. If it needs extra cleaning soaking the cloth in some sort of solvent (ssos?) removes the last little bit. - Original Message - From: "Kevin Strong" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, February 26, 2001 1:50 PM Subject: Re: Wheels and track cleaning Dew? What's that? Does it come in white flakes? We've got lots of those! Funny, I've never seen the oil float on top of it before. Must be a "Florida" thing. (sigh... How many more days until June?) Later, K
six tears
I have been 'playing' with castings for about 6 tears now... Now this I can believe! Thanks for making me smile! ~ love to laugh, Gary of Eugene
Dentist Rubber Molds
Perhaps your dentist can assist. The mold materials dentists use are expensive, but they are less likely to leave voids. Ask your dentist about your troubles. He may have some suggestions. The flywheel has given me a lot of trouble as I cannot seem to get a good wax casting no matter what I do. I suspect that the web, (area between the hub and outer rim) is too thin and not allowing the mold to fill completely. I have spent a lot of time trying to add air vents, increasing the amount of pressure of the hot wax and changed the point of injection of the wax. This has given me some improved castings but they still have voids and air pockets.
Traction tired Wheels
The rubber tires LGB installs on locos does seem resistant to oils and solvents that I have run through including steam oil and alcohol fuels. The LGB tires are available for several sizes of wheels. All one needs to keep them in place is to mill a small flat groove the size of the traction tire on a powered wheel. They markedly improve traction. Any one found a way to dissolve these LGB tires yet? (using common oils to the live steam group, not getting special toxins that melt anything!) ~Gary Lane Eugene, OR - Original Message - From: "Gary Broeder" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Multiple recipients of sslivesteam" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2001 10:13 AM Subject: RE: Re: Wheels The traction tires I'm talking about would be like putting a rubber band on the wear surface of the wheel. Keep your steam up! Walt I think oily rubber would be worse that stainless steel! GaryB
Cleaning track with sanding block technique
I found I can clean my stainless or brass rail using LGB's track cleaning block (mounted in a frame with two axles) and pushed by a loco to knock off leaves. To clean oil and grime I use a rubber hand sanding block with a cut to shape pad of cotton towel mounted instead of sandpaper. The towel is usually run over the track dry. If track is really oily I moisten the towel in the sanding block with lamp oil then run it over the track for a lap then replace the towel rectangle with a dry cloth and run a lap or two. This seems to remove oils fairly well without bending over or without application of reciprocating elbow movement of a repetitive nature. Gary of Eugene, OR
Send Steam/RCGRS Display pics to:
Good grief! I am really miffed I felt so lousy! Sounds like a great layout! Did you take photos? Send if you did! Did you take video? I should have you make a copy. ~Gary [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This past weekend. here in Portland OR, we had a Great American Train Show. Our Rose City Garden Railway Society set up a large display (25' x80') with over 500 feet of track including yards and sidings. The display had a ten to twelve foot high mountain with a logging operation on one end, and an entire town on the other end of the display. The main line was a U shaped dog bone affair with a number of sidings and a marshalling yard. We laid down lots of ballast, real grass, barkdust and about a hundred living plants and trees. It was a very impressive display and our club won first place for best display. Now for the good part. The club kindly agreed to set aside a couple of hours each day for running live steam locomotives (had to disconnect track power for Ruby). As there are only three of us that own steam locomotives, it was rather generous of them to let us have the time considering the show was only open for six hours each day and there are a lot of Sparkey operators in the club. My Rosey (Ruby conversion 2-4-4) ran beautifully and everyone got a real kick out of my Cricket huffing and puffing along pulling a small string of work cars. The club president impressed all the fans with his, Sandy River Rangely Lakes #24 as well. The third guy had trouble trying to operate his R/C'd Ruby and did not run. He is new to live steam and needs a little training. I managed to get in at least two runs each day with my Rosey. I think that we managed to get a number of people interested in live steam. One club member is considering getting the new C-16 from Accucraft. It was a goood weekend despite all the work we put in setting up and tearing down this display. ( I really gotta get some track laid in my yard) Salty CCBW - Portland OR
Live Steam engines at GATS Show today Sunday
- Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "Gary" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 1:13 PM Subject: GATS Show There is a Great American Train Show going on this weekend at the Expo center in Portland. The Rose City Garden Railway Society has put up a large display along with many other gauge clubs. Lots of vendors and sales booths. Thought I would let you know in case you could drift up this way for the show. The garden railway society will be running live steam between 3:00 and 4:00 both days. Sorry about the short notice. Salty
A new set of steam locomotives to come our way
A friend just told me about this new 1:32 entry. http://204.156.4.220/2001v2/rk1.asp MTH has made Lionel O guage and now is ready to enter the G market. The models look like winners, especially the steam models! ~Gary Lane Ready for cold weather to leave so I am more willing to work on the layout. Go to Accucraft's site and look under the New Products section. They don't have the yellow one I saw but all the other colors are there. :) Trot, the informative, fox... /\_/\TrotFox\ Always remember, ( o o ) AKA Landon Solomon \ "There is a \./ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ third alternative."
Portland's Forest Center Shay
Last time I saw this shay a fellow was using a torch to cut out all the boiler tubes. He said he was part of a group restoring the locomotive. Has work progressed? There was lots of missing metal due to corrosion when I saw it a few years ago. There is also a shay in need of repair up the Vancouver Island east side highway about 100 miles. It used to run even recently, so I expect it may be serviceable soon. ~Gary [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For those of you who live on the west coast or will be visiting this summer for the garden railways convention. There are several Shays on display in the northwest a couple even in operation. Right here in the Rose City (Portland OR) at the World Forestry Center there is one on display. As it is not fenced off and accessable to all it is a little worse for the wear but none the less it is there to look at and touch. Up further north near Seattle there is at least one operating Shay (may be a "Willie") on a tourist railway. If anyone would like further information I can get more details and post it on the list. Have a great steamin' day Salty CCBW
Model vs Prototype repair frequency
I agreed with many points but of course full size locomotives were kept running as many hours of a day as possible to keep revenue/income arriving at the bank. Our little models rarely run every day for six months. I doubt even one of us runs a model 12 hours or more daily for six months. If we did, we might find repairs occur as soon or sooner than a full size locomotive. ~Gary Lane Enjoying reading Stephen Ambrose book "Nothing Like It in the World - The Men Who Built The Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869" Did you know that Lincoln was a very successful Railroad attorney for the world's largest railroad, the Illinois Central? Be hospitable to all boomers and remember to whistle down brakes before you need to slow (takes a while for the brakemen to set each brake). Re: Harry Wade Consider: in full size a road locomotive might have to be shopped for bearing work every four to six months but most of our locomotives will run their entire lives without needing to have their wheels dropped.
Oh to see the Britannia!
Where can I see a photo of the G1 Britannia with description? Who sells them?
Surfacant
Surfacant = basically a "soap" that breaks down the bond between surfaces. This releases stuck on dirt, grease from surfaces and causes grease to break up or disolve. A non technical explanation from a non-chemist. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Ok, I'm goin' nuts here... Whadaheck is a sufacant? what's it do? I'm guessing it's some type of de-greaser but I need teachin'. :) Trot, the open-eared, fox... On Tue, 16 Jan 2001, Gary Lane wrote: I did use a solvent, but I allowed plenty of air dry time with the boiler open and then used a surfacant cleanser just to be sure. I think that surfacants make way too many bubbles which take long time to rinse out. But, solvent are volitile and I would hate for someone to clean a boiler with solven then add water and light it with some remaining solvent inside. I actually first sprayed brake and parts cleaner inside because of the nice flexible spray tubing that allowed me to spray against fairly thick deposits. Then I used a surfacant out of fear of leaving some flammable solvent in the boiler. Each method did remove deposits. ~Gary Lane /\_/\TrotFox\ Always remember, ( o o ) AKA Landon Solomon \ "There is a \./ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ third alternative."
Scum up the boiler? Yes
Uh in a word, "Yes" steam oil will scum up a boiler it one allows the boiler to cool and draw oil into the boiler from the lubricator. To avoid this problem, loosen the lubricator drain screw or the filler top to allow the draw to suck air rather than drain the lubricator into the boiler. It is possible to clean out a boiler of scum as you so well put it. I had to clean out a Steamlines Shay boiler since the prior owner knew too little. ~Gary Lane Eugene, Oregon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, Based on my experience with the Mike, it seems that just a drop or less of oil is sufficient for our loco's. Also, the fact that we are using saturated steam means that we have plenty of water lubrication. I don't have scientific facts to back it up, but we are probably using WAY too much steam oil. Another point to ponder -- is it wise to refill the oil reservoir after the run while the loco is still hot? How much steam oil is being sucked back in to the boiler? Will it eventually "scum up" the inside of the boiler? Is it even worth thinking about? Keep your steam up! Mr. Lunkenheimer's associate
Scum clean up
The vinegar works for most situations. Nothing quite like hot vinegar smell to counter the other more usual smells. Clears out the boiler and the sinus cavities at the same time. I have also rinsed out the boiler with grease solvents then rinsed with hot water then run the vinegar. I did this with the previously mentioned Steamlines Shay. That shay had it's cab burned off, all steam lines cut and the boiler fouled by steam oil sucked in from the lubricator while the boiler cooled. All this was accomplished by a machinist who was trying to fix the locomotive for a friend of mine. Poor engine. "Shyvers, Steve" wrote: Gary, Can you recommend a cleaning procedure for small scale loco boilers? I have gotten a little oil in my loco's boiler because of early ignorance about loosening the filler plug following a run. It would be useful to have a cleaning plan and suitable cleaner or solvent in hand before boiler cleaning becomes mandatory. Regards, Steve
Frank S parts?
Where is the best place to order a new fuel hose for a Frank S? The brass end connecting to the tender has developed a leak. The hose itself is not leaking, just around the brass end. Gary of Eugene, OR PS ~ After rebending rail untill it seems to have no spiral, and carefully elevating and slightly banking the curve, I find that I have a decided downhill run of 1% going into the turn to climb my trestle. Oh well, I suppose this means I just warn everyone not to set the steam valve wide open and the fire hot as possible unless they have R/C. Terry Griner wrote: Your right Chuck, some of us had to stay home... a! Okay enough self pity! Lets talk trains! Terry Griner Columbus Ohio USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] 01/11/01 08:33PM Not everyone is in DH!!! :( Chuck Walters http://home.twcny.rr.com/cnylsrs -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Trent Dowler Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 8:14 PM To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam Subject: Quiet list Hello, anybody out there? The list sure is quiet with everyone in Diamondhead. I'll leave out at around 5:30-6:00 in the morning (Friday) headed that way. Yeah! Diamondhead is finally here! Gotta go finish placing everything in the truck. Later, Trent
Re: Frank S parts?
I wasn't clear I guess. The tubing is fine. No leaks in the tubing. The brass fittings that screw onto the tender and boiler leak butane. I need new brass couplings that do not leak. ~Gary Lane Don Plasterer wrote: I'm not familiar with the i.d. of the Frank S feul line. You could try an auto parts store like NAPA. I use their windshield washer line for water lines from the tender to the boiler. They have several sizes of tubing and most are black. You should also try a hobby shop. Fuel line for model airplanes and cars will usually work. It comes in a couple of sizes. You should be able to find Hobbylobby or the like on the internet. Don Plasterer From: Gary Lane [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Frank S parts? Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 10:08:44 -0800 Where is the best place to order a new fuel hose for a Frank S? The brass end connecting to the tender has developed a leak. The hose itself is not leaking, just around the brass end. Gary of Eugene, OR PS ~ After rebending rail untill it seems to have no spiral, and carefully elevating and slightly banking the curve, I find that I have a decided downhill run of 1% going into the turn to climb my trestle. Oh well, I suppose this means I just warn everyone not to set the steam valve wide open and the fire hot as possible unless they have R/C. Terry Griner wrote: Your right Chuck, some of us had to stay home... a! Okay enough self pity! Lets talk trains! Terry Griner Columbus Ohio USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] 01/11/01 08:33PM Not everyone is in DH!!! :( Chuck Walters http://home.twcny.rr.com/cnylsrs -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Trent Dowler Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 8:14 PM To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam Subject: Quiet list Hello, anybody out there? The list sure is quiet with everyone in Diamondhead. I'll leave out at around 5:30-6:00 in the morning (Friday) headed that way. Yeah! Diamondhead is finally here! Gotta go finish placing everything in the truck. Later, Trent _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
LGB 1500 is 2.5 foot radius
(Is four feet radius right for LGB 1500? I think so.) NO! LGB 1500 is five foot diameter or 2 1/2 foot radius. LGB 1600 is 8' diameter or 4' radius. Gary Lane Eugene, OR
Love those flying locomotives
Ah, a variant of Murphy's Law. If you love it, it will find a way to smash up. A friend kitbashed a loco and we had the pleasure of watching it leave the rails at top speed and smack into a mound of earth with a real resounding thwap thud! I hope I never have to see an Aster Garrett leave my trestle at the 8 foot high section...unless the video camera is rolling and someone wants to pay enough for the footage to pay for all repairs. ~Gary Trent Dowler wrote: Gary, As a rule, the more expensive the locomotive, or the love of it, the more likely it is to derail on a high trestle. An addition to this rule is the more detailed it is, the most likely of all it is to completely jump the tracks. Parachute anyone? Later, Trent Gary Lane wrote: I can run any LGB electric engine at full speed around the oval without derailments. I imagine live steam can go far faster if allowed. I am not sure this rail would allow even faster running. Only one way to find out, but who would place a fast steam engine on a trestle eight feet off the ground?
Re: Super Elevated curve construction
I found on close examination, that the Aristo tie strips seem to allow quite a bit of play (at least with AristoCraft's stainless steel rail). I had little problem on the trestle since I could always hand spike if rail was moving a bit. On 1/4" minus gravel roadbed the custom bent rails must match up and be vertical. I found that I had a few places where both rails were pushing to the outside and the ties allowed over 1/8" lateral movement. I certainly wished the ties held the rail a bit more firmly in guage. I eventually, through repeated rebending of the rails while twisting the rail to ensure the end result curve stood perpendicular to the flat surface, did manage to end all derailments even with my super senistive box car. I managed to get a modest superelevation and incorporated a slight rise in elevation going into and through the curve as someone suggested, while the train travels counterclockwise around the oval. Thanks to all of you who tossed in your advice regarding bending rail! I love watching lighted passenger trains run around the oval at night, especially as they traverse the trestle a scale 200' above the earth. Eight feet off the ground used to make my heart stick in my throat out of fear of derailment. So far no derailments on the trestle. I can run any LGB electric engine at full speed around the oval without derailments. I imagine live steam can go far faster if allowed. I am not sure this rail would allow even faster running. Only one way to find out, but who would place a fast steam engine on a trestle eight feet off the ground? Gary Lane Eugene, Oregon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, In general, the Aristo rail has a narrower foot BUT it is also thicker than the LGB rail. If you are using European style ties, the extra thickness of the Aristo foot generally compensates for the lack of width and it stays in gauge pretty well.
Re: trestle
Oddly enough I do have some extra 8' tall bents. They are three different styles. I had to build them to decide which looked best and to test the strength of each style. The shorter bents already went to a friend's RR. I sure know how to speed up bent production! And I know how to make a bent without a jig other than the jig to nail on the top or header. I wonder if my testle is a record. I know that some pretty big ones went into that Children's Hospital train display in Texas. I did not start out to make a record trestle. I just had to cross depression on one end of my yard. http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/A trestle you can easily walk under. Jim Curry wrote: Gary: I just went back to look at your other pic's. That's the most impressive trestle I've ever seen. If you've got some extra bents I've got a small river to cross:) Jim
Rail bender endorsements sought
Thanks for the feedback. The rail bender I inherited from a past club member used roller bearings that allow the foot of the rail under the roller bearings and the rail head is pressed on the bearings. Unless I press down firmly on the rail while bending the foot of the rail can lift and this causes the spiral problems. I am strongly considering purchase of a rail bender that has slots for both the head and foot of the rail in the rollers. Any recommendations? I see benders for $80 - almost $500.00. Gary Lane - editor of Emerald Empire GRS's Ballast Manure (which refers both to the hobby and the members who carry extra ballast and can shoot the manure expertly) Eugene, OR http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/ I will post more pictures one of these days. I need to learn to make a real web site rather than use Angelfire's system. Jim Curry wrote: Gary: I read your paragraph under the photo, it sounds like you're bending things correctly. You definitely want the rail laying flat before you slid it into the ties so check it on a flat surface first. I don't know what your homemade railbender looks like, if you have doubts about it's performance maybe you'll have to come up with something else. Assuming you're using a roller type bender, make sure it bears against the side of the head and base to keep things square as you're rolling. After mounting the rail in the ties, elevate the outside edge of the ties or tilt the roadbed as has been discussed recently. I wouldn't try to introduce superelevation in the rail/tie assembly. Reading your comment about the rail fitting easier in the LGB ties vs the Aristo, that indicates the base of the Aristo rail is a little narrower than the base of the LGB rail. If you've been building turns with Aristo rail in LGB ties you should check to see that they stay in gauge around the turns. Too much slop could result in undergauge track. Jim
trestle wood is...
My trestle is all cedar. I cut 2x6 cedar boards that were 10-14 feet long into the dimensional small scale lumber I required. Made lots of sawdust! Cedar saw dust really keeps weeds down, but looks orange when wet. I painted each leg with below ground fence post paint. Most of the trestle is clear coated with a deck preservative. The last fifteen feet are not yet sprayed. Weather needs to be above 50F to apply this coating. This is likely to result in part of the trestle looking older. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So what's that thing made of? Pine, spruce, basswood? ;] Guy here at work asked, so now I'm curious! Trot, the wondering, fox... On Sun, 31 Dec 2000, Gary Lane wrote: http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/A trestle you can easily walk under. /\_/\TrotFox\ Always remember, ( o o ) AKA Landon Solomon \ "There is a \./ [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ third alternative."
Super Elevated curve construction
To prevent taking wing while operating at top speeds I would like to rebend my curve at the opposite end from my large trestle. Are there any tips on how to bend each rail? Or is it simply a matter of bending the rails to lie flat then banking the track? Gary Lane Eugene, OR http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/ 70' long and 8' tall trestle (12" = 1 ft) Charles Brumbelow wrote: Yes. When going very fast on the straightaway, the locos will often "take wing" upon reaching the curve . . . BG Charles [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 12/29/00 3:01:23 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From my reading I recall the bumble bee was thought too heavy for its wings given the previously understood pattern of wing motion. And our steam engine takes advantage of this little known fact somehow ? Pete
Re: Location location location of Splined Roadbed
I wish I had your advice when I was making the first section of trestle. Oh well. Worst case I cut the trestle into six foot sections and remove then redig the channel then line it. I will wait and see at this stage. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I'm not totally clear on the channels you constructed to divert the water. In my past career, we tried to keep the channels at about a 1 percent grade so that the bottom of the channel could be sodded over and not erode. If you are relying on the rock acting as a channel, it may be better to use a coarser gravel with more open pore spaces and non capillary channels to conduct the water. Using "geotextile" to line the channel before filling it with rock would also be advisable -- reduces erosion loss, etc. Keep your steam up! Mr. lunkenheimers employee, Walt
Re: Splined Roadbed Superelevated track
No riding lawnmower. Better to use that money for trains! I am converting the slope to plantings rather than grass. "Phil. Paskos" wrote: How about awesome! It would be worth coming to Oregon just to see that. Phil.P. WOW! I'm impressed! Bet you are v.e.r.y. careful with the riding mower . . . Charles Gary Lane wrote: For my 70 foot long trestle that reached 8 feet above ground I used splined cedar strips glued with Gorilla glue and staples to hold the curve until the glue set up. snip Gary Lane http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/ Pictures of the trestle
Location location location of Splined Roadbed
Weather elements determine home construction methods and our layouts should take weather into consideration as well. In the Willamette Valley section of Oregon we seldom have below zero weather that lasts...hence no appreciable frost heave. We do have water logged earth, in my case clay soils of both red and blue clay. I stapled the legs of the bents on top of small cement blocks called dobies by stapling over the wires usually used to tie rebar to the dobie anchors. The cement blocks "float" on top of 1/4" crushed rock base of 2"-4" depth. I hope this system both anchors the trestle by weighted cement blocks and allows the trestle to move on top of the crushed fines. The gravel is placed in small pockets on part of the slope. For the section of the sloped yard that carries rain run off I dug a trench the length of that section of trestle (some 25') and filled the trench with 6"-12" of 1/4" minus crushed rock to help channel run off. Hope my description helps others think about their weather and yard situation. I also fervently hope my design actually stands the test of years outdoors without problems. I stayed awake a few nights trying to figure out designs I thought would endure this rainy climate. ~Gary (the other Oregonian) "Phil. Paskos" wrote: Hi Gary: One of the critical elements of what it is necessary to do to have a good roadbed is very dependent on where you live. The requirements of what works in PA. where I live and where Say someone like Walt Schwartz who lives in Florida can change what you have to do drastically. I think that in these discussions, which I personally like, it's important to mention where you live. It's always fun to find out the different ways of building a track. Phil.P. Reading,PA. I have used this method back in 1986 when I first laid track. Some of the original trackage, complete with hand laid code 172 rail, is still in use. I used 7 pieces of redwood lath 1/4" X 1 1/2". This was glued together with West systems boat builders epoxy. I built a radius and straight clamping jig and as I recall only a few screws here and there. I even did spline turnouts. Although the system did work well and tested against the elements it was labor intensive. The problem was that I needed about 400 more feet of track and did not want to wait to do all that labor I was also tired of hand laying all that track which led to the development of Llagas Creek in 1989. I have since gone to 2 layers of 3/4 ext grade ply which has been treated with preservative. It is a piece of cake to cut out with the jig saw and has lasted over 10 years so far with no problems. Note here that I "hold down" all of my roadbed with small concrete piers every 3 feet or so. Gary Broeder
Superelevated track that does work
Thanks for posting your experience! I hope you write something for Garden Railways to counter the article I read. Your observations make sense to me. I also found that the wheels used by cars make a big difference. For example, Gary Raymond wheels tend to derail the European two axle cars while they work fine on four axle cars. It sure will be nice when someone compiles a book of all the tricks so many have learned. It would save each of us having to reinvent what others have already discovered. ~Gary My elevated track was built with a plastic deck on wood stringers. I pitched the plastic by adjusting the stringers, all by eye, and have not experienced one derailment under any speed conditions. I don't know why it wouldn't help running of the trains, to a point. In any case, it sure looks neat seeing a train highballing through a turn while leaning into it. Jim
Splined Roadbed Superelevated track
For my 70 foot long trestle that reached 8 feet above ground I used splined cedar strips glued with Gorilla glue and staples to hold the curve until the glue set up. This splined section is the support system directly under the plastic ties and rail. I added cedar ties between each plastic tie on the trestle. Each thin strip was sawn from a 12 foot long 2 x 6 cedar board. I used 3/8" x 1" strips to laminate my tie supports. Despite its inherent smooth curve tendencies I still managed to get a slight vertical curve where I ceased running on the level and started the less than one degree slope. All the trestle was sprayed with a deck sealer. Where the track met the ground I have 10 feet of splined roadbed before I transitioned to ballast. This below ground splined section is coated with below ground fence post creosote type latex emulsion. This coating must dry for a week or two before placing on or below ground. Regarding superelevation: I read in Garden Railways that superelevation does not work well for our size trains. I believe part of the problem was simply the lack of weight and the much simpler or non existant suspension systems of our models. The article indicated more derailments occur with super-elevated track than with flat track. Gary Lane http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/ Pictures of the trestle Charles Brumbelow wrote: Has anyone used the spline system of building roadbed for outdoor track? For those new to the term, spline roadbed is made by gluing successive narrow strips of wood together until the desired roadbed width is reached, then sand/plane the top surface smooth (and superelevated if desired). Spline roadbed tends toward generating its own easements and is extremely strong for its weight. Materials can be saved and drainage provided by alternating a row of spacers with a row of full length strips. External/waterproof glue would be needed, and rot resistant or treated wood would be highly desirable. I suppose one could make sectional roadbed for a portable layout if desired. Charles
Ruby Beauty Pagent
Ooh, yes please. I have this really nice pink bikini (*huge grin*). You are always welcome to send jpg (**gargantuan grin**) Unfortunately I am not able to be there (*sulk*). Neither will I this year... Best wishes, Susan.
Boiler making cautions
In the U.S. Navy the pipefitters spend upward of 30 days, 8 hours a day of training to learn the procecures to produce properly assembled silver soldered joints in piping. If you, speaking in general terms, intend on building or modifying boilers I strongly recommend attending a local community college and receive training from a professional. Salty (overly cautious) Salty? Perhaps with your training you would consider offering a course for fellow Wanna Be Boiler Makers? Might be possible to offer a course at a convention? Gary of Eugene, Oregon
Marklin?
Didn't Marklin market 1:32 metal trains? What I have seen (incredibly few) have been usually stamped metal without much detail. I have also seen some nicely detailed models. Surfing the net I found some sites with Guage 1 Marklin, European sure, but 1:32 I believe. Like LGB if the demand for their products exists in this scale I would expect them to eventually manufacture American models. http://www.eurorailhobbies.com/erh_pages/EuroRailHobbiesDetail.asp?PageID=67stock=55001 Live steam DR 0-6-0 ~Gary ~ another Oregon steam fellow http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/
Track Guage problems with wood or plastic ties
I just completed a 150 foot oval using AristoCraft stainless steel rail set in plastic ties. Bending rail can lead to the rail head leaning and causing guage problems. In places I placed extra wood ties between the plastic to allow use of screws to hold rail in place to correct rail head leaning problems. Most sections I was able to rebend the rail until the lean was eliminated. Where part of the rail is straight and part curved seems to be the most problematic for me. Prior to this, I had assumed plastic ties set the track guage easily and accurately. "M. Paterson" wrote: I hand laid my rails in redwood ties made from old redwood fencing. They have with stood 8 years and now require selective replacement. I found that replacing them to be painful, literally, and have gone to replacing sections with plastic ties. The ties were easy to manufacture using a table saw, it was the gauging and hand spiking that were laborous.
Re: wooden ties
Outdoors? Who cares? Weather makes fine grade degrade. Experience here in Oregon says don't use brass nails/brads. Do use steel brads or nails longer than the tie thickness and bend on backside of tie or use screws at least episodically to prevent rail from pulling away from ties. Rusting steel holds better than slippery brass. Colorado wrote: I'm just getting started in the hobby and I'm looking into handlaying track. In discussion on prices with a supplier, he asked if people might be interested in a rough sawn, lower grade tie for a lower price rather than the fine grain select cedar. I'm interested in saving money( for that next engine) since it looks like I'll be laying a lot of track but what does everyone think. Thanks Brian Scott
Space shuttle chariots have in common?
There's an interesting extension to the story about railroad gauges and horses' behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad,there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass!
Re: Frank S lighting problems
Thanks for the information! I thought there seemd to be a lot of fuel coming out! The black hose leaks sometimes from the fittings. I will have to look into the smaller valve. Chris Rowles wrote: Gary, Welcome to the world of FrankS and its interesting lighing habbits. I have found the Propane/Butane mixture gives a better light up result as there is a greater gas pressure from the propoan at low ambient temperatures. The main problem is that the gas line from the tank to the burner is too large and hence there is a considerable liquid build up in the flexible line. I replaced the black line with clear silicone (after a rupture at the hose fitting) and you can see liquid in the line. This causes Frank to spit when the boile(and gas flue/burner) is cold and also when the water jacket in the tender is likewise cold. In Western Australian summer conditions (35 C or hotter), Frank needed a tender water bath refill after 10 minutes, to get a stable flame. A Better solution is to relocate the gas tank to the left hand bunker and to replace the gas control valve with a smaller diameter pipe and seat. The flame problems vanish. There was a article in either STiG or Garden Railways a few years back detailing the conversion. Chris Rowles Gary Lane wrote: Frank S loco runs great once steam is raised and relights just fine after it is hot. Initial lighting is horrid! The fire keeps going out, if it gets going at all. Lighting attempts at every valve setting possible have been repeatedly attempted. What does work is removing the burner and applying a soft propane torch flame to it until it is hot and reinserting it. It lights fine then and holds the flame. Any ideas what I am missing here? Gary Lane PS - current outside temperatures are 50-70 degrees F. Fuel is iso-butane. I have GAZ available but noted that the instructions indicate not to fire with propane/butane mix.
Thanks for the feedback Peter
Thanks for reasuring my fears after reading that one posting. No reverse S curves except a very shallow arc that has some straight interposed as well. AristoCraft stainless steel track is wonderful and 8 foot per section. All joints on curves are staggered at least six to 24 inches. The only downside to AristoCraft rail is it bends a sharper arc if fed from one end than the other. I believe the rail bar stock may have been on a large coil and this shape is recalled as it moves through a bending tool. Peter Trounce wrote: Absolutely no problem, Gary, with any Aster that I know of on 10foot radius curves. Period. Big Boy, Northern and on down. Track should be to normal standards, nothing special. Preferably not 100+ mph round corners !!! For reverse S-curves, it is desirable to have some straight or easing between the curves to avoid the overscale sideways throw-over, particularly with long cars. Peter Trounce.
Frank S lighting problems
Frank S loco runs great once steam is raised and relights just fine after it is hot. Initial lighting is horrid! The fire keeps going out, if it gets going at all. Lighting attempts at every valve setting possible have been repeatedly attempted. What does work is removing the burner and applying a soft propane torch flame to it until it is hot and reinserting it. It lights fine then and holds the flame. Any ideas what I am missing here? Gary Lane PS - current outside temperatures are 50-70 degrees F. Fuel is iso-butane. I have GAZ available but noted that the instructions indicate not to fire with propane/butane mix.
Coupler height
We have an interesting problem. 1:32 to 1:20 for scale all on one guage of track. So, do we set coupler height for each scale or set a fudge coupler height that allows all scales to couple? If we set a fudge coupler height (ie. an average height that looks best on a scale in the middle of the range of scales) then couplers will look too high on some and too low on others. Then the problem of scale coupler size intrudes...we have about three sizes now. No matter what those who want scale are going to do scale for that particular car and railroad. One can always have a buffer car with two different types of couplers (hook/loop on one end and knuckle on the other) to accomodate coupler type problems. Therefore height problems can be overcome by having a transition car with two different heights of couplers on one car. When prototype RR bought used equipment they had to retrofit or use a transition car to accomodate the new "wrong" equipment. I see nothing wrong with using scale practice of height matching wheel diameter. Makes life interesting. One height is nice for meets when folk want to lash up a record number of cars to see when derailments increase. Bachmann couplers tend to be lower than Kadee standards. I modify the Bachmann height to match Kadee (mostly because Kadee has a guage and it is close enough to LGB to make modifications easy). Any particular reason NMRA hasn't addressed this issue? It is a knotty one with multiple guages on one track system. ~Gary Lane PS - I finished my 70' long x 8' tall trestle (scale about 200' high x 1700' long) and the 90 feet of rail to make a loop in the yard after dark last night. FYI ~ radius is 10' on the trestle and 8-10' on ground. I have plenty of 1/4 minus crushed gravel to tamp down to a better roadbed, but trains ran! Video taken from a flat car is impressive.
Stethoscope Sound
Nearest I have come is to mount a Hi8 camera on a flat car just ahead of the engine pointed ahead or back at the engine and run the engine. Even the crunch of metal wheels on steel rails is heard when the tape is played back! Shrieking steel as curves are negotiated add a lot to the video. "Shyvers, Steve" wrote: Addressing Phil. Paskos' statement: "Now if I could only rig a big audio amp in the combine to rattle the neighbors windows with the whistle during a night run." A while ago a live steam colleague asked about locating a microphone in a locomotive's smokebox in order to amplify its own steam sounds. My response was that it could be done with available miniature microphone heads but it was probably too severe an environment. Later I wondered about mounting a small ceramic microphone head on the locomotive to pick up the engine noises and using a small FM transmitter to transmit them to a FM receiver hooked up to a trackside hi-fi system. A modified wireless microphone would work. The technology is available, and it's cheap. Because the smoke box is probably too hostile an environment for the microphone, maybe the frame or other body part could work like a doctor's stethoscope to pick up the steam and engine noises and conduct them to the microphone. Maybe a stethoscope-like tube could conduct steam noises to the microphone that is mounted elsewhere on the loco. Certainly there might be a lot of other sounds in addition to steam chuff. Has anyone ever used a doctor's stethoscope to listen to a live steam loco while it ran on rollers? Regards, Steve
How I blew up a butane/propane filled tank
To underscore the propane pressure problem. On recommendation of a seasoned live steamer I added GAZ (Butane with Propane mixture) to a shay engine. It did fire better and ran fine for many runs. Then another seasoned live steamer suggested I clean the engine better than my usual rag wipe down. "How I asked?" "Oh, just run it under warm tap water with some dish detergent." was the reply. I set the water to room temperature warm and set to cleaning the engine. My dim mind failed to open the tank to drain all fuel prior to this warm bath. The tank blew the end off. After a bit of a jump and some hasty thoughts about whether to rush out of the room least a flame ignite the GAZ I opened windows and finished cleaning the loco. I succeeded in resoldering the tank. (I thought this out myself to avoid the prior experience of advice from experienced. I opened the tank valve and disconnected the tank from the jet. All soldering was done with a torch with the tank valves open to prevent another expansion explosion. The tank held iso butane in a hot water bath without exploding. I did not test with a warm bath of propane/butane mix!). Any way. I can confirm that propane expands faster than butane. Gary Lane - currently building a trestle that is 8 feet tall and now 36 feet long. Eugene, OR Gordon Watson wrote: Following this thread with interest. Two points to consider, CMynhier designs Propane tanks for use at remote locations from boiler heat. Most commercial designs carry the gas tank close to boiler to obtain some warmth to ensure Butane vapour pressure. The filler valve issue is also valid. I think that steel for a brazed/ silver soldered tank is unwise because you must pickle in mild acid to remove flux residues, you will never ! be sure the tank is free of corrosion inside and it may result in a sudden failure years down the track.Remeber that Propane vapour pressure rises rapidly with temp, and note that Charlies designs can be dismantled for inspection /cleaning and are not Brazed. Here in OZ the requirements for Propane tanks manufacture are onerous...1000psi proof test andsupervision by govt agency we would not even consider it. Gordon Watson.
Re: Ruby Performance
Any evidence of hard water deposits in the boiler? Is anything different that would cause excessive draft (blowing out the flame)? Is this burner incorrectly manufactured? (ie. flame is not evident over entire burner) Is the fuel jet set properly for a good flame over the entire burner? "M. Paterson" wrote: 1) Am using two addresses as uncertain which is correct since the shift in servers. 2) I have been presented with a new Ruby issue. A Ruby that has some break in time was given to me to trouble shoot. The symptom is that a)it will build a head of steam sufficient to drive the engine only when the gas valve is advanced to the point that there is a loud consistent whistle. Definitely not typical base upon the three other engines I have work with. b)if the gas valve is backed off to just before the break point between a quite run and the whistle there is not enough heat to keep the steam pressure high enough to sustain continuous operation. Definitely not typical. c) I have tighten all leak points, there is some weeping at the slide valve on the right side but does not appear to be sufficient to cause excess steam loss. d)the burner was replace, according to the owner by Accucraft, the original was mis-manufactured. e) I have pulled the jet and it is clear but have not pulled the burner and observed the flame. f) in looking from the smoke box down the flume it does not appear that a flame is moving all the way down the burner even at a high gas flow rate. g)I can get a run time of 13 - 15 minutes with the whistle, fuel runs out before water which is as it should be (have 10 to 18 cc of water left in the boiler. Any suggestions? Has anyone seen this problem before with corrective action? I am about to call Accucraft but want to make sure I have checked all areas. Input requested. mike __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/
