Grinding halt with regulator open & safety valve lifting.

[MikeWilliams]

For anyone who hasn't seem Dave's Brit running, it is very impressive.  Please don't say (as some still do) that live steam means unrealistic tail-chasing at high speed, until you've seen this.  Slow starts, gradual acceleration and settling down to (I guess) about 50mph, all under perfect control.  Superb.

And I've said it before by will say it again, I still like to squat at the end of Alan's girder bridge, watch, feel and smell as these heavy steamers come by, followed by clicketty clack gradually fading away.  What could be better than that?

Mike

[IanT]

Maureen's Victoria sponge cake?   

[454]

The lemon drizzle cake.

[454]

Today was track proving time at Ralph's place.

It was a task delegated to my Brit to cruise up & down his end to end line to prove the track work in advance of him make his extensions around the rest of his garden & being available for serious train operations.

The runs were light engine only & under RC.

The loco did 2 steamings 34th & 35th with full manual use of the forward & reverse gear selection at each terminus.
All went well even in the pouring rain when the heavens opened, so yet another foul weather Brit run under our belt.

This was the first time my Brit had done any serious running on main line in reverse.
The running characteristic is totally different as the under cab pony truck tended to lift & derail on tight spots, this was identified later as a bit of negative camber, so correct packing up of track to super elevate will be Ralph's solution.

I see another track proving day to look forward to in the not too distant future 

Total steamings = 35 to today's date. (A steaming defined as fill or replenish oil/water/gas & heat back up from cold).
Total running/steaming time = 21 hours 25 mins approx.

The Brit 002 saga continues..........

Dave
454

[454]

The Brit visited Roger Mills excellent circuit at Sandy on Saturday. Thank you Roger for your GTG & hospitality. It was my first time to this circuit & was impressed by the way Roger had it organised so that maximum use of the inner & outer circuits could be operated throughout the afternoon. The plentiful supply of tea & excellent homemade cake was much appreciated.

36th steaming:
It was a good day out with plenty of visiting steam locos. The Brit was steamed for the 36th time late morning and run for a good 40 minutes hauling 4 BR Mk 1 coaches using RC and driven by Ken Cottle.  As it was the first time Ken had driven my Brit we worked together to keep the loco running. He controlled the stops & starts whilst I kept checking the water, bypass & gas. Ken the Driver & Myself the Fireman certainly a first for Gauge 3 worked as a team. No problems with the Brit, but as the Brit has not run too much in reverse it became obvious that on selecting reverse gear the loco needed a bit of manual encouragement to set off when light engine back to shed. On one occasion it shot off like a scalded cat in reverse & had a minor tender derailment on the crossover due to excessive speed. So I am planning on doing a bit of reverse running at the next GTG whenever & wherever that may be in the hope that it might loosen up & run more freely in reverse.

37th steaming
This was only about 20 minutes as I misjudged the amount of gas discharged from the canister into the tender storage tank. However, this time my 7 year old grandson Jack took to the controls & drove the Brit steadily & sedately with a short 4 wagon freight train. This steaming ended with the loco having a low gauge pressure & insufficient steam to make the final journey back to shed so was escorted back along the track with a bit of manual guidance.

Total steamings = 37 to today's date
Total running/steaming time 22 hours 30 mins approx.

Cannot wait for the next GTG.

Dave
454

[454]

Seems a while since last report but what with holidays & sorting out Kinder Scout the attention has been diverted a bit.

However, could not resist an opportunity to run on Trevor's newly laid out Thurnby this afternoon.

Britannia did it's 38th steaming duration 38 minutes. R/C controlled with accurate station stops. The new Thurnby is free running steam heaven as it is very level. This was very apparent as to the little control input on the Tx necessary to keep her driving steadily.

Later that afternoon after the heavens had opened & the sun had re-appeared decided to do another steaming which was to be 39th steaming. Having taken the R/C out of the loco due to the rain & in my opinion not really required on a level & well laid circuit such as Thurnby it was decided to do a manual run. This was carried out smoothly & the loco even though free running with no external RC input travelled smoothly & steadily for a good 30 minutes with only stops to check water & adjust bypass.

Total steamings to todays date = 39
Total running time = 23 hours 38 minutes approximately.

Kinder Scout performed on level track light engine scale 100 mph ish & the newly implemented simplified Bulleid trapezoidal pony truck was put through its paces on straight to curve & vice versa & turnouts with curve to parallel track at all speeds. It pulled 4 x Gresley teaks at a respectable scale 50 MPH ish. No derailments so am considering the design sealed & no further improvements will be experimented with.

It was good to meet all the other fellow members, Trevor, Jan, Rogers Marsh & Mills, John Candy.
Thanks Trevor for a brilliant day out on the track.

Dave
454

[454]

Today at GTG at Ted's my Brit achieved it's 40th steaming.

Everything went extremely well with no faults & impeccable control.

This time hauling 4 off bogie coaches with a stopping passenger train head code & a "0040" smoke box door front reporting number attached.

Unlike most attendees at Ted's the 30 minute time slot was adhered to. One hour before the run the boiler was filled,
the lubrication was done, the gas was filled. The battery checked, the R/C functionality tested. Then socialised had lunch & waited for 15 minutes prior to time slot. With help from Mark Pretious driving Kinder Scout the 4 coach train was hauled out onto the main line when a diagram slot was identified. The Peak hauled the train to "Lowe's Siding" at the bottom of the garden where the Peak was uncoupled & moved light engine & the Brit coupled to the coaches exactly on the half hour. Blowing off & ready to go. 30 minutes later after excellent performance Britannia was detached & reversed back to Lowe's Siding for disposal. If I can do it why can't other folks? Or even try?

I know steam locos can be temperamental but we as owners must by now know their foibles & it seems unfair to hog the track over one's time just because a loco is a bit recalcitrant. Having said that I believe most visitors ran their locos  during the day whenever so alls well that ends well. Please do not accuse me of being over critical but railways are time sensitive networks. We acquire our models & expect them to look good but we should show the same discipline in the way we operate them. Hope I am not misunderstood.

Brilliant GTG & thanks to Ted for his hospitality & use of his garden railway which now is a super facility to operate our trains on.

:-)

Dave
454

[blagdon]

Dave,

Happy 40th 'Britannia', sounds like she's nicely run-in; they do say life begins at 40!

On the GTG running time theme, as a battery loco type (would you lot really like someone with my eyesight running a live-steamer!!)' all too often in the past I have had my 'turn' cut short or cancelled because "there's a live steam loco ready to go and it can't wait". AT Roger M's Mark came running over to me to back my train into a siding as someone had sent out live steam loco without first checking the line was clear.

Luckily, no harm done.

Anyway, we are hoping to get to Alan's, so hope to you with the Brit there; as well as Kinder Scout.

Ian, captain of Team PIRATE

[454]

Ian,

See you at Alan's all being well.

May bring to Alan's something different have not aired in public on the G3S circuit yet.

Ian in answer to your comment in previous post: having live steamers & battery locos I know how you feel.
My own feeling is it should not matter, but it does seem to.
You have travelled a long distance to be there & brought your stock with you & so have others. It is not fair if one's run on the track is cut short just because the SV's are lifting on someone else's loco & it is "ready to go".

The steam up time should be conducted so that readiness is on the appointed time, irrespective of how difficult or problematical the loco may be during preparation. We should all know how long it takes to prepare our little beasts.

I am sure at Kings Cross Shed in steam days, just because the loco was ready meant that the 10:00 to Edinburgh from Kings Cross Station set off at 09:46 instead because it was considered necessary as the "loco was ready".
There would have been a lot of disappointed passengers. But if the train was empty, who cares, the loco was ready so it had to go.

Analogy with boating

I suppose the rule for proper mariners is: Power gives way to sail.
Translated into "G3S railway speak" becomes : Everything else gives way to steam.

or

If "we" ran a boating lake : sail gives way to power.

So the reality is that sadly "steam snobbery" does exist albeit un-knowingly, & I am sure it is not just us but other model clubs & societies as well.

We could change this if there was consensus. But the status quo may sadly prevail if not & hope that it does not prevent you unduly from enjoying our hobby.

Dave
454

[IanT]

At "busier" GTG's one solution would be to have a 'Track Marshal' (not the Host!) - preferably two volunteers (one on track duty, the other to provide relief - Tea breaks etc) who are easily identified, and who not only make sure that the schedule is observed but that other GTG 'guidelines' are also observed (boiler certs checked, running lines not being obstructed etc).

From my observations, it is not only the occasional Driver that needs 'marshalling' but also some of the other guests but as another "guest" it's not really possible to say too much. I'm sure we can all recall occasions where we have seen less than sensible things being done at GTGs but didn't feel able to intervene.   

Ted had a track schedule plainly visible yesterday and there's no good reason people can't adhere to it - although it is easy to lose track of time when fiddling about with a misbehaving engine (of any type...)

This subject has been discussed before on various occasions but has never gained sufficient interest/support to actually get something done about it... maybe that time has now arrived.

IanT

[DanDe]

Enjoyable GTG, nice weather - perfect. Thanks for the hospitality Ted and to Dave for further mentoring on the Brit. Fell I  have a firm grip on the RC now without having to chase the Loco when it sets off! Got to get the balance right soon between boiler feed and the risk of priming which I am sure comes with practice. Priming of course affects tractive effort - so appreciated the shove uphill on Teds great layout (thanks Dave!). Margaret and I admire the variety of locos/running stock seen at GTG's and look forward to further offerings from Kingscale when they come on stream and a scratch built offerings, whether they be steam or otherwise.

[454]

Dan
It was a pleasure to see you & Margaret at Ted's. Your Brit runs well & behaves, you will get the hang of it eventually. The trick is not to pump too much water into the boiler but sensitively be aware what bypass water is being pumped or not pumped as the case maybe. The other thing to be aware of is when to shut off the regulator in anticipation of an approaching bend. Also when to open up to tackle a stiff grade.

Ian T
I like the idea of a track marshall (or two) to help & oversee operations. Ted's double track schedule & token idea is great but I think this needs supervision as it is possible for the over enthusiastic to hi-jack the roster by entering multiple time slots effectively elbowing out the less forceful or timid, who might have travelled just as far. I think 30 mins is adequate & is easily managed.

During the day there is adequate time for prepping in advance of planned running then after running to give way to the next operator.

There should also be a limit to rolling stock availability subject to sidings & platform roads. Over enthusiasm of stuffing excess stock into any available track space is not acceptable. The placing & removal of "personal" items of stock itself takes time & prevents the turnaround of operations, particularly if those concerned are not aware of the rostering system.

Others may take some convincing but I would be happy to comply to a better disciplined approach.

Equal rights for steam & electric. The steaming bay is for raising steam not the main line, particularly when that time slot is coming to a rapidly approaching end.

The rule should be: end your running slot in steam in the steaming bay after detachment from train at handover time.
Anything less is could do better next time.

Dave
454

[John Candy]

My anticipated mode of "control" will involve 3 signalmen (one of which will be "Controller") and all turnouts connected to the main running lines will be "power" controlled from the signal boxes .... so you will not be able to get onto the running lines without a "green" light.

Stock will only be added/removed (railed/derailed if you like) in designated sidings and locos (particularly live steam) will not be permitted to stop on the mainlines for "fiddling"....failed locos will be removed to the MPD by a "pilot".

A ticket system will be used to authorise all movements and nothing moves without its allocated ticket number appearing on the "control" vdu and the road being set.

CCTV will be available for the Controller to oversee the more remote corners of the system.

The nature of my track layout will mean that non-radio-controlled locos will need to be carefully run, since running behind your train will not be possible.....there are too many obstacles.

Using radio control, it should be possible to safely run nine trains simultaneously on the three main running lines (as well as having simultaneous local movements on the three branches).

John.

[454]

John,
You could lead the way in "proper" G3S GTG operation at long last. This could be the benchmark system for us all to follow. From my viewpoint I welcome this approach & look forward with enthusiasm to participating in what could be the solution we could all follow on our own circuits.

:-)

Cheers
Dave
454

[blagdon]

Chaps, I did not intend to move this topic 'off piste' and into GTG operations, nor to have a go at my live steam friends; (need to wear hair shirt and sandals again!)

So back to Britannia's; how many owners have renamed and numbered theirs as a matter of interest?

Dan, are you going to Alan's on 6th September, may if Dave and yourself bring Brits, we could see some double heading?

Finally - John, will you be giving signal operator instruction courses for 'Cambridgeshire? and will said trainees be examined to certify them up to standard? (This happens on the Great Cockrow Railway down here near Chertsey, When I did mine some 35 years ago (still had good eyesight), the person in charge of signalling was none other than the then Southern Region Chief Engineer!

Ian the Gauge '3' Pirate