Anton's Live Diesel

Anton,

1) Just Engines will make you a right angle nuckle manifold for about £20. See the website.

2) Whats wrong with joining the 16mm group. It might cost you £20 but you will get details of members open days and in your area I expect there will be about one per week. I think you can go without being a member if you wish and there are plenty of 45mm layouts. Unfortunately I have disposed of the 2011 program as I dont have time for the open days but the would be ideal to run your great loco. Contact Alan Regan on 01234 241150 for further info.

I would endorse that from David. The 16mm group probably err a bit more on the modelling enginering side perhaps than the G scale scale society.

This would in IMO be a good choice for you and the payment in the UK is worth it (for both groups) even if just for the high quality society magazines they both produce.

There are separate people in both groups who I know have dabbled in live diesel.

I used to belong to both but it's of minimal value to me in here France when I rarely visit the UK...When's the next leap year.

Ralph, a few more pics?

Dufrok

err... Consult the web site of "THE CABBAGE PATCH RAILWAY"

http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/default.html

Other information may be found here:

http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/mls/g3/

I got the schoolboy nickname "Cabbage" from having a German Foreame and German Surname -which are quite common in that part of the British Empire that used to be German speaking -so ""Ich bin ein Kraut"!!! Feel free to have a look around and grab what you like to keep.

regards

ralph

PS that pic comes from the NER EE-1 article

AH! sorry Ralph,

Was'nt aware of the 'The Cabbage Patch Railway'

Am still finding my feet with the forum.

Will take me a while to go through it all!!

thanks

Liam.

Thanks for the info guys, i will take this all onboard and concider what to do. I have been looking at other engineering societies and have found this:

http://www.vames.co.uk/www.vames.co.uk/Welcome.html

This is fairly close to me and they have a 7.25" track, 5", 3.5" and 32mm&45mm track, but it seems that it is all in Buckinghamshire, where i will be going to university.

This is the site of the garden railway track which they use:

http://www.bucksrailcentre.org/index.php

So i think i am going to check that club out.


Now back to the loco
The problem with Shunt is that it cannot be started with the body on, as i cannot get the glo starter onto the glo plug. Is there any devise that i can clip to the glo plug that will act as an extension lead and allow me to run a wire from the glo plug, to my glo starter without the starter having to be directly attaches to the plug. Im guessing its only a current that it needs, and therefore i could crocodile clip the plug and run a wire to the glow starter, although im not 100% sure how i would do that and if it would work. any suggestions?

And the main reason why i want to do this as opposed to just starting it without the body on is that the exhaust will cover the inside of the loco while im trying to put it on.

A glow plug clip can be had from Wheelspin or any other big RC store. All you then need is a return cable attached to the engine and a battery between 1.2 and 2 volts.

Maybe I did not explain very well but the 16mm open days are available very frequently, particularly in the home counties, and are very hospitable affairs which tend to be as social as much as for running. I am positive you would be made most welcome with or without a strange sounding smelly smoking shunt ie it is an opportunity.

There are a number glo plug extension leads and ready made solutions available for what you need. As David said most large RC model retailer sites will have something.

Well today has been a huge setback as far as engineering societies are concerned, as i went to have a look at the NLSME and was very rudely and bluntly told that my loco is not welcome and they gave me the feeling that i wouldnt be welcome either.

What did they actually say to you Anton and for what reason was your loco not welcome?
Was is not welcome to be started and run and/or not welcome as a static piece of Model Engineering?

Why did they make you feel unwelcome?

We need to discuss this (unacceptable behaviour) and make it public.

Well as i had been emailing the chairman/treasurer about having a look at the track, and he said i could go up on any weekend and take a look. So i drove there today, and the gates were shut but i could see people in there, so i approached a guy who was working on a loco and asked about the club. One guy looked at me and muffled under his breath and the other just came out with "what you want?" so i explained that i have made a diesel loco and would like to try it out and im thinking of joining the club, and he just said, "well you cant come here unless your a member and even then, no one will want that here". and then another guy shouted at me to get my car "immediately off the premisses".

So to conclude, they are just a bunch of moody old men!

Bloody hell Anton !!!

I feel really sorry for you, how embarrassing and frustrating it must have been.

I wouldn't care to 'pass judgement' on just one side of a story!
Anton; if the gates were shut, how and why did the guy tell you to get your car off the premises?
Would have thought they would have been interested in what you had to offer;

mike ( another moody old man)

How....he shouted

Why.....there is a long mud track down to the gates (100m long) and i had pulled up outside the gates and waited for someone to see me.

And NOPE, they seemed very bored of the mere fact that they had to talk to me!

Shame really, as they have a very nice setup there it seems.

It's a scandalous shame to have these resources on your doorstep and not be allowed to make use of them.

Having introduced yourself to these 'chaps' I would have been inclined to ask them who they were.

I would e mail the chairman/treasurer back and explain the incident and ask him for a fixed date and time to go.

If you are really intent on getting in this place, join first and then work your way in a bit.
Maybe show a bit of interest in the steam stuff and gradually introduce the live diesel later.

Some of these institutions can be masonic but once you've had the 'anthracite initiation' they can be more welcoming.

Anton,

I have had the same experience and I was a member of Butterley Garden Railway Society too... I too would advise you to e-mail the gentleman concerned and voice your feelings.

regards

ralph

I don't want to be contentious but do I detect an attitude of 'if its not steam it doesnt exist'
amongst some of these societies?

I prefer steam myself but would never deny anybody the opportunity of trying out anything he had made himself

I'd be amazed if that was the sole reason Mike. I suspect that there was in all probability someone counting not rivets, but wrinkles! In short, Anton, in their eyes you were too young, and way too clever - likely they felt threatened by that.

In all my time as a member of the G-scale Society I've never experienced that kind of attitude. I'd have to say I am not a lover of 1:1 scale diesels - but if someone took the trouble to bring a live diesel model to a garden meet and get it running, I'd be all over it like gravy on a pie, and I bet I wouldn't be the only one either.

I agree with Ralph - give them both barrels - politely of course!

mikeyh wrote:

I don't want to be contentious but do I detect an attitude of 'if its not steam it doesnt exist'
amongst some of these societies?

Maybe a bit Mikey....going back a few years to when I started my diesel project I was a member on 'My Large Scale'.
Jerry Hyde and Bop Pope were both active members and were publishing their respective diesel model projects. There obviously wasn't a 'Live Diesel' section on the forum so they posted in the 'Live Steam' section...........Well you can guess the rest...

Also I recall there was some serious debate as to whether they should be 'allowed' to participate at the hallowed 'Diamonhead' exhibition of running live steam.

They did participate in the end and very successfully too.

These are two videos i made today: It shows how difficult it is to use my track layout:



and...

Anton, like I said you won't find that kind of attitude at a 16mm open day.

David Grantham wrote:

Anton, like I said you won't find that kind of attitude at a 16mm open day.

Yes David, i think your right, im looking into the whole thing now.

The only nice club ive ever been too is: The St Albans and district model engineering society.

David Grantham wrote:

Anton, like I said you won't find that kind of attitude at a 16mm open day.

...or to be fair at a G scale society open day especially one that has live steam.

Hey...It runs all right and looks all right...Nice body.....

Maybe....you should think about better track.

I'm not defending what easily qualifies as deplorable behaviour, but I suspect these guys apply the word 'engineer' in its strictest James Watt sense, i.e. steam engines. As such, they would feel threatened by a diesel powered engine much as steam afficianados hated it when diesels began to replace steam in the full scale world.
just a bunch of old farts living in the past.

On a completely different topic, Dave Watkins just posted this on the"Garden railway forum":

Anton,

Thanks for sharing the videos. I do like the way your loco truindles slowly round your line. You inspired me to give my live diesel loco an airing this afternoon.



Its a extremely clear video and you can clearly hear the mechanical drive and see it engage as the loco lurches forward and backward. I must say, i know what a pain it is having a pull start on these locos as it has a tenancy to flood, then lock up the pull cord and you end up flinging the loco into the air...