Shunting isn't my thing, so as previously noted, this stage of the track is just a large oval (120 ft. run) similar to tracks commonly used for running G1 trains. What I do like to do though, is testing and performance measurement, for which this track is ideal. The start of steam running also confirms that an elevated track with no gradients makes steaming and managing a steam loco much easier.
Melbourne in Autumn often has good weather and Friday morning was a lovely day for boiling some water, temperature 18 degC, sunny and calm........
The first photo shows Bunyip sitting in the morning sun, waiting while the pressure builds up. This loco has had a lot of trouble with the safety valves that were originally fitted, so this was a good chance to see how the recently fitted replacements worked.
Taking photos of a moving train isn't easy, as digital cameras have a mind of their own and the loco can move out of frame by the time it gets around to actually taking the image.......
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The next shot shows Bunyip wheeling a fast goods into the curve at the northern end, trailing a small steam plume. The train is ten bogie vehicles for 40 axles. The loco is mechanically more or less identical to a Roundhouse #24 and has no problem maintaining speed and pressure with this size train. The new Accucraft G1 safety valves are a semi pop type and were working well, opening and closing quietly and quickly for less than a second at the same place on each trip around the track.
The last pic shows the train accelerating as it leaves the curve through the junction heading south over the bridge and onto the straight. With the sun behind it, the steam plume is emphasised. This loco is fairly wet, even with superheating and it will be interesting to see what it looks like on a cold, sunny day in winter.
Running time lasted for 25 min and 20 circuits of the track, so average speed was a reasonable 22scale mph. A quick calculation showed the loco was developing an average only 0.7W to run the train.
Doesn't say much for the thermal efficiency of these small steam engines, as the burner puts out around 700 watts when set to the minimum gas setting for running. My old Merlin Motor Mule manages the same train using only 3 watts of electrical power. The steam engine has a higher fun factor though.......
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Regards,
Graeme