Last sunday Irene and I attended a garden railway get together by a member of the Gauge 3 Society. Some of the pictures of mainly coal-fired steam locomotives. The locomotive depot area The steaming tracks. The blue locomotive has a fan in the chimney to draw the fire during initial lighting
A class 9F 2-10-0 being prepared. The water column actually delivers water to the tenders The 9F passes on a passenger train
A GWR Grange 4-6-0 on the ground level part of the railway An Irish 4-4-0 passes the depot, whilst another locomotive is being prepared in the background
NICE Alan! Gotta love "live" steam! One question tho, are those like G scale or bigger? I'm not aware of "Gauge 3" so.... Be something to see a articulated like that!
A locomotive having water pumped into the boiler out on the main line as another train passes Myself and a long retired steam engine fireman sitting in the shade. Tony has a wealth of information from his railway days, and is a joy to listen to Here, I stand with arms folded watching as the regulator (throttle) of a Gresley class B17 4-6-0 is about to be opened. (No, I did not drive trains, it was far too hot, and I was happier to sit in the shade with a cold drink and watch the action)
Alan- Would you please describe how the support structure for the trackwork is built? I can't quite see a clear view. Is it all wood? Permanent? On some sort of piers or foundation blocks? Boxcab E50
Ken, this photograph shows the supports better. Wood base on brick piers, also part of an aluminum girder bridge can be seen (in need of a repaint)
those are cool! i would love to have something like that set up in my back yard thanks for sharing alan
very nice. How do they control the locomotives, is it some how remote controlled, or you just open the throttle and follow the train around the track?
Thanks Alan! I was wondering.. Some LAYOUT! the whole back yard! [ 19. July 2003, 02:10: Message edited by: 7600EM_1 ]
Believe I see one fellow with an R/C throttle in hand. My next question, is how they know when the boiler needs water? Must they constantly monitor the level? Or do these have a low enough pressure, that they simply slow down and stop when exhausted? Boxcab E50
Most locomotives are controlled by opening and closing the regulator by hand, but some have radio control and servo's. The whistle can even be operated by remote control, as can the cylinder drain cocks (if fitted). The locomotives are fitted with an axle driven ram pump to pump water into the boiler as it is running, and is controlled by setting a by-pass valve to hopefully keep the level correct. If it overfills, the locomotive "primes" throwing water out the chimney, if it gets too low, the boiler can be severely (and expensively) damaged! There is a water gauge glass which must be checked frequently. It is not usually neccessary to follow the train around the track, but have a quick look at the pressure gauge and water level as it passes every few circuits. It is of course neccessary to stop the train periodically to shovel more coal into the firebox. Just like driving a full sized one
Alan- One more question- I was wondering what is the length of one circuit around the layout? I would sure love to see this firsthand. Thanks for the information! Boxcab E50
Hmmm..... a total guess, but I would say about 40-50 yards circuit. With an extensive locomotive depot and a station with three platforms and some bay-pass tracks for freight trains. Sadly no one was running freight that day.