A diary of Tramway Demiel

carl hibbs wrote:

I think Mikey you're really imagining a neat little (live steam) 0-4-0 Decauville.



Get on the list at Accucraft.de
You have 18 months to save up for one.

I do like that

Started work on the steam-up area (just in case we will be able to run live steam soon )
Changed the fencing around the line to include 3m of the ditch that runs the length of the rear of the house;



Next we made a length (1.75m) of 45mm track from two metal fence piquets, sorry pickets, that will rest on a length of wood screwed to the wall at one end and join the track at the other end;



i will curve the track to join the mainline via points, and cover this track with a 'rustic' footbridge. my only problem is how to build some steps down into the ditch!

Mikey

Hey...that's a blooming good idea for steam up/maintenance area track.
What dimensions square were the piquets....pickets please?

I feel another project coming on.

And...If they don't work would they be flying pickets....?

I suppose if you were buying the piquets they would be expensive but We already had loads which we replaced with wooden ones at 1.85 for 2m. The piquets are upside down T shaped and the 'rail' is 3mm wide, I was going to use these for all the straight sections of track but i struck lucky and bought 8m of LGB track on french ebay really cheap.. thje good thing is that because of the construction they do not bend at all. I connected them with bolts adjusted to 41mm back to back.

Mikey

Tomorrow, 21 june is Fete de Musique and i have a big gig in front of 500-1000 people in a village square. Its important that I dont damage my hands but at the same time there is lots of weeding to do on the layout so Glyn, SWMBO, has kindly volunteered...ah aint she kind?;



(I did tell her to be careful bending over in that top though!!)

Mikey

Tell her there's a free weekend in Paris for her if she wants to do some bending and weeding in my garden.

Good luck with the music.

That's something really good here, La fête de la musique. I might get the mandolin out and annoy the neighbours.

Wow that's becoming a proper little community there Mikey! Puts me in mind of that comedy series 'Clochemerle'...

I was just thinking the same.....Where's the Pissoire?

GWhizz wrote:

Hi Mike

Haven't seen you post here for a while? I wondered if you'd finished the track laying and straightening those R1's with Geoff's bender?

Look forward to more pics!

Hi folks, would the present custodian of the bender please remember to bring it with them on the BIG weekend?

I am starting phase 2 as soon as the mob has moved on.

Hi Geoff

The bender is currently Chez Moi.

Top of the list of things to bring next weekend!

Many thanks again for the loan - much appreciated!

Ran a train through the new extension today. Maybe I was being over cautious but we ran two battery powered trains to test the track before we were confident to run the steamer. The track now runs through the lower part of the village so looks far more authentic for a tramway;







Lovely day, bright sunshine but not too hot. Unfortunately theres no steam to see!! ah well maybe next time!

Mikey

That is starting to mature very nicely there Mikey. The tram loco looks the part too, I guess you must be pretty pleased with it?

Clive, I'm not joking when i say this one loco has realised all my dreams! i know it sounds cheesy but its true. the comments i have had from people who have seen it operating have all been unbelievable. Maybe the second one won't have the same impact? dunno. Live steam is def the way to go


Mikey

I was wondering how you found it running on your own line, which on the face of it looks flat? Uncanny, how a live-steamer can find undulations in your track you never knew you had...

How long did you get it to run for on one fill?

Oh and of course, please feel free to post any number of pics of this beast in action, I can take any amount of that kind of punishment.

lol. We ran it for about 15 mins today at a very slow speed. i've had to put a lot of weight in the wagon and the carriage to hold it back. i have been quite surprised at the pulling power this loco has. My track is flat (after much adjustment with ballast and sand. )surprised how much difference as flat track makes.

mikey

mikeyh wrote:

i've had to put a lot of weight in the wagon and the carriage to hold it back. i have been quite surprised at the pulling power this loco has. mikey

You shouldn't need to do that Mikey.
It (all Accucraft) should run slowly enough on their own even at a crawl as you saw at Geoffers

You have the gas up too high and/or the regulator open too much. 15 minutes is not long on a hot day/flat circuit. A good 25 mins I would say should be expected with a modest load.

More gas = more power (hotter locomotive, better steam, less condensation).

High regulator = more speed.

Put the thing on blocks and practice with the minimum settings of both.
Then increase (in turn) one and not the other to observe the differences. Listen to the sounds as well. the hissing, popping, spitting.
The safety valve shouldn't really blow if all is set well.

Also as the locomotive becomes hotter so the gas pressure changes and you may need to lower the gas to compensate.

It is a bit of an art but easily mastered.

thats a good idea Carl; some off track testing. i opened the regulator a fraction and the thing took off. Very impressive!
Maybe adding more weight is not the way to go!! I will experiment

Mikey

The regulator movements on a hot Accucraft are miniscule.

Imagine you're tuning a guitar string. It's best to tune up rather than down.

So shut it off and open it again very very gently. Just a little tiny dab at the lever to increase the steam.

It is looking really good Mikey, must be very satisfying. I must get sorting out more trees to plant. My area is still resembling a bomb sight.

I will leave the vagaries of steam to another day!

Carl Hibbs wrote:

The regulator movements on a hot Accucraft are miniscule.

Imagine you're tuning a guitar string. It's best to tune up rather than down.

So shut it off and open it again very very gently. Just a little tiny dab at the lever to increase the steam.

Carl / Mikey

So agree about the sensitivity of Accucraft gas and steam regulator controls.

To the extent that I made a momentous decision yesterday and took the r/c controls off my Edrig until such time as I can afford 2.4 GhZ

The set was becoming increasingly twitchy, quite possibly due to my abuse of the aerial arrangement, also the problem was worse when I concurrently ran the MTS and had track power. VBery frustrating when the steam whistle would suddenly fire of its own accord and lose all your steam pressure!

Anyway I'm now back to the joys of manual running and getting the loco to CRAWL around even my far from flat circuits.

Stick at it Mikey you'll soon find the settings that give you nice long slow running, and don't worry if it stops occasionally if you've just enough gas flowing, the pressure will eventually build and the loco move off again!

mikeyh wrote:

thats a good idea Carl; some off track testing. i opened the regulator a fraction and the thing took off. Very impressive!
Maybe adding more weight is not the way to go!! I will experiment

Mikey

I think it's time you tried it out on a steep and twisty track just a bit North of you

Although i know zilch about R/C I did wonder how sensitive a servo was when I watched your installation.do these speed controls (as per Brian Jones makes) where you set the speed by hand and then control by R/C make a difference? Again, like playing a guitar, practise makes perfect! Also do the more modern R/C setups not have the same interference problems?

mikey

As I understand it the new 2.4 GhZ sets are interference free.

The problem was GLITCH not TWITCH , in that despite getting the loco running fine some external inteference would suddenly put in an extraneous input and upset the running.

The more I ran the loco, I found myself trying to find a good setting and trying to leave it there, so apart from the ability of sounding the steam whistle remotely, there wasn't a huge point in having r/c anyway.

Still a very valuable experience and find myself coming round to Carl's way of thinking!

There's room and needs for both - manual and r/c.

As Brian said ;

Stick at it Mikey you'll soon find the settings that give you nice long slow running, and don't worry if it stops occasionally if you've just enough gas flowing, the pressure will eventually build and the loco move off again!

That statement shows someone who has well mastered the 'art'.

I may go down the 2.4 ghz route one day but I will always keep at least one loco I can control manually.

There are a couple of things that you can easily modify to help with finer control.

1. Make or buy a longer handle for the regulator.
Milton loco works or ACME or maybe some bloke near Paris can supply these.
Even a piece of brass tube over the existing stub as a handle extension.

2. Fit a small compression spring around the regulator shaft. This can help hold the position and make the movement a bit tighter and smoother.

Latest pics 6/08/09;





Mikey

Nice pics again, Mikey Someone's nicked your fox, though!

Love the second pic in particular, with the faint steam plume from the tram. Is it an optical illusion, or is the track really listing a little to the right?