Last update
31 January 2010
(DSE)
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4-6-0
Royal Scot
gauge: 1
railway: LMS
butane fired
0-6-2 GER 1003
3.5" gauge
railway: GER
Coal fired
0-4-0 Dacre
gauge: 0/1
railway: Wales NG
butane fired
0-4-2 GWR 14xx class
5" gauge
railway: GWR
Coal fired
Wagons (Update)
0-6-0 T3
7.25" gauge:
railway: Germany KWStE
Coal fired
Downloads
Drawings
This an extra Part of the Didcot: The first test steamings. of a 5 inch gauge live steam locomotive
Look right for some new pictures of the Didcot in action.
The making of a Great Western Railway 14xx class 0-4-2 tank engine.
I cut the first metal for the locomotive in January 1996. In 2005 the loco was nearly finished. To get the boiler certificate we had to visit the boiler inspector, who kindly laid out his portable track in his garden.
Steam test on 30 meter test track.
After the fire was lit in the firebox, we had steam in about 15 min. Testing
proceeded with testing of the safety valves and adjusting them to the
working pressure of
80
Psi ( 5,6 Bar).
All was well and I do now have a boiler certificate.
On
Saturday 30th of April 2005
we took the locomotive to the 30th International Steam meeting at
SWZ Zuiderpark Den
Haag. Their new 7.25”gauge track extension was to be opened that
weekend.
It was a beautiful day for the first test drive of “GWR 1414 Didcot”.
Although
Malcolm Midgley was earlier on the track with his delightful two Class
08 diesel shunters (our next project to be build), he was kind enough to let
Martin drive in front of his train.
To build a fire and get the GWR 1414 in steam took only 15 to 20 minutes. The experience gained with the 3.5”gauge GER 0-6-2 “Mona”, makes firing the “Didcot” easy. The new electric blower does it job and keeps the charcoal that is soaked in lamp oil nicely burning in the firebox. The conical shaped fire hole gives a great view on the fire. After 10 minutes or so, the needle takes of and rises to 15 psi. At that time the electric blower is removed and the loco's own steam blower takes over. Within 5 minutes and shovelling in a lot of coal (well if compared with the Mona at least) the safety valves start to lift at 80 psi.
The
first
real run with the new loco went very well. No real problems, all worked
as it should. Only later on I discovered that the mechanical oil pump was
not able to get sufficient oil to the cylinders. This was due to the fact
that the so called
everlasting oil valve was more a neverlasting oil valve. So we had to stop
from time to time and operate the pump ram by hand to get some oil in.
On
Saturday evening I replaced the
silicone valve for a normal ‘ball and spring’ valve.
We went back on Sunday to Den Haag and now the engine was running with a proper working oil pump.
The difference between 3.5” gauge and 5” gauge is huge in terms of driving comfort, ease of firing (even with this for 5” gauge relatively small boiler), the maintaining of the steam pressure, the pulling power of the locomotive and the smoothness of driving around the track. The handling weight of a 3.5" gauge engine is however more convenient.
After Den Haag we went (complete
family, caravan and two locomotives) to the Nienoord steam event at Leek,
Groningen. This four day international event was held for the 32nd time and
with 187 participants this is
one of the largest steam meetings of the Netherlands.
Great friendly atmosphere, a lot different steam locomotives in gauges from
0 up to 203 mm, late night
steaming, camping facilities, participants from Belgium, Denmark,
Germany, UK and almost all the Dutch Model engineering
societies take part in this event. Not just locomotives take part, all the
model engineering activities are present, from traction engines, stationary
engines, clock making, gauge H0 electric trains, boats, model trucks etc.
I found that the consumption of coal
of the Didcot is only
little larger than that of the Mona, the water tanks of Didcot hold enough
water to last for 6 to 8
laps, at Nienoord (Leek Groningen) that is about
2 km non stop driving.
Even firing the loco
during the run is no problem. The fire doors can be closed and the draft of
the exhaust steam at the smokebox is more than sufficient to keep the fire
burning bright, even if the
reverser is almost in the middle position during the run. If the safety
valve is taking of I can open the fire doors and move the flap in front of
the fire hole. Cold air flowing over the fire is than tempering the fire and
makes the safety valves to close again. Shovelling some coal on the fire, or
operating the injector also has this effect.
The loco runs well, with the
load of
only
our driving truck, with steam pressures ranging from 30 to 90 psi.
Normal working pressure is around 80 psi, which is easy to maintain during
non stop running. After a few laps a nice oil film is visible at the top of
the chimney and the crosshead feed pump is more than able to keep the water
level almost constant. The bypass valve can be set so that hardly any
adjustments are needed during the run.
With the large driving wheels the
loco is running with a medium rpm at speeds of
10 to 12 km/h.
Another
fine example of a fine scale 5" gauge locomotive.
Alas the weather wasn’t that fine
last week (5 to 8 May 2005), so the track was often wet and a bit rusty.
The
rust was during the dry periods spread
over the chassis and
wheels of the loco, which gave it an authentic look.
After a 20 km run, the
smokebox
was opened and you can see the ashes collected against the door.
In total the Didcot did run over
70 km this first week of steaming.
Go direct to; Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 or
Return to Home page.
Speedy
hydraulic test, also done at the boiler inspectors house
The very first run with
the new GWR 1414 on Saturday 30 April 2005
Zuiderpark SWZ Den
Haag
(Photo by Erik Mölhmann)
Webmaster
Erik-Jan Stroetinga
entering the station at
Nienoord
Maintenance of crosshead water pump May 2009
AA few pictures of steam meetings in the Netherlands:
Den Haag SWZ 2009
Oud Woensel Festival Eindhoven Kruisstraat 2009, with portable track
At speed on the track at Stormpolder 2009
Ground level track at Barendrecht "Maasoeverspoorweg" 2009
Barendrecht, see the difference in scale: Didcot 1:11 and Narrow gauge 1:4
