Coal fired Lady Annette

[brianthesnail96]

There are advantages to being a scruffy student type...

I think the 'merican thingy will be a wee bit big for the L&W, might not like that dodgy bit. Probably look a tad silly on the IoM carriages too.

 

[William]

I now have my coal fired Annette at home having collected it from David Cooper yesterday. This included a demonstration on David's track of the loco and how to coal fire.
Of course David made the firing look easy, steam was soon raised and he had the loco chuffing back and forth with no trouble. Plenty of steam with all the right noises and smells.
For anyone with no experience of coal firing the demonstration is most worth while. It does give an insite into the art of how to do it and now when I try for myself I know it can be done.
As to the loco I am very pleased with the finished article. Mine is matt black which I think looks good. It is unmistakably Lady Anne with an abbreviated rear cab. It does appear a very sensible and practical conversion to coal firing , giving good access to the fire box and necessary valves.
To finish off David packed the loco and accessories in stout cardboard boxes complete with Sabresteam logos and a ring bound instruction book..
Nice professional touches which give a goog feeling.
I now look forward to getting out on my own track and having a go.

Richard Bailey

 

[Elmtree Line]

It certainly sounds and looks good from what i've seen.

I have three Lady Anne's in my fleet currently, so another one probably isn't going to be the next choice.

Certainly food for thought!

 

[William]

I have spent a good part of the weekend getting to grips with my new Annette.
I have managed to fire up and get a head of steam without very much trouble. My main problem is maintaining the fire once past the first stage. It seems that one moment all is going well only to find that the pressure gauge is dropping and the fire cannot be recovered. Still I am sure that is what it is all about and more attempts will bring better results. I did get get a couple of long runs with approx 3 laps of my circuit between stops to top up coal etc and on one try about 1hr total run. I am however very pleased with the results I achieved.
The amount of water consumed is amazing and my stocks of filtered rain water will not keep up. I think a water still is the next item to purchase.
It will be a while before I have mastered the art but perhaps one day it will be as easy as running one of my gas fired locos.

Richard Bailey

 

[Chris Bird]

That sounds like a great start Richard. The problem is that the loco has to be moving to create the draft for the fire- so when you stop or it stalls, the fire goes out. Try having the blower cracked open a tad so that there is always a draft. It will mean a fair amount of blowing off - but that it is worth it. Also get as much fire in there as possible - I have never had success with a "thin" fire.
Good luck!
Chris

 

[William]

Thank you Chris for your comments. I know you are correct. It is all a balance with the fire, available steam to operate the blower etc. It all sounds OK until you come to do it. As your vidio clips have shown it is very busy the first time you run a steam loco on your own. The fire can look great one moment only to die the next with a hole because it was thin and not knocked down at the last top up. All this with a very hot and hissing loco that you cannot just turn down with the touch of a knob, does it need more pumps of water etc. The main thing is that I enjoyed the experience and look forward to improving the next time.
best regards.
Richard Bailey

 

[Rhos Helyg Loco Works]

Try having the blower cracked open a tad so that there is always a draft. It will mean a fair amount of blowing off - but that it is worth it.

What you say is true Chris, but it will do nothing to reduce water (and therefore coal) consumption. A lot of water is wasted every time the safety valve lifts, so better to run with no blower and put it on fairly hard immediately (and I mean immediately) the beastie comes to a stand. If it is failing to maintain pressure (i.e. insufficient draught) then there may be a problem with the blastpipe or the smokebox.

Also get as much fire in there as possible - I have never had success with a "thin" fire.

Amen to that! My John Shawe/Roundhouse "Jack" (see picture left) will run quite happily for 15-20 minutes unattended BUT it needs a good firebox full before doing so. More importantly, at the end of that period there is still enough fire left to recover without having to re-light from scratch. I believe that a similar "15 minute test" is a standard procedure that John has for his locos before delivery.

 

[thumper]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Gentlemen: this is the first of what will be a couple installments.

My Annette arrived by FEDEX this morning and from what I'm told, No. 006 is the first to arrive in the U.S. I've not yet steamed it as I realized at the last minute that I don't have a plug for the battery pack for my 2.4 GHz receiver. Only the regulator will be remote, so running it will have to wait till I find a connector.

For those worrying about shipping, don't. Mine was double boxed with styrofoam between the boxes, and the inner box was unmarked. It survived the rigors of Royal Mail, FEDEX Int., US Customs and FEDEX again without as much as a fingerprint. Either that or someone at Customs polished it before repacking. International shipping is outrageous, primarily because of insurance costs. "Next Day" actually took 2 1/2 days as Customs held it up, but it is is only about 6 BPS [is that the correct acronym?] costlier than the 3-5 day option [actually 5 to 8 days].

There was no import duty as "TOY TRAINS" are exempt.

David states that mine had more than 6 hours run time, yet it was impossible to tell. Instructions are well written and easily understood, and much time was spent tying the instructions to appropriate legible photos. From the start, I have to compliment David on the quality of work. Fittings & plumbing, paint, soldering, brazing and assembly give no indication that this is such an early production model. But for the Sabre Steam builders plate in the cab, it could easily be mistaken for a factory built Roundhouse. Having 3 superb Roundhouse locos, I expect the chassis on this to run flawlessly as well.

All I have to do is learn to fire up with coal to do David's work Justice.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to fire it up for the first time, and this weekend at a club steamup, I'll take photos and a video showing my new Annette in action.

David, thank you. For everyone else, please say a prayer for me as I take my first shot at coal firing.

Regards,

Will Lindley

 

[William]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Good luck with yr first steam. I think my Annette is number 4.
I have managed a couple of weekends of steaming and had success and failure but can say I am learning fast. My main tip is have yr water bottle top well filled and keep topping up the boiler adding water little and often. The rate of water consumption is amazing and it is easy to forget when you are concentrating on keeping the fire going. Remember when the loco is not moving it depends on yr water bottle top up and that blower valve uses more steam/water than you would believe.
Good luck
Richard Bailey

 

[tagorton]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Best bet is to take your time building the fire. Is is easy to get a head of steam, but if the fire consists mostly of charcoal you will soon lose it. Once up to pressure then keep the blower on just enough to keep drawing, while firing in water little and often. What pressure is yours running at ? should be at least 55psi ? the one I had here for test had 40 ? which just ain't enough. He sends them out now with 55psi pressure.

Don't be in too much of a hurry to run ? as you become more at ease with the loco then sitting next to it and just keeping a fire in is very relaxing. i waited in steam for half hour the other sunday while someone else was running and the fire was better for it. I run Shawe and DJB locos and it is very much the same with them. I have fitted a damper on the firebox door of the DJB loco which certainly helps blacken the top of the fire and keep coal and water consumption down with a piston valve loco.

 

[William]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Thank you Tag for yr advice. My safety appears to be set to 50 plus mark if the reading on the loco guge can be taken as reasonably accurate.
David Cooper rang me the other night to enquire on my progress with the loco. Certainly good customer service. We discussed the steaming of the boiler in some detail and David has made some suggestions that I think will be helpfull. I hope to try these out at the weekend.
I am finding the firing of the loco is becoming more relaxed and certainly building a good fire is the thing to do.
I think a damper on the fire door is a good idea and I intend to fit one. At present the need for that refinement is a little way off in my case.
I would like to sat that I am very pleased with my Annette. When I get it right it runs very well. I just need to get it right more often.
Tag, on a different subject but perhaps one close to yr heart, I cannot get a subscription thro' log in for the DIGITAL addition of Garden Rail. Phone calls/ mails to Atlantic have brought no joy.

Richard Bailey

 

[Elmtree Line]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

More pics of these engines working please

 

[tagorton]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Thank you Tag for yr advice. My safety appears to be set to 50 plus mark if the reading on the loco guge can be taken as reasonably accurate.
David Cooper rang me the other night to enquire on my progress with the loco. Certainly good customer service. We discussed the steaming of the boiler in some detail and David has made some suggestions that I think will be helpfull. I hope to try these out at the weekend.
I am finding the firing of the loco is becoming more relaxed and certainly building a good fire is the thing to do.
I think a damper on the fire door is a good idea and I intend to fit one. At present the need for that refinement is a little way off in my case.
I would like to sat that I am very pleased with my Annette. When I get it right it runs very well. I just need to get it right more often.
Tag, on a different subject but perhaps one close to yr heart, I cannot get a subscription thro' log in for the DIGITAL addition of Garden Rail. Phone calls/ mails to Atlantic have brought no joy.

Richard Bailey

Works here ? at least as far as i can go without actually buying a magazine. I don't know at what stage your purchase is failing. Give me a bell and we can find out what is happening. The digital edition is published by Exact Editions and when you click the digital subscription it goes through to their website. You can pass this on to them via their feedback (they get back PDQ) and they will almost certainly be able to sort this out for you. Atlantic cannot ? they do the hard copy edition.

 

[400Parker]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Richard,
Chris Bird made a nice little video of firing up his coal fired L&B loco, which has some useful tips and may help. I can't find the link to it but I'm sure Chris will pop up and oblige. (Just taking a break from packing kits for Stoneleigh, Chris!)
Steve

 

[Chris Bird]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Steve - I think Richard may well have seen that video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbfQ...away next time I think...... Cheers Chris

 

[thumper]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Good Morning!

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to run my new Annette at a fund raiser for training "Service Dogs" to assist persons with various handicaps. With me from our club, to help me learn how to properly fire a coal fired loco were Tom Myers and Fred Gandolfi. I learned that the charcoal and coal pieces I was using were larger than preferred, but we went ahead anyway. After getting it fired up on charcoal and then loading coal, it steamed up well, and then steam pressure settled at about 20 lbs. We simply couldn't get it to go higher, and of course, getting it to move was tough at best. We couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Using the trial and error process while looking for solutions, I took the longer poker and fiddled around between the ash pan and grate to clean out some junk and the fire toooooook off! From that point, the pressure gauge held at a steady 50 lbs, and I had a strong run of about of about 30 min with stops only for more coal and water.

Am I happy? You bet, I'm very happy. Once I learned how to get and keep a fire going, Annette "Ran like a Roundhouse" as we say on this side of the Pond. Take a look at the video on the following link that my friend Tom Myers shot. It says it all! I'm the guy in the red apron.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9o6-36tn90

I truly wish I could have taken David's offer to be tutored at his layout before taking the loco home. That would have solved my initial firing problems. Although I couldn't be there in person, David took time to give me quite a few written hints and has inquired about my satisfaction.

During my run, all I could do was smile. Am I satisfied? Absolutely. I could be a salesman for Sabre Steam.

David, thanks, and keep up the good work!

 

[scaleandy]

Re:Coal fired Lady Annette - More Information

Dear Gentlemen,

I'm only new to garden railways and closed the loop on my 44m of track a few months back. The lure of coal firing is so strong that I too am placing an order with Sabresteam after reading all the positive comments and helpful correspondence with David. Mine will be a satin black Annabel and I plan to make the throttle radio control as my raised track seems to ignore all instructions at being level throughout. Nothing to do with me build'n skills!

Thank you for all your helpful coal firing comments too.

 

[thumper]

Good morning. It's good to hear that Tag has had a chance to review David's work. Although I don't have Tag's expertise, I've submitted a review which should be published in the next issue of Steam In The Garden. SIG is published here in the U.S. by Ron Brown.

I've now run No. 6 several times, each without a problem. It is thirsty, but generating steam is what it is all about, and Annette does it very, very well. Pulling a load is no problem at all.

Regards and happy steaming,

Will Lindley

 

[thumper]

[H2]OOPS![/H2] When I saw the first message, I jumped to the conclusion that Tag had written a review of Sabre Steam's Annette. The mistake was mine.

Sorry,

Will

 

[brianthesnail96]

I think Tag will probably be publishing a review at some point if he hasn't already!

As I've said previously, I don't think anyone purchasing one of these locos will be dissapointed- make sure you show us some photos!