Lisa
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Post by Lisa on Jan 5, 2019 10:01:01 GMT
Ok, thanks for that, it's a useful figure to have. Did you end up with oil around the chimney at that rate of delivery? Not that I recall, and it was certainly never wet, though the cap wasn't so bright by the end of a long day. I do recall some particularly black faces when we first switch the sweat pea to a mechanical lubricator though; it took a few runs before we got the adjustment right.
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Lisa
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Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Jan 5, 2019 9:10:13 GMT
I presume the guesstimate is for two cylinders, so 1.5ml per 1000 revolutions is the figure to work with. I'm surprised you had to top them up so regularly, was the tank very small? We run for many hours at the fetes and I'm not aware of anyone topping up the oil on any of the club locomotives. My tank is miles bigger than it needs to be, but it makes it less fiddly to get the mechanism in and out. Yes, two cylinders; if anything I've calculated a little more than was actually used, but the maths seems about right. We had a big tank on the lubricator, and could probably have run for 12 hours or more continuously without needing to top up; but it was just part of the standard 'rounds'. After an hour the tender was generally in need of water, so we'd top up the water, and while that was running top up coal, oil round, top up the lubricator, maybe top up the sand if there was a gradient, empty the ashpan, and give the brasswork a once over.
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Lisa
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Post by Lisa on Jan 5, 2019 6:51:46 GMT
More weight could be added by installing scale crew now it is becoming popular to get yourself scanned and printed in plastic? Have them cast in lead and half hanging out of the cab to give you firing room. A tubby Driver and thinner Fireman would do nicely! Dad had a Barbie doll in overalls as a driver in one of his loco's, the scale was about right. So the question I'd like to ask is can anyone estimate a figure for the volume required for say 1000 revolutions of the wheels for one cylinder on a 5" gauge locomotive? I say 1000 revolutions, because the amount for 100 revolutions is going to be almost unmeasurable. The question implies that a mechanical lubricator is the method of delivery, because that's what I'm using. I'm suggesting revolutions as a sensible measure of requirement, because some locomotives will have much smaller wheels than others. A bit of mild guesstimating and some maths suggest about 3ml per 1000 revolutions of the wheels for dad's sweat pea. Based on length of our portable track, laps per ride, wheel diameter, average rides per hour, size of the lubricator, and about how much I remember topping the lubricator up ever hour.
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Lisa
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Post by Lisa on Jan 4, 2019 14:29:41 GMT
Hi Tim, the pictures are showing fine, and that looks like a fun little model, I look forward to watching it come together! Hope the auction lot wasn't too much of a loss, you never know what you're getting when buying second hand things blind. A little tip with imgur: If you want to shrink the images down a bit, imgur automatically generates thumbnails for every image; you just have to put an s, m, or l before the '.jpg' in the image url. Examples: Original: i.imgur.com/8YkHC3p.jpgSmall: i.imgur.com/8YkHC3ps.jpgMedium: i.imgur.com/8YkHC3pm.jpgLarge: i.imgur.com/8YkHC3pl.jpgUnfortunately, it doesn't work the other way with making small images bigger.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Jan 3, 2019 7:39:17 GMT
I won't update every time I do a little thing, just the bigger lumps. Don't by shy with the pictures! We do rather like them around here. Just out of interest, why do they fit pipework ducting the draincocks forwards on locomotives? Down would spray ballast and muck up into the works, outwards would hit anyone on the platform/lineside, backwards or inwards would clean the oil/grease off the works, up would obstruct the drivers view, forward is the only clear path.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 31, 2018 11:37:49 GMT
Reminds me I've got a Flying Scotsman partwork I still haven't built. I was going to get a motor and gearbox for it, but that just never happened.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 31, 2018 10:56:15 GMT
My career is software development so for over 30 years I've been creating things in my head and not making anything tangible. I started getting a bit annoyed with that, and wanted to build something real. Yeah, I know that feeling, it was the same for me, getting back into the workshop after years working in software development was an eye-opener; suddenly having a thing I could look at, hold in my hands, and actually feel, was a great motivator to Do Something.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 31, 2018 3:39:57 GMT
I don't know what people did before they stared at their phones for hours without blinking (maybe stared at the wall?) As I ponder the habits I hope to instil in my children, I'm conscious Automation / AI / Robots will relieve them of many menial tasks and free them up to explore their creativity. That's what leading educators are saying: teach them to be human; critical thinking, communication, the Arts. Soft skills that robots can't bring to life... I find it quite fascinating the way we (people in general) are 'taking a step back' in many ways to older ways, yet in a new way; as automated production and supply becomes more and more of a thing, many people are taking the time to build and create on their own. For some it's art, for others engineering, and some rather wondrous combinations of both. I like to think that what all this automation is leading us to is a point where the basics of our needs are taken care of, and we'll reach a point where working 'for a living' is a ludicrous idea (if we're not already there), but where our wants are fed from raw materials coming from that automation and through hand crafting, and cottage industries.
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Lisa
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Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 31, 2018 3:18:00 GMT
The ME world mostly consists of people who are born makers and fixers of things. I was not born that way. As a result I weigh up the time/convenience/cost aspects of many things and where appropriate, pay someone. This is of course totally unacceptable to many in the hobby. However, I see many re-inventions of the wheel, all fabulous bits of work but to me, I just can't see the point, and the time spent frustrates me. So I paddle along on the fringe really, admiring the terrific workmanship of others, doing a little bit myself, and I am quite content with that. My dad grew up with meccano and hornby trains, he first went into business for himself with a letterpress printing press made out of meccano. But when it came to model engineering he didn't build from scratch; preferring to buy a running loco then tinker with it, experimenting and improving things gradually. His first 5" gauge loco ran with a pole reverser made of meccano for many years, replacing the original screw reverser; but then it also had working sanding gear. Dad used to say there are drivers, and there are builders, and sometimes builders who drive, and that he's a driver. Though quite happing to tinker with what someone else built. And that reminds me of an anti motivation: When your hobby is making things, others in model engineering clubs think the hobby is all about running a miniature railway and they continually complain if you are not committed to spend your precious workshop time supporting their hobby of public running which is necessary to cover the cost of maintaining the track/grounds to enable said public running. Sadly few members of model engineering societies seem to actually make anything anymore, us swarf makers are in a very small minority . Jo There's a club near me that requires potential new members to participate in 4 of 6 workdays and public running days (as station attendants), only after that will they decide if you can be a member, or if they'll reject your application (but keep the membership and application fees you paid).
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 30, 2018 1:57:05 GMT
Dad's sweet pea had walchaerts valve gear, which was a significant improvement over hackworth; he never had any drawings for it though, all I know is the guy who did the walchaerts conversion used the Dockstader simulator program to design it.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 29, 2018 6:59:11 GMT
Nice idea! I've added in Blowfly, and will add some others. I've also added categories for 'Beginners Locomotives' and 'Beginners Engines' which I think could be helpful for some.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 29, 2018 6:44:26 GMT
Is it just the crust that's hard, or the inside as well? If it's just the outer crust that's hard, can you take a deep cut and get under it in one go?
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Lisa
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Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 28, 2018 4:18:12 GMT
There's general suspicion in the family that dad wanted to keep having kids till he found one that liked trains; hence I'm the youngest of three. My earliest memory (that I'm sure is a memory, and not the result of seeing a photo later) is of a cardboard steam loco that dad made me, it sat in the lounge room, and was big enough for two year old me to sit in the bunker, where I'd make "chuff chuff" noises. So I grew up around trains and steam; when I was five dad retired and bought his first steam loco (I came across this short video of her with her current owner: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeuOb8VLnYM ) and laid a track in the backyard where I got my first drive of a loco soon after. When I was six, dad built me a simple steam-outline battery electric loco, which I wore the original wooden wheels out on; I still have the replacement steel wheels in my workshop. When I was six or seven, dad bought his first 5" gauge loco; I recall coming home from school one day to discover a 'giant' (to a six year old, and compared to 3½" gauge) steam loco in the front entrance hall. We soon had a larger dual 3½"/5" track around the house, and I'd take every chance I could to get a drive of a steam loco, or my battery loco, or failing that I'd just scoot a carriage around the track. This was when dad started getting set up for running commercially, he bought several carriages from someone who had a maze of track around their large property (I've driven dad's loco's around that track since, it was a great run!), and had an oval of 64' diameter portable track built. So I throughout my primary and high school years the family ran 5" steam commercially, and I drove a lot, helped with setup and packup, and learnt about and got involved in maintenance of loco's and rolling stock. It was when I was eight or so I decided I was going to build a steam loco "when I grow up." Which lead to an array of variously successful (or not) battery electric loco's over the years, before finally starting on Blowfly in about '96. I got the frames built, then got distracted by bigger things and started on a 7¼" narrow gauge loco instead. I eventually decided that was too big, and sold it unfinished (just needing the cab roof, a lick of paint, and pipework to complete), and used some of the money to buy the castings for Blowfly. By this time I'd moved out on my own, and was just visiting dad occasionally to do a bit, but I got Blowfly to a rolling chassis, and did some work on dad's sweet pea. This was when the commercial operations, now being run by my brother, came to an end, and dad - who's health was noticeably declining - soon after sold off pretty much everything. Blowfly got pushed under a bench and forgotten, as I messed about with work and relationships, etc. In 2014-ish I quit work to look after dad full time, and pulled out the Blowfly to see what I could do with it and the remains of the workshop. The rest of that tale is ongoing in my build thread on here. So, my motivation? A lifelong love of steam that will hopefully see many loco's built in the future.
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Lisa
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Post by Lisa on Dec 27, 2018 10:28:56 GMT
She's literally dripping in oil in places (don't have to worry about oily rails yet!), and I unscrew the blanking cap on the lubricator connection and put a squirt of oil in before a run. But everything's freeing up more and more as it all gets a good run in; so less pressure is needed and she's not quite so lumpy.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 26, 2018 8:36:46 GMT
She's lumpy, there's one noticeably weak stroke, and fair bit of pressure is needed to get going, but the chassis is running on air as of this afternoon.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 24, 2018 8:21:59 GMT
Today I got close, but not quite... the left valve isn't sealing, so the air's going straight out the exhaust. I'll pull it apart later and have a look, I suspect the valve's just tight on its drive bar and needs relieving a bit though. Anyway, cooking a roast for dinner, so I'll look into it another time.
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Lisa
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Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 24, 2018 3:37:43 GMT
A simple formula we used to go by is the volume of the boiler in litres multiplied by 4 for the maximum oz/min you want for a 'quick fill' injector, half that for one that's left on to keep it topped up, or pick something about half way between those values for a good general purpose injector.
examples: Dad's sweet pea had a 7 litre boiler, x4 = 28oz/min, half that is 14oz/min, we had a 20oz injector The heidi I built had a 20 litre boiler, x4 = 80oz/min, half that is 40oz/min, I had 60oz and 72oz injectors.
You can get roughly the right volume with: the square of half the diameter (in mm), times pi, times the length of the fire tubes (in mm), divided by a million (πr²*h/1000000).
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Lisa
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Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 23, 2018 14:41:59 GMT
... the reverser... not sure of the correct terminology... Like most things, the terms can no doubt change by country, region, era, company, and probably even among different sheds, and others may want to add in terms they've heard more often, but you'll generally be safe (and understood) with: Pole Reverser, for the lever type, with which you adjust the cutoff with the Reversing Lever, or simply The Reverser. In this case you may Notch Up, by moving the Reversing Lever one (or more) notch(es) in the Quadrant or Stand closer to mid-gear. Screw Reverser, for the wheel type, with which you adjust the cutoff with the Cutoff Wheel, or simply The Wheel. In this case you have infinite adjustment of cutoff, but Notching Up may still be used either as a borrowed term from a pole reverser, or in reference to moving to a marked position on the Indicator, Scale, or Dial. The Reverser, of course, also works as a catch-all for both types.
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 23, 2018 4:23:44 GMT
Hello Lisa, What you have done setting the valves is spot on. The thing that you need to be carefull of is to make sure that you have both sides set to run the same way . Beleive me, with slip eccentric it is easy to have one side going in forward and the other going back. I have done it a couple of times before , Very embarrasing. Reminds me of that blow-fly-blow garratt someone did an outline drawing of in AME ages back... with a comment that it could end up going both ways at once!
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Lisa
Statesman
Posts: 806
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Post by Lisa on Dec 22, 2018 2:06:39 GMT
It's slip eccentrics, there is no reverser. The lead is 'just cracking open' at dead centres, which is what it does.
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