Beaver Creek Railroad has at last got live steam

beavercreek

beavercreek

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It has taken me some time but finally I have made my first video of the new arrival at the Beaver Creek Railroad.....a live steam Shay.

My gradients are up to 1:10 so it had to be a geared loco to overcome the climb and the descent with manners.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFB0x7g8meI
 
Looks like you are really enjoying your new Shay. Looks a real beauty. Must be well run in to handle the gradient and load. Nice video and sounds. So what's the next live steamer - 3 cyl', a Climax or even a Heisler ? They are all out there. Max.
 
Nice loco, great vid.

The music took me back 60 years, to the front room on a Saturday morning, and my dear old man sat at the Joanna, playing that, and it rocking back and forth with his efforts. Been a jazz fan ever since.
 
Hi Max and Bob
The Shay is well worn in and performs admirably even if does get through the steam oil pretty fast!
But even a shay cannot keep slow (without driving) when it has got a load behind it and it is going down a steep gradient.

I got the music off a Rail music compendium and loved the track. Must have been a blast listening to your dad playing it, Bob
 
The Shay looks right at home there -- some great views of your railroad.
 
That's a great layout and an impressive video
The Shay looks the part in that setting
 
beavercreek said:
Hi Max and Bob

I got the music off a Rail music compendium and loved the track. Must have been a blast listening to your dad playing it, Bob
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Regular Sat morning practice sessions. Mum wasn't so keen. If he started a second (or 3rd) rendition, she would dash in and remove the ornaments from the piano top, as he got more enthusiastic each time. (Not sure he didn't do it to get the reaction!) ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
 
Nice one

it seems to go a lot faster than my 3-cylinder one - or is that just the vid?
 
Rhinochugger said:
Nice one

it seems to go a lot faster than my 3-cylinder one - or is that just the vid?
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I was still getting used to her and had the regulator open a little too much.
But also my line has gradients all over the place so she speeds up, with a load behind her, on the downslopes as can be seen when going down through 'Point Rock'. She also then needs the oomph to overcome the uphill stretches. This is especially true when going uphill through the 'Point Rock' to 'Arbour Summit' section with its curve on the gradient.

She has RC but the reverser control servo has a stripped gear and needs changing.

The vid is at normal speed
 
Very nice vid, The Shay suits your line. Too Fast - not a term often used regarding Shays! :D
 
Looks fantastic! Do you have an army of elves to keep it all so neat and tidy? My garden is a sodden mess this time of year and I can't bring myself to go out there, though I think a new toy like that might tempt me :D
 
viaEstrecha said:
Looks fantastic! Do you have an army of elves to keep it all so neat and tidy? My garden is a sodden mess this time of year and I can't bring myself to go out there, though I think a new toy like that might tempt me :D
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Tee hee Martyn....No, no elves, but just little old me scurrying around every now and then... especially during autumn!
I shot the vid on one of the rare dry days we had recently and I tried to keep off the lawn as much as I could as it is a little soggy on places!

I will do a vid of the shay navigating the 'local' line which is more winding and goes to places not on this video. I will have to again clear the leaves to do that though.
 
UKSGR said:
Loved it. Who makes the live steam shay?
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Thank you for the kind comment and it is Accucraft who produced it.
It has had some 'weathering' and a few bits and bobs added. They produced two types of 2 cylinder live steam Shays and one 3 cylinder.
 
Hi Kim, thanks for the kind comment.
Although I am enjoying the live steam addition to my line, I will still have the electric too. It is good to have the variety I feel especially when you want a long running time with little intervention!
 
I have happily run DC and live steam together on my track for the past 7 years. The only possible risk of oiling up you track is if you over lubricate your locos and don't do your steam up and initial short back and forth movements to warm up the cylinders on a separate track. I over oiled some trucks on some wagons once, now that did take some clearing up. But never from using a live steam loco.

There is a show layout, the Buckinghamshire Garden Railway Society, that mixes DCC and live steam operations in the same session. Go on, you know you want to. Max.
 
I find that mine use far more steam oil than they really need. I only re-fill the lubricator every second run, and even that is probably still much more than required. Yes I know the wire trick, and use it.

Years ago I used to drive a small, full sized mine loco, that didn't have a cylinder lubricator at all. There was a little cup (egg cup sized) with a tap, at the top end of each cylinder. You filled the cup with steam oil (originally melted tallow) and turn on the tap 'til it all ran inside. It ran all day with just that one fill unless you happened to be running very heavy trains, when you might decide to repeat it after lunch. That loco was built in 1898 and had run that way all its life. As long as there is oil on the bores, it is doing its job. It also hangs about a lot more than we give it credit for. It was formulated that way.
 
Hey Kim......the wet side is all powerful, it is useless to resist.

I must admit that my shay uses a lot of steam oil but that may well be down to the work that it has to do in climbing my 1:10 gradients and also the frequency that the cylinders pump at at to work the gearing !
 
beavercreek said:
I must admit that my shay uses a lot of steam oil but that may well be down to the work that it has to do in climbing my 1:10 gradients and also the frequency that the cylinders pump at at to work the gearing !
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The more recent releases of Accucraft geared live steam locos now have adjustable steam oil delivery systems. They also have their gas tanks in the oil bunker (can be used as warm water bath to boost gas pressure). You only run the steam oil at full flow for a couple of minutes and the cut it by 50% for the rest of the run. My 3 cylinder and Climax are both fitted that way. Still prodigious water users though, so you need to watch that. Max.
 
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