Bob,
Thanks for the notes about the 268 version of the live steam C-16. I was
interested to read that this one has a removable steam dome for access to the
safety valve. The No. 42 does not -- the safety is completely inaccessible as
far as I can tell! This is not a good thing, since you can't check your safety
when you're raising steam. I was alarmed to see that mine finally blew at 70
psig, though the manual says it's set for 55 psi and that I should keep my
hands off it. Well, I have to, but I don't like it. I'm a bit concerned by a loco
with a safety that can't be tested and may be set 20% off target, and a clock
that may be 20% off.
I put almost another hour on mine tonight, both on blocks and on track hastily
laid on the garage floor. Herewith, some notes from tonight's session:
I notice that the owner's manual lists an accessory called an oil pump. This
is NOT an optional tool -- you MUST have one or you can't get any oil into the
@!#% tiny filler tube. Steam oil is so thick that the first drop hits the neck and
the surface tension keeps it there longer than the half-life of Strontium 90.
Meanwhile, the little syringe they give you to suck water out of the lubricator is
totally useless, since you can only get it about 2mm into the neck. On the
Ruby, the water-sucking situation was even worse, so I took some 3/32
copper tubing I had in the non-ferrous and made a 3-inch-long extension for
the syringe. I drilled the tip 3/32 and glued in the tubing and made a great
sucker which also works very nicely as an oil pump for filling the C-16' tank.
Bob mentioned a loose exhaust tube. Mine was loose, too, but I was able to
tighten it from the top of the smokebox, since the top is flattened. I would like
to hear your reaction to the chuff with and without the resonator tube. The
smokebox arrangement on this engine seems very effective, acoustically, so I
think it possible that a secondary tube might actually diminish the chuff. Try it
both ways, and let us know, please.
On that topic, watch the engine carefully the first few times you run
(preferably on blocks). I found several things that started off loose or became
loose after some running and heat/cool cycling, including the valve chest and
cylinder covers and the body of the blowdown valve, which seeped onto the
cab floor.
Another thing to look out for is the sander pipes. One of mine was so long
that I think it must have been dragging the track. I was blaming the
derailments at track joints (esp. when backing) on the hasty tracklaying and
the lack of leading wheels in reverse, but it didn't make sense to me that the
lead truck would have much effect, since it just swings loose on its pivot. After
putting it up on blocks again, I noticed the absurdly long sander pipe, and cut
it off. Haven't tried running it again on the track to see if that cleared up the
derailment problem, but it would certainly have caused trouble at some point.
I wonder about the air hose on the tender, too. It's a great touch for a fine-
scale model, but overkill for this one, and probably a source of derailment at
some point when it snags a switch frog or a twig between the ties.
It would be a good thing to devise a centering mechanism for the lead truck so
that it actually did some leading, rather than simply dangling in the breeze.
Another small issue is that when the safety weeps, it drops water directly onto
the valve motion and, worse, right between the second and third drivers. This
can't be good for traction, and will probably require some kind of drip shield or
diverter.
Since I'm running on my workbench, I put a piece of thin cotton cloth over the
stack to keep the oil from getting all over my other projects. This produced a
much more visible steam plume, even through the cloth! I am going to
experiment some with a turbulator for the spark arrestor in an effort to
replicate this effect. The prototypical diamond stacks had one sort of diverter
or another, which moved the exhaust stream in a spiral path, giving the
cinders time to to lose momentum and drop out of the stream. I hope to be
able to cool the exhaust a little with a similar device, and slow it down with the
screen a prototypical arrestor would have had, to get some more
condensation above the stack.
One cool thing I noticed is that, after a couple of runs, there's enough steam
oil collected in the smokebox that you get a terrific plume of actual smoke the
next time you fire up. Very cool! Almost makes me consider one of those
smoke generators like the SteamLines Shay had.
Tonight's run was very good -- smooth and trouble-free. I got tired of standing
around in an increasingly humid garage after 30 minutes into the second
boiler load and shut it down. This is going to be a RUNNING engine, good for
some serious hauling and switching, with a minimum of downtime for
servicing. Hot dog!
regards,
-vance-
Vance Bass
