Screwy Nick

Here is what happened yesterday, geared extremely low, but like what I saw. Once it starts winding up it keeps going even though the pressure is going down.

I had hoped the Jawn Henry, but after seeing the wheel arrangement and size of it got discouraged. May turn out to be a 'one of a kind experimental' made by Screwy Nick's locomotive company. Another deterrent is the body will have to be made of metal. That is still a LONG way off. I know the turbine needs to be geared very low to drive the generator, so today joining an Aristocraft 90' diesel axle gear to the turbine and original heavier Pittman motor. Hoping to get the turbine to whine up like it does without a load and see what the generator puts out, still waiting on the gear kit I sent for, has a wide range of ratios to play with. More later (I hope). Here's a bit of trivia I stumbled on recently: Harland & Wolff made Diesel engines in Belfast for the CN rail road late 30's, and probably for European RR's as well.

Haven't stopped playing with the turbine, the gears I ordered appeared to have been shipped but wanted to do some steam testing. Once the turbine is moving it doesn't seem to take much too keep it going. Actually took quite a while to wind down, even as the pressure dropped below 10lbs. Very promising. The generator used in this test was a motor taken out of an Aristocraft diesel truck, much less resistance. Boiler pressure held at 40lbs.

Tried to edit above, guess timed out. Found a metal gear assortment set on Ebay, I may receive them anytime between now and March 2, can devote more time to (speaking of gears) Grandma. Old girl was in a storage shed for ?? years and then laying on the floor of a bedroom for another 20.

The switcher boiler didn't do much better than the Shay, and the 1:1 was just too much drag for the turbine. Need to find a 'kit' that will allow me to try different gear ratios to drive the generator. Doesn't take much steam to drive the turbine, and like the article said, steam is much more powerful than just compressed air.

Yes, Shay can give the pressure, but not the amount of steam needed to maintain. Next test will be using an 0-6-0 switcher and 1:1 ratio, hoping for better results for one of the items in question.

A bit more progress: used a Shay to supply steam, much better performance. Biggest thing I found was that standard compression fittings used on water lines, like the ice maker in your freezer, held up to 80lbs steam pressure. I didn't let it go beyond that. The second valve is incase the pressure got out of hand could vent the boiler. Could also have diverted to the engine, but doubted it would lower the pressure fast enough. Next step is to play with the drive to driven ratios.

I kept opening up the boiler valve and it ran as you saw, gave it one more turn and the valve stem piped out of the base, but the set screw held it in the valve body. The boiler let go of all the steam, took about 45 seconds of high speed running and the voltage really climbed. By time I found the phone it was almost out of steam. Gives me a lot of promise for when I connect a larger boiler.

First steam was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't expect the little boiler to a whole lot, but did less than expected. One problem was the burner, needs some work. Next test will be using a main line locomotive and tapping off the pressure relief valve fitting.

First test on air, takes a little to break inertia but once the turbine is moving ***. Would like to run at least 1:1 ratio, but hoping for more as steam will give me much more power. https://www.boilerspecialists.com/steam-compressed-air-pressure-energy/

Years ago Hyde-Out-Mountain produced a 'Live Diesel Kit'. Driven by a model airplane engine the generator produced electricity which powered the motors in the trucks. I got 2, had big plans. Project actually fell a little short of the original plan. Put one in an Aristocraft RS3 and to make life interesting added R/C. Still does an occasional run. The other one has been sitting on the bench since then. Not any more. Planning on turning this one with a turbine. As you can see, still in the infant testing phase, but I'm havin' fun. Pic of the present project, and for those that haven't seen a live diesel in G, included the video. May want to lower your volume, it is noisy.

Definitely in the holiday spirit. I of course favor the dancing Pug. Merry Christmas, and may 23 be good to you.

It runs as well as my steamers from other manufacturers, durability, only time will tell. I'm very happy with it. Thank you for the encouragement. LiG

Was very dissapointed in the stack plumes yesterday. Plenty of vapor from the pressure relief so why not the stack?? Found previous owner cut the exhaust tube from the cylinders short and also cut the tube to the stack short so the openings were seperated by almost ½ inch. The exhaust was being reheated by the burner, no vapor. Restored it to how Aristocraft made it, lengthened both the exhaust and the stack tubes. Exhaust is now 3/8 – ½ inch into the stack tube, BIG DIFFERENCE. Same weather conditions as yesterday.

Jan, still needs some tweaking. Previous owner messed with every part of this loco, and IMHO really screwed it up. After I got it in my hands, took pics and sent to the seller. Was an Ebay purchase, he refunded quite a bit. Still now finding stuff that was buggered, turned out to be a good 'project' locomotive, glad to have it. Returned the exhaust and the stack to original yesterday, hoping for improved plumes today.

Had a GREAT run this morning, just under an hour, called due to rain, temp 40'F. Boiler maintained 30+ lbs pressure and never had to increase the fuel. I wanted to do a once around to warm the cylinders, I didn't notice the cars rolled up and coupled. Even with a cold start it walked away with 10 cars and caboose. If you listen carefully can hear that not all wheels are on the rails. Sorry it is such a short video, had to crop it due to 'excited utterance'. Water bath at end of run was 68'. Very happy and well worth the effort. When they were produced many, including myself didn't even give them a second look, 16 years later, couple minor mods which we all do, I am very happy with it. LiG

Did I say Stay Tuned. Perfect day for running live steam loco, make plumes and see all the little areas that weep steam, will look great. Make a long story short, nothing happened, burner wouldn't even light. struck yet again. Back blew jet, nope, just not putting out fuel, and I know the tank is full, push down on the fill nipple and liquid butane mix bubbles out. Been looking at what I figure is a regulator of some kind, never saw one on a live steamer before. People that design these things are a lot smarter than I, so it must be here for a reason. Decided it had to go, which meant disassembling the tender that I just insulated and all that. Gutted the unit, and reassembled the tender. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. Burner lights and burns with the valve just cracked open, so as the pressure reduces still have more valve to go. Burner is also quieter. Ran it on rollers for over an hour without using the heating pads, I was indoors. Tomorrow morning will be the track test, same weather predicted.

Put the finishing touches on it. Switch on the bottom, pointed rear will send power to the battery for charging or off if not connected to charger, pointed forward sends power to the heating pads. This tender has a 24 pin male plug connected to the base for that board, and matching female on the cover for the controls under the coal load, what fun lining them up properly so they all mate and don't bend any of them. Well, during my many attempts accidentally flipped the switch fwd, so now the tank is warm and battery partially discharged, so a test run this afternoon won't happen. Tomorrow AM should make for nice plumes, so stay tuned.

Heat pads and insulation in place. Need to replace the rubber bands with something more durable as these I'm sure will dry and fail in a short period of time. Next is the battery and switch. EDIT: thought I posted this yesterday, I am slipping.

Not that good, but always something rolling that I am willing to try. Hope to fully assemble it today and maybe have a test run tomorrow. I expect it to perform better once it is encased in the tender shell out of the weather.

Realizing the water bath for the Aristo Mike is much too small to be effective, holds only 2 oz of water. Purchased small 5VDC heating pads. Positioned one on the bottom and one on the front, wired in parallel for a water only test. In 30 minutes the water went from room temp to 110'F, battery never went below 6V. Decided to take the live test outside, just in case. Outside temp was 46'F and the tank is fully exposed. Filled butane tank, added 110'F water to the bath, and it immediately cooled down to 77'F. Wasn't sure the pads could keep up with the heat absorption of expanding butane. Fuel was still flowing after 35 minute run, I shut it down. GScaletrainforum.com exclusive!

Mike sure has a lot of draw bar pull. Considering not only the weight, but through almost constant curve and turnouts, it surprises me how well it runs. Still need to get better grip on fueling. Oh Well, there's always today to practice some more!

Here's Mike pulling a string of USAT Smooth Side cars. They are very heavy, have BB installed in the side frames. Started all by itself (Aster can't say that about their latest Mike) and with no wheel slippage. It maintained 20 lbs pressure while pulling them, but did use a lot of fuel. Pulling just 3 was a breeze.

Speaking of limiters: on another forum a Mike owner mentioned the oil from the exhaust found it's way to and destroyed the direction limiters. After the long run flipped mine over, sure enough the oil was using the wire leading to the limiters as a path, would over time find and insulate the contacts. Filled in with heavy packing foam in hopes the oil will drip off. Next run will tell, not this morning raining already.

Jan, I believe it is called a 'poker' burner from the shape, same as the fire place tool. There are other burner types: Ceramic which puts out a flame like the screens on the poker, they can be either round or square and put out a lot of heat. The another one is 'wick' type that burns meth (alcohol) and of course coal fired. Last two I have no personal experience with. The last two take the most talent to operate properly and understand put out more heat than the plain poker burner. Hope that helps, if others have more info please add to this, thank you.