Lighting the fire and taking the steam loco for a run round my track. This is a loco I built based on the Simplex design by Martin Evans and described in the pages of Model Engineer.
Enjoy your videos - top class camerawork, filming, narration and editing. A really interesting series , the preparation and steam -up process seems to be all part of the fun. It must be extremely satisfying to steam around your beautiful garden on your home-built Steam Loco and Track. Thanks for sharing this :-)
Thanks, I do enjoy the process of steaming and I do enjoy the quick start and instant running of my gas mechanical loco especially when I'm having a glass wine before dinner.
A video on the build of this engine - maybe instructional on where to get castings/fittings and choose scale or work from plans would be great. Lovely engine and nice series, thanks.
Thanks for your interest. These engine take a lot of time to build so it's not a task you want to take on right now. I am thinking of a build series on a gas mechanical loco like the one in my other videos. It's much easier to build, cheaper in materials and almost as much fun to drive.
Gandy Dancer Productions i could put a great gauge O railway around your garden, and how good would a complete scale model of Ribblehead viaduct look??? .
Gandy Dancer Productions The truth is even if I had the garden and the folding stuff to bankroll it I wouldn't have the energy. My garden railway is currently 90ft end to end and will be extended I build loco kits and stock and it takes ages? it must have taken you a long time to build Joan. i stand in awe of your talent in model engineering.
It took me 14 year, off and on, to build the loco. I built the railway with strip steel from a scrap yard with a total cost, including ballast and sleepers, less than 00 scale track per yard. It took time and much less of the folding stuff than you think.
Hi Graham, you can take a look at these places on the web. For kits or complete loco of the ride behind kind in the UK you could try Maxitrak or Polly Model Engineering Limited. In the US there's Little Engines, they do rough castings and parts and there a sales sight for projects and half finished locos called Discover Lives Steam. I've had no experience of any of these products. Hope this helps.
Hi Robin, Simplex is a very good design if built well. There is a lot of them about because it was recommended as a simple/starter loco to build but that also means there's some not very good ones to. I built the carriages myself out of plywood with bought bogies from 1" Railroad Supplies based in Washington State, USA.
Hi Mitchell, it's difficult to say. I built it myself over 20 years ago from castings. It took a long time and I had to buy tools particularly a lathe. You can check out Reeves 2000 or Blackgate engineering for price of casting and there are some sites that sell laser cut parts to make it easier.
I've noticed a preference for dual injectors instead of axle pump systems on british locomotives in this scale. Is there a reason for this, or is it just preference?
I have an axle pump as well, it's convenient because you can leave it set and the pump will supply water continuously. Whereas an injector left will overwhelm the boiler. The reason for injectors is you can buy them off the shelf but a pump you'll probably have to make. Injectors are now very reliable.
The injectors on my Tilbury tank engine work alright, but Its far FAR easier in my opinion to turn one knob half a turn and always have it feed reliably. Injectors will also drop out on you, and i've noticed on my engine that my tanks have to be near full in order for the injector to pick up properly. That and also the water gets warm after a little bit of running due to heat conduction. Anyway, its nice to see someone with a 5'' gauge layout in new england. We colonials really messed up picking a 4.75'' gauge. We're missing out on all the british gems! (at least the one in 5'' gauge.)
I have an auxiliary water tank in the driving trolley connected to an injector because of the problem you mentioned of the water getting too hot in the loco side tanks. This supply is always cool enough to work. I use the injectors to top up if the pumps not keeping up or the engines stationary. You're right about the gauge difference in the US. The closest 5" gauge track I know about is in Canada. I have to travel 750 miles to run away from home.
Thats rough. Partly why i chose to work in 3 1/2'' gauge besides its lower price is the availability of gauge. 3 1/2'' gauge is almost universal in the international live steam community. Tragically, anywhere where i can run my engines is about 2 hours away, and the track is an awfully short oval.
Jonathan Guilbert how much would you charge to build me just a working boiler? I want one so I can just have fun making steam and stoking the fire since I don’t have the room to run an actual working rolling live steam loco. Let me know. Thanks
@@PalomboDylanhere are two Simplex boilers for sale on Ebay at the moment for a little under £2,500 each, that less than I could build one for. There are whole locos for sale that are only little more expensive though I can't say how well made they are.
Take a look at my series on making a boiler for Russell: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mtzn88ZI_v4.html The boiler is small but the principle is the same for bigger ones.
