Garden Railway Forum

Hello All
I was wondering how, if at all, people have managed to get rc control over the throttle to slow these little beasts down. Specifically keeping all the rc gear in the cab so you dont need a tender. I've hacked a form of rc control into my Janet using a 9g micro servo and an oversized gear to get the required number of turns. It is however a little bit rough and I'd like to improve it, I was wondering if anyone knows of a neater method of getting it all in the cab? I'm aware in the pics its just the servo show, I usually have the battery and receiver on the cab roof.





Thanks
Edd

I did it a while back. Go onto YouTube and search for Radio Control for a Mamod Mk11 Locomotive

There are a few issues:

A) The loco becomes seriously back heavy and will derail unless you can counter-balance and/or fit extra trailing wheels.

B) The Mamod regulator thread is very fine (rediculously so on the new Thomas Telford) so you need either gearing or a capstan servo that's not limited to 90 or 180 degrees rotation.

Mike

mikewakefielduk@btinterne:103015 wrote:
 B) The Mamod regulator thread is very fine (rediculously so on the new Thomas Telford) so you need either gearing or a capstan servo that's not limited to 90 or 180 degrees rotation.

Mike

Ah so it's not just me then.

No, its not just you. I believe Mamod have used something like M3 x 0.35 as the thread for the Telford regulator, which means it takes approximately 2 full turns from closed to fully open. Nice if you want to make fine manual adjustments but hopeless for radio control with a normal 90 degree servo. Its a shame they don't make the regulator body separate like Roundhouse do. That way they could sell you a different regulator for manual and radio control.

Mike

You could put a blunter taper on the end of the needle?

You could and I do have a spare which I could experiment with but to get it to work properly you'd ideally need to put a corresponding new taper in the seat as well, which isn't practical.

Roundhouse of course have a regulator assembly that unscrews from the turret so can sell a completely different design for radio control which uses an O ring instead of a taper.

Hi Edd,

The problem with the 'J' class oscillators is there is not enough space in their open cabs. I've seen radio controlled IP Jane's (IP Eng & PPS Steam offered R/C kits) which have extended cab backs to accommodate all the R/C gear (these usually have the R/C on the reverser valve only and you manually set the regulator).

The alternative to your geared control is to use a chain drive (meccano or Delrin, etc.). As far as I'm aware you can only get sail winch servos in standard size.

With that 9g micro servo in the centre of the cab floor how is your Janet fired?

Chris Cairns