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Back in the garden with soil to move. Still using the paint tubs as they are easy to unload. The task at hand is to dig out the soil for the drive foundations and therefore use up the rubble. |
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Starting from here is a challenge as the train is on a sharp bend and then goes through a reverse curve ging up a gradient. Something has gone wrong today with the lubrication system for the steam as water is coming out of the oil system. No problem getting the cross head oiled but the engine is stiff. The weather plays a much larger part than I expected. It started off dry so the train would not go arounf the corner as the wheels do not slide. Then it rained and the track became greasy with a loss of traction. When it dryed slightly the conditions were perfect with traction but the wheels sliding around the corners. Then a bit of drizzle and it becomes slippy again. I heard somewhere that maximum traction is at 5% wheel slip, I think thats how the control systems work on modern diesels. So this is an excellent driving test with the regulator, track conditions etc! |
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You will notice the different siting position. I am getting older and therefore need to be higher up with feet on a rest. I tried foot rests at the side but this increases the width so that the covered section through the drive would need redesigning. Also foot rests at the side of the wagon where quite spread out. The new design is based on Single Farlie - my feet rest on a cross member on the draw bar between the engine and the wagon. |
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The current setup is experimental as I want to get the best setup to work around the sharp bends. Made from a recycled broken keyboard stand the draw bars are bolted together at present. I need a quick release coupling. The draw bar is now long enough for feet to be between the engine and wagon. My weight is therefore almost all on one pair of wheels. The load from the foot rest is spread between the engine and the wagon. The draw bar now needs designing properly as it is ver close to the sleepers and would not go over points - but that is another project. |
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The draw bar is pivoted at the center of the wagon. This seems to give a better distribution of force when going around my really tight bends. Pulling the wagon from the center means that the wagon is more like a bogey on a wagon. I presume the high sideways force which is a consequence of the tight radius is spread between both axles. On the reverse curve that I have the draw bars are almost straight so the secound wagon is pulled and there is minimum sideways force on the first wagon. |