I'm smitten...

Sylvian Tennant · Post by **Sylvian Tennant** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 11:18 pm

I've just done some googling and it looks like some mineral deposits.

I thought Billingham (where I am) had soft water at one point... bit daft of me to think that really.

There was a fair bit of spitting and moaning from her but she'll clam down soon enough. What got me the most was the sudden pop of the fire... that spooked me a little.

Big Al · Post by **Big Al** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 11:24 pm

I have not had any problems using rain water put through a filter jug, dehumidifier water is said to be best but not always available to every body. The area I live is a hard water area and I use a similar filter for the kettle and has very little lime scale in it but boil it once or twice with tap water unfiltered and it get's instant coating of lime scale,

Sylvian Tennant · Post by **Sylvian Tennant** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:40 am

What kind of filter do you use Big Al?

I heard the expensive Brita ones are not too good as they de-ionise the water.

TonyW · Post by **TonyW** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:56 am

Some good advice from Roundhouse here:
http://www.roundhouse-eng.com/tech.htm#water

bazzer42 · Post by **bazzer42** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:22 am

Wait til you fit a chuffer. I've only had live steam for 2 months but lighting my lady Anne that I have added a chuffer can be quite hair raising/removing.
Ps wife loved the driver - Sylvanian Tennant?

TonyW · Post by **TonyW** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 11:01 am

bazzer42:81801 wrote:... lighting my lady Anne that I have added a chuffer can be quite hair raising/removing.

Are you putting the flame to the top of the chimney? If so, try putting it under the front buffer beam. The gas we use is heavier than air so it will find the flame easier underneath.

bazzer42 · Post by **bazzer42** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 12:37 pm

Thanks Tony, I have a flexi ended lighter so that should be easy??!

artfull dodger · Post by **artfull dodger** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 5:20 pm

Excellent first steam up picture!! I am anxiously awaiting the delivery of my Lady Anne kit! So I really am enjoying your pics of your engine. I think I will paint mine a dark red, similar to what RH uses on the factory painted engines. Or atleast as close as I can get on this side of the pond. Cheers Mike

Sylvian Tennant · Post by **Sylvian Tennant** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:30 am

Thanks man

So have you managed to finally get a kit ordered?

is it the whole thing or you getting it section by section?

I was tempted to go for a kit but, at this moment in time, real steam is a totally new concept to me so maybe the next engine could be a kit... I dunno just yet. Still looking at the options for improving "Jem".

That'll be a nice colour. If you look back further enough, Jemima was mean't to originally be Tan, but I lost my last job and figured that having her professionally lined to the extent I wanted would not be that cost effective. Plus I like black

Still thinking of getting he professionally done though.

A cautionary note to the boy racers out there! She was not happy to be sped off the rails...

thanks for the link TonyW, I did a bit of a test and it was dehumidified water I used. By the looks of it, it was deposits of a steam oil and condensed water.

Bazzer lol tell your wife thanks

Sylvanian Tennant my left foot

artfull dodger · Post by **artfull dodger** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 4:24 am

Derailments happen, quite common on some narrow gauge lines! I have all the kits ordered as of today. The chassis will be here any time now. The boiler and body in a month of so. Planning to put a Summerlands chuffer in during construction, along with upgrading the crosshead to the deluxe version with the drop link and combination lever. Whenever mother nature decides spring should arrive, I will start on rebuilding my railway to better suit a rod engine verses the geared engine I was running. Mike

GTB · Post by **GTB** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:01 am

Sylvian Tennant:81833 wrote: .By the looks of it, it was deposits of a steam oil and condensed water.

That's why Roundhouse kindly supply a cloth for wiping down the loco after a run.

A few oil spots after a run are a good thing. It confirms you remembered to fill the lubricator and that it was working..........

Graeme

artfull dodger · Post by **artfull dodger** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 4:22 pm

I enjoy the wiping down of the engine after a run. I can evaluate how well it ran that day, if the lubricator was doing its job ect. I wipe it down when its almost to hot to hold still. The hot oil helps leave a nice shiny engine again once its wiped down. A few Q tips(Cotton Swabs) help to get in the nooks and crannies where my fingers with a towel cannot. Hopefully my chassis comes soon, its supposed to be on the water between RH and my dealer here in the states. Mike

Sylvian Tennant · Post by **Sylvian Tennant** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:07 pm

I like what you've done so far to "Oliver" Artful Dodger, very smart. Reminds me of the time I probably annoyed Tag Gorton via e-mail as a day dreaming 13 year old saying how much I thought a blue Lady Anne looked like Thomas the Tank.

I've still got the book he gave me.

Anyway, the aforementioned Jemima has been out for a couple of runs to varying degrees of success. Most notably being around the lighting up.

My last steam up initially start up without a hitch until she got moving when she primed something rotten and caused her gas jet to extinguish. For a few moments relighting only achieved a flame in the funnel which I believe wasn't a good thing. I had conceded that the jet may be a little dirty or I was being impatient so I left it for a few minutes, made a cup of tea and came back. I opened the gas valve without lighting it and again waited before trying to relight the gas jet. This time round it worked, I also let her blow of for a few minutes before genitally setting her off. There was no further issues.

I have found the fire in the smokebox issue a little bit daunting as it's happened twice now, the first time being when I opened up the gas valve a little too fast, but no harm was done. On the same run she fell over and the course sound of the burner led me to believe the fire had found it's way back into the smoke box. So extra care with corners is now called for.

Anyway, she's still plodding along the grumpy little dear she is and here she is with some of my newly built wagons.

It's getting there!

artfull dodger · Post by **artfull dodger** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 3:51 am

Looking good. Once steam is up, from my experience, you can turn the gas down till you can barely hear it, depending on how good your hearing is mind you. And the burner will sustain steam production on that low gas setting. I only have mine turned up so its loud till steam is up, then I back it down as low as I can. Conserves gas, which can get expensive if you like to run alot like I do. And keeps the safety from blowing off all the time, something that if the RR mangement saw, you might get called to the office with your hat in your hand. I like your rolling stock. Wish someone in the states would stock UK style rolling stock. LGB stuff is the easiest to find state side. Oliver is back appart to work on lighting the lanterns and tidy up some fittings and pipe routing. Hopefully weather will be better this week for some actual track running instead of on blocks. The eventual plan is for a couple more RH engines, a Katie which will be the "artfull dodger" and another one yet to be determined which will be "fagen". All names from my favorite C. Dickens novel. Cheers Mike

Sylvian Tennant · Post by **Sylvian Tennant** » Fri May 24, 2013 3:06 pm

Just out of curiosity, after running your locos, do you drain the steam oil out of it?

TonyW · Post by **TonyW** » Fri May 24, 2013 3:21 pm

Sylvian Tennant:83841 wrote:Just out of curiosity, after running your locos, do you drain the steam oil out of it?

No, as it is a waste of oil. Over the next day or so following a run the emulsified oil (often described in unflattering terms for some reason ... "gloop", "gunge", etc.) will return to its constituent parts of usable steam oil sitting on top of water, all ready to be drained (water) and re-filled (oil) when next steamed.

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Fri May 24, 2013 6:18 pm

Just make sure there's no danger of it being "drawn" into the boiler and it's fine to leave it.

Keith S · Post by **Keith S** » Sat May 25, 2013 9:03 pm

Sylvain, sorry to sound sarcastic, that's not my intention, but did the locomotive not come with instructions? All these problems you're having, well they seem kind of like you didn't read the instructions. Are you withdrawing 30ccs of water from the boiler after filling it up? It shouldn't be priming like that. Maybe the boiler needs a good rinsing if it's priming that badly and you are filling it correctly. Ditto the fire in the smokebox, you should turn the gas on only until you can just hear it, light the fire and wait a moment before slowly turning it up to heat the engine, then once the engine blows off you can turn it down to near-minimum again. When the engine has finished its run and you aren't immediately steaming it again, open the drain on the lubricator and loosen the cap until the water runs out. Close the drain when the water changes to oil, and fill the lubricator. Before I do this I loosen the fill cap on the boiler to make sure there is no vacuum in there that can suck oil into the boiler. That's about it.
I'm sorry if you already know all this, but there really isn't such a thing as a "grumpy" Lady Anne. Well, don't tell James I said that , but really...

Also if you've got a chuffer, it might be better to light it at the bottom, or if there's a small flame in the chimney I find blowing down the chimney pops the flame back into the tube where it belongs.

Narrow Minded · Post by **Narrow Minded** » Sat May 25, 2013 11:05 pm

Mine's called "Lady Of Sherwood" (after, er, the Lady of Sherwood

)

Lady Of Sherwood by Gregs Trains, on Flickr

artfull dodger · Post by **artfull dodger** » Mon May 27, 2013 4:03 pm

Oliver always lights easily at the top of the chimney with the gas cracked open to where I can just hear it. And mine does have a Summerlands Chuffer installed with the top of the chuffer at the top of the cast smokestack so just below the brass top cap. It is possible you got some junk from a bad can of gas and have a partialy plugged up gas jet. Best way to clean one is to remove from the engine, and blow gas thru it backwards by holding it against the gas pipe and turning the gas on for a moment. Do not use anything to dry to "pick" it clean. If you dont have the supplied surringe(sp) from Roundhouse, I would suggest you ring them and aquire one. Its marked so once the boiler is full, you draw off 30 mils of water to leave space for steam to form. It is possible to get a dirty or blocked gas jet. To clean the jet, remove from the burner assembly, unhook the gas line, take gas jet and hold it against the gas line backwards and open the gas valve to blow gas thru it backwards. This will normaly clear the jet. Do NOT try picking the jet clean using a fine wire ect. This will mess up the close tollerance gas jet itself. A Roundhouse should not be grumpy at all. I also wait till the next steam up to drain my lubricator. I do that while I wait for the engine to raise steam. My normal steam up process is to fill the boiler, again draining off 30mil's of water once its totaly full. Then I fill the gas tank till its full, crack open the gas valve and light the burner. While I wait for steam to raise, I drain and fill the lubricator, oil the valve motion and side rods. By then I normal have 10psi on the gauge and I can shift the valve gear from neutral to forward and reverse to clear the cylinders and begin my run. I do wish Roundhouse would match thier compition and fit a sight glass to every model and an extra boiler steam tap to fit one of the whistle kits that are out there on the market. Mike

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