Yup, just fine for the wiggle mechanical bits that rotate, but NOT steam oil, which is an emulsifying lubricant designed SPECIFICALLY for steam engines - INTERNALLY.
Has the OP called up THE local Scottish specialist on Garden trains yet, I wonder?
Locomotion Steam Railbus - Getting it going ...
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Yup, just fine for the wiggle mechanical bits that rotate, but NOT steam oil, which is an emulsifying lubricant designed SPECIFICALLY for steam engines - INTERNALLY.
Has the OP called up THE local Scottish specialist on Garden trains yet, I wonder?
Exactly tac, you feel the same as I do, but unfortunately I have had mine forced upon me for work. We had a meeting at work and we were talking about the various ways we were tracked. Truly frightening, and that's just for work. Smart phones, ipads, two van tracking devices, SOS safety gadget and laptop computer. That's without security cameras spending on the fleet fuel cards etc etc. And it can all be sold on to the highest bidder
Yebbut, I got caught out with my trusty German satnav the other day when it was confused by a street in the London suburbs that had a short one-way section to prevent it being used as a rat race. Now the trusty German satnav knew about the short one-way section, but couldn't work out how to get around it. Google maps on the phone saved the day - only for me to find in the pitch dark of early evening that the satnav had got me to within 30 yards of the address. In my defence m'lud, I was delivering an old photocopier (ebay sale) that was quite heavy
You need to watch 'Hunted' ................ it's quite a revelation.
Mind you, I also watched one of these past criminal case programmes where they identified an accessory to murder (subsequently found guilty of manslaughter) on the basis of the timing of his phone signal to a particular mast, which timed with a phone signal from the killer's phone to another mast in the same area - uses and abuses.
Yeah. I only watched the video in it's entirety just then and was wondering the same. What does he mean? Engine oil? surely not motor oil...
Ok! Ok! everyone! I called it engine oil and it should be steam oil. Mea culpa! I promise it won't happen again.
I also use an old 3 in 1 oil container for my engin..... I mean steam oil. I find its nozzle useful for feeding oil into some lubricators.
That said, let's get back to the subject of the Locomotion Steam Railbus. Mine had not run very often for possibly as long as 18 years. The video gives a good idea of the many issues that arose as I attempted to bring it back to life. To list these as briefly as I can they included replacing all the fibre washers and O rings, replacing the ancient RC receiver, replacing the gas filler valve and gas jet, and the major and most effective upgrade, converting the original gas burner to a ceramic burner.
Now, the railbus is an absolutely stunning runner. While many people would have misgivings about it being powered by a pair of double acting oscillating cylinders, it starts and stops smoothly and can run for ages. Nevertheless there are two aspects of operating the railbus which should never be ignored, 1 ) it needs to be driven with care, like the old DMUs, open the throttle/regulator wide and then throttle back as it picks up speed. Most running is done by free wheeling with an occasional boost from the regulator to maintain the speed. Stopping is also an art! It's quite fun to aim for gentle coasting to a stop at the right place beside the platform.
2) Very important! Watch that water gauge glass and top up regularly. And be prepared to burn your hand if the water filler valve is just in front of the chimney like mine.
Well If you can crack all that you should end up with a wonderful locomotive.
I'm not too far from Scotland so if a trip to the deepest darkest North East of England was possible you'd be very welcome to come and have a Railbus Workshop!
Now where is that engine oil!!!
Michael
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I guess we were being a little pedantic as we all want to make sure that a clear novice got the correct message. Out of interest I also have one of these as a 2 car. But I bought it after the Steam Gear had been stripped out must ask Barry one day why. It is now a Battery Railcar and runs very sweetly. But you can see from the inside that it had been Steam powered by the varying scorch marks etc, or perhaps he had been using LiPo’s on an earlier battery conversion?
These are quite unique as they have the boiler and motor just in the cab. I think they were kits. I have two of them. One has a trailing coach that matches. If you are going to sell it, I would not try to update the RC system. I just put a new receiver in mine and used one of the transmitters i already had. Anyone buying it, might do the same.
I live in Los Angeles
John
They were NOT kits (well certainly in UK) but could be available in various formats, Single Car, Double Car both Battery or Live Steam plus there was also a double ended Battery Powered Diesel.
It's been a while since I posted, doesn’t time fly. I was looking over the railbus again this week, since I'm off work with covid again.
From this photo, it is seen that the link between the regulator lever and its servo is missing, assuming that the regulator lever normally sits to that side.
It's also apparent that the motion of the servo crank and the regulator are not parallel.
Seems to me that this would provide ample opportunity for this to jam, so this seems wrong.
Can anyone comment, or perhaps post an image, of how the link should look?
Also, what is the range of movement to work the regulator - it's limited by hitting the lubrication oil reservoir.
This servo is inside the passenger compartment, and I presume that this works the whistle. Would this servo originally be configured without proportional control?
I seem to recall that the original controller had two proportional channels, but sadly I don't have that.
Then there's this servo, controlling rotating lever at the back of the boiler. I'm guessing that this is a blower valve - would that be correct?
I have the wire to connect the servo crank and the valve lever, but cannot get it to connect and stay in place.
I'm assuming that this would be a proportional control - would that be correct?
I was hoping to see Scottish Garden Railways at the SECC show this year but spot their stand.
Does anyone have a scan of the instruction manual that they could PM me, please?
I was wondering whether I could test this with compressed air before steaming it?
I did find that hooking up the servos to another receiver, that all three actually work. Maybe I can find a Hitec transmitter on eBay. It's FM on 40MHz.
From this photo, it is seen that the link between the regulator lever and its servo is missing, assuming that the regulator lever normally sits to that side.
It's also apparent that the motion of the servo crank and the regulator are not parallel.
Seems to me that this would provide ample opportunity for this to jam, so this seems wrong.
Can anyone comment, or perhaps post an image, of how the link should look?
Also, what is the range of movement to work the regulator - it's limited by hitting the lubrication oil reservoir.
This servo is inside the passenger compartment, and I presume that this works the whistle. Would this servo originally be configured without proportional control?
I seem to recall that the original controller had two proportional channels, but sadly I don't have that.
Then there's this servo, controlling rotating lever at the back of the boiler. I'm guessing that this is a blower valve - would that be correct?
I have the wire to connect the servo crank and the valve lever, but cannot get it to connect and stay in place.
I'm assuming that this would be a proportional control - would that be correct?
I was hoping to see Scottish Garden Railways at the SECC show this year but spot their stand.
Does anyone have a scan of the instruction manual that they could PM me, please?
I was wondering whether I could test this with compressed air before steaming it?
I did find that hooking up the servos to another receiver, that all three actually work. Maybe I can find a Hitec transmitter on eBay. It's FM on 40MHz.
Not sure if they'll include what you are looking for but there are lots of pictures on Locomotion Steam Railbus, and two links to people that might be able to help.
Cheers
David
Hi David
Yep, I've looked at that site previously, it's a great resource.
Curiously, a photo that does show the regulator and its servo crank wire appears to have a shorter regulator handle with three holes for the drive wire.
I could easily believe that I need to modify the regulator handle to get this properly aligned, but at the moment I can't even find regulator open and closed positions.
It's one reason why I'm thinking that if I could get the correct adaptor, I could pressurise with a car foot pump to say, 80% of the gauge pressure, for setting up.
Thanks
Yep, I've looked at that site previously, it's a great resource.
Curiously, a photo that does show the regulator and its servo crank wire appears to have a shorter regulator handle with three holes for the drive wire.
I could easily believe that I need to modify the regulator handle to get this properly aligned, but at the moment I can't even find regulator open and closed positions.
It's one reason why I'm thinking that if I could get the correct adaptor, I could pressurise with a car foot pump to say, 80% of the gauge pressure, for setting up.
Thanks
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It is highly unlikely that there would be a blower valve. With the three you are looking at this is what they would likely do.
1 regulator
2 possibly whistle
3 reverser
Not quite sure what you mean by proportional control, though some live steam do have 1 lever/servo for Fwds/reverse/accelerate/decelerate.
1 regulator
2 possibly whistle
3 reverser
Not quite sure what you mean by proportional control, though some live steam do have 1 lever/servo for Fwds/reverse/accelerate/decelerate.
Thanks for the feedback.
I had originally thought that 3 was a reverser, which would make total sense. Then I became uncertain since the valve also seems to have the cylinder exhaust pipes connected to it and there's a pipe from it that runs up the middle of the boiler to form the chimney, and it seems to have live steam connections. That said, it's quite hard to follow the pipes given the limited space. Would be great if there was a diagram of the piping available somewhere, but I can't find one.
By proportional control I mean that something that has a range from open to closed, like the regulator, as opposed to something that's off or on, such as a whistle. The former would be controlled by a continuously variable lever on the transmitter, but only a switch on the transmitted would be needed for an off / on function.
I'm also advised by my RC enthusiast friend that my terminology is wrong! The actuator on the servo that I called a crank (that looks like part of what one would see joining point rodding) is apparently in RC terminology called the 'servo horn' although I'm not sure that my use of the incorrect term is particularly confusing.
Aha interesting the item 3 could be part of the regulator setup with the pipe going through the boiler a sort of superheater or steam dryer if you like. That though confuses the regulator which we thought was servo 1. I am beginning to wonder if someone has done a bit of a rebuild on your example and got things mixed up when rebuilding. I wonder if there is a 16mm group anywhere near you. There are certainly East and West Scottish groups but that may be of no use to you. You may get some help from that avenue from a knowledgable bod Locomotion wise. In any case if not membership is well worth it if only for the Magazine, though they do have an internet chat presence as well.
I'm certain that there's no attempt to re-heat steam going on. While the original owner was definitely a fiddler, I don't think that there's been a re-build and all the piping looks original.
I'll have another look and try to work out the piping runs.
And I need to get some bits to get this running; water filler, gas filler and some steam oil.
BTW, is this a Goodall filler ?
Do not recognise it, but that cover may be a cosmetic addition. The odd one I have has a brass body like this one I got from GRS many moons ago. Not a goodhall but similar system I think.
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Phone signals are a major part of the case against the accused killer of four college students in a city just north of where I live. "Hunted" doesn't seem to be available in the US according to IMDB.
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Looks just like all my Goodall valves. Silicon tube over the tail which has a hole in it from the hole on top. I think mine came from Accucraft.
Servo movement is usually only 45-0-45 (degrees) for a total of 90 deg, so the mismatch with your throttle lever isn't important. Throttles often are fully open by 45 deg, even if they can turn another 3 turns! Usually you screw the throttle in to close it. It should be attached to the boiler, and there will be a steam pipe coming from it to the lubricator and then the pistons under the floor.
I don't recall my railbus having a reverse lever, though maybe it did! On oscillators like this, it's usually a rotary valve that reverses input/exhaust flow to the motors.
My tire/tyre pump has a rubber adapter for pumping up certain air toys (?) and I find that will usually fit in the boiler - remove the safety valve and press it in.
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