Running uncontrolled live steam locos on garden railways

[3 minutes of fame]

I didn't plan to have live steam locos when I laid out my railway. The plan was small industrial locos, trams and a few specials, all built by me and all electric.

That's when the MSS kit turned up for my birthday! Although my line has very little gradient - about 60mm over the whole track length, it is not entirely flat and a radius of 2'6" for the main curves doesn't help matters much either.

Running the loco involved a fair amount of running after it, and I'm built for comfort not speed, so a better solution was required. What I came up with was a small battery powered radio controlled wagon using a reasonably highly gear motor. The loco can pull this quite easily when there's no current applied to the motor, but apply a little reverse thrust and it will bring it to a halt. Apply some positive throttle and even the steepest curves and gradients are not an issue.

Some (not very good) video here. The wagon acts as a match wagon between the low and narrow buffers on the MSS to the standard the rest of my stock runs. That could equally be an LGB coupling if required, so it should be able to pull pretty much anything.

Enjoy

 

[casey jones snr]

I didn't plan to have live steam locos when I laid out my railway. The plan was small industrial locos, trams and a few specials, all built by me and all electric.

That's when the MSS kit turned up for my birthday! Although my line has very little gradient - about 60mm over the whole track length, it is not entirely flat and a radius of 2'6" for the main curves doesn't help matters much either.

Running the loco involved a fair amount of running after it, and I'm built for comfort not speed, so a better solution was required. What I came up with was a small battery powered radio controlled wagon using a reasonably highly gear motor. The loco can pull this quite easily when there's no current applied to the motor, but apply a little reverse thrust and it will bring it to a halt. Apply some positive throttle and even the steepest curves and gradients are not an issue.

Some (not very good) video here. The wagon acts as a match wagon between the low and narrow buffers on the MSS to the standard the rest of my stock runs. That could equally be an LGB coupling if required, so it should be able to pull pretty much anything.

Enjoy

View attachment 286847

An interesting possible solution to an age old problem.

 

[Paul M]

Ingenious
Mind you watching the loco going round the big loop without the control had me peering through my fingers with bated breath

 

[dunnyrail]

The other way that Mamods have been tamed is to build the motor unit into a sort of geared live steam powered motor. Quite a job but many interesting beasts were converted in the day of Mamodifications that were rife in the 80’s when the beasts first appeared.

 

[artfull dodger]

Look into the Mamod Brunel or one of the Regner Easy Line geared locomotives. They make live steam easy to live with and not having to put RC control on them. Regner just brought out a smart looking tram call Paul. The older Konrad and Willi are excellent engines as well. Anything Narrow Gauge has a pair of Konrads second hand, and John Sutton has a pair of the Mamod Brunels on his web e store.

 

[3 minutes of fame]

Look into the Mamod Brunel or one of the Regner Easy Line geared locomotives. They make live steam easy to live with and not having to put RC control on them. Regner just brought out a smart looking tram call Paul. The older Konrad and Willi are excellent engines as well. Anything Narrow Gauge has a pair of Konrads second hand, and John Sutton has a pair of the Mamod Brunels on his web e store.

Thank you. Yes saw a few examples at the Garden Railway Show. Beyond my budget at the moment, but I do have a battered old Mamod steam wagon that's crying out to be hacked into a geared loco...

 

[artfull dodger]

It can be done, seen others use bits from Mamod engines of all types to build a funky geared engine to trundle around the railroad.