Large Scale Central

Double-heading Garratts? Maybe today?

Electronics Live Steam
#10
Mike Morgan said:
Tac , Unless it's inconvenient to post 7" or so scale , I see no problem, it is large scale , innit? What delightful engines those Garratts are, the real ones and the models . I hope you get a lot of pleasure and mileage out of it. I want one. Mike
Yo Mike - sadly I have a geas about posting images from home on fora, but I can send you anything you like via e-mail. And yes, the Garratt has a great presence on the track, just gliding along with multiple chuffs - it IS two 2-6-2 locos after all.

Yesterday in the awful weather - it was just about +0.8C, I really didn’t care as I fired up and got going for the first time.

If you want one, I bleeve Andrew Steele still haves one - in Brunswick [GWR] green, but do not hold me to it. If he don’t have it, then it be’s a matter of meeping around until you find one, or waiting until 2008. Have you spoge to Ian Pearse?

My pal John and I are going to do a serious and long article on the thing in the near future - there are a lot of things that could make it better for the next lot.

Give me a call on my e and I’ll send you some piccies of the bigger stuff.

Best wishes

tac and the Valentine Vulture
Ottawa Valley GRS

#11

Tac ,
Want one and can afford one are miles apart . But thanks for the pointers .
I shall have to stick to my LGB one until either Ernie (remember him?) or the lottery smile on me .
I look forward to your more detailed writing about it , as do a few others , I expect . It may generate a bit more interest in live steam . I have tried and got nowhere , but that may be because I ain’t too good at write-ups .
I still enjoy burning my son’s fingers though .

Keep well , my friend ,

Mike

#12
Mike Morgan said:
I shall have to stick to my LGB one until either Ernie (remember him?) or the lottery smile on me .
ASTER/LGB Garratt = £2600

Accucraft Garratt = £2950

Hmmmmm…£350 difference? Hell, that just fills my SUV up 4.5 times.

Spoil yourself. Go on.

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

#13

Ah , didn’t know that either .
By the way , you may have followed my progress with trying to post pictures on the fora . Bloody hopeless . I think I have it hacked , then I produce something which brings people anxiously to the rescue before I overload the forum picture capacity with one photo .
I ought to stick to model tanks and artillery .
Cheers , Tac ,
Mike

#14

Very nice! Wish I could see them run. I’ve never seen a live steam model in operation.

#15
Ray Dunakin said:
Very nice! Wish I could see them run. I've never seen a live steam model in operation.
Yo Ray - e-mail me using the REAL e-mail and I'll e-mail you back a few clips of the thing running. Obviouslyy that goes for anybody else who has a yen to see the object in action. Files are about 5 - 9Mb, sorry about that, but if you wants the detail you has to pay!

BTW - the stoom-pleam is awish!! And the multiple chuff sound doesn’t come from a bunch of electronic components, either.

Best wishes to all from

tac and the Valentine Vulture

#16

Terry, I finally got to see your videos while visiting my brother. (Unlike me, he has a high speed connection and a computer that is carved out of stone.)

Very cool stuff there!

#17
Ray Dunakin said:
Terry, I finally got to see your videos while visiting my brother. (Unlike me, he has a high speed connection and a computer that is carved out of stone.) Very cool stuff there!
Yo Ray - I gots lots more, as well a few clips of my old pal Keeth playing with the 7.25" dismal that blongs to me and ig and crow, the crow], complete with coupling rod plinkleplinkle...Got some of the little 3-cylinder Shay as well, now that is a little gem...

Only if you are still near a broadband machine though…

Best wishes

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

#18

hmmm… 7 1/2" not small enough… bummer… we just put the 2-10-2 back on the tracks last weekend… converted it from coal to propane… not prototypical… BUT … .so much easier to fire… and keep under steam… also replaced a lot of the boilers plumbing… this week… i have been installing an axle driven feed pump… hope to have it back up and running in a couple of weeks… and yes… it is still really easy to singe the fingers… but it is also very hard to wipe the silly grins off the faces… oh yeah… and off the kids too…

#19

Maurice , You asked me to try to post this picture you sent me , it shows a delightful chap from Lousyannie pretending to drive a 7.5 " live steamer . Well , who could resist a plea from an old friend ? Not I . Now you can tell them how ya gonna fix the feed pump , Maurice

OK , my friend ? Mike

#20

looks like someone else would rather be driving!

#21

Whoooooohoooooo! Watch this space!!!

This friday there will be a TRIPLE-HEADER Garratt line-up! My pal Doug Hall over here have got his black version…

Piccies and movies will be tooked.

Best to all

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

#22

Garretts sound great… one of those that one simply must have… but before tackling something that complex… me thinks i will start with a heisler… fewer moving parts…

Morgan… pretending… … in yer dreams… that puppy is one great running engine… now that it if propane fired… a couple of the others… not sure which one… managed to break the steam line of one of the injectors… glad i found it before one of them used it… but… easy fix… i have the tender at home now… installing an axle driven pump to maintain the water level… also going to paint and trim out with appropriate contrasting trim… and re-letter for Texas & Pacific…

the old feller on the back is one of my highschool teachers… in this photo… he is wildly excited about the ride… we broke him in… in 68… never really was right after that…

oh well… happy steaming… :wink:

#23

Garrats? I am making a simple one , (was) and find the biggest problem is mucking up the first chassis , then making the other without the mistakes , then making them look the same . I am not making a steam powered job , the electric one is bad enough .

OK , Moreese , y’ain’t purtendin’ . So as an expert you can tell me —which is more fun , piloting an aircraft or driving a loco ? Piloting I have done , loco driving not . Often wondered .

The axle driven pump sounds interesting , is it a cam type pump , or a split gear type ? We needs ta know . Howja drive off a solid axle ?

And , the poor old guy behind you , I bet he’s thinking “where did I go wrong with this youngster ?”

Keep well , my friend ,

Mike

#24

Well, sad to say, there was so much happening that we didn’t get to run all three together…there was much testing of a recently fixed Accucraft Mogul that now runs like a dream instead of a waking nightmare…my Marklin Bavarian Pacific with a nice string of ‘ozeanblau’ behind it, an Accucraft ‘Lyn’, and two other steam Garratts and an electric version, although mine WAS actually on the track…

As ever, I will rely on the good offices of Mr Mumpower of WA, USA to post the relevant piccies and ask my friend Neil Robinson over here to put the compendium on YouTube…

Details to follow.

Best wishes to all

tac [one-eyebrow] foley
Proud associate of the Ottawa Valley GRS, and late of Wooler, Ontario.

#25

i gots to be honest wit ya mike… borin’ holes in the sky is about as interesting as watching the grass grow… now… playin’ wit an old tail dragger… or something similar… as much fun as the loco… but… with today’s cost of flying… it is cheaper… and less governmental aggrivation to play wit trains… an’ it be alot easier to just go out and fire up the steamer… or light off the switcher… and a lot easier to get the youngsters interested…

the axle pump is driven off an ecentric… i will turn an ecentric… and secure it to the axle with a set screw and a machined flat on the axle… i am building the ecentric arm now… once that is done… will install it on the axle … and begin to plumb it in using the hand pump feed tubes… one way or the other… i’m going to disconnect the steam pump…as it looks great … … and works great when air driven… but the heat seems to do in the “o” ring… and it fails to push any water… hope to get my 4 jaw chuck done this weekend… and start boring the ecentric arm this week…

i really think ya needs to build a live steam garrett… keep ya off the streets at night… :wink:

#26

I confess that I still enjoy the Airline Flying , but agree that the like of Tiger Moths , Chipmunks and Piper Cubs are great. The best in my h.o. is gliding , not the gut wrenching silence of an engine off glide , but deliberate flying by the seat of yer pants . No motor , so quiet you can hear the folks below talking .
Sounds as though the axle pump will be a bit of a challenge , I take it that’s what you got the four jaw chuck for ?

My antics on a lathe are such that I don’t need four jaw to produce wobble pumps .

Mike M

#27

See clips of last friday’s steam day outing!!! this will show you the [many] links.

http://www.gscalemad.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=7570&st=0&

And turn the sound UP!!!

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS

#28

Terry, great pix.! Would like to see some prints of those runs. :slight_smile:

#29

Warren - e-mail me a suitable address and I’ll send you the cd-rom.

How’s that?

In fact, I’ll put a ton more on it…just fer youse.

tac
Ottawa Valley GRS