GHWood said:
Ferrysteam said:
hornbeam said:
Agree- best burners end of. Regner seem to block and are harder to light and Accucraft's are like blow lamps.
Mine don't block and me Accucrafts aren't noisy.
Yes seconded here Allan, I ran my new "Lawley" straight out of the box at NHN's today, quiet as a mouse and a good 35mins on a fill of gas, very pleased. The "Wrekin", after a dodgy start is now running very quietly as well
Indeed they do function well after running in – and the 'Countess' with its lagged boiler is particularly quiet, but there is little doubt that the Roundhouse type is more efficient. I just wish they would improve their gas regulator valve to match. The 0 ring type is difficult to adjust at low gas settings – hence the typical view of Roundhouse locos 'blowing off' whilst running. John Mann in Oz designed a superb valve that very much improved this aspect of Roundhouse running but, unfortunately, it is expensive to make. Mike Ousby of ACME would happily make you one but you would not get any change from forty squid...
The best gas firing system IMHO, is that which was fitted to Cheddar locomotives. Full gas pressure regulation (in other words you do not have to keep turning the gas down as latent heat spreads from the boiler), efficient and very quiet ceramic burner and a highly efficient boiler with radial crosstubes. I have a much modified Cheddar 'Reisa' and running quality and control is superb with shunting undertaken at a crawl, a silent burner and the ability to almost dial in the pressure required, whether light shunting or pulling a very heavy train.
Such a shame they went under. The late Johnny Woodroofe had all sorts of plans for future projects, but fatal illness and financial problems did for them...