Here is my 4x8 tinplate layout I am building featuring both British tinplate and some American tinplate trains. The theme will be more British than American over time as I aquire more buildings and such. Today I put my Marx freight house in place, swapped the O gauge track back in as I have more 042 curves and a full circle of rubber roadbed on the way. I need one more Lionel 042 turnout with a manual controler for the spur behind the freight house(place to park stuff!) and a tinplate bridge for the lowered section across the duck under to the control station. On the right side I am undecided yet, tinplate buildings such as the Marx castle, and anything else I can find like cookie tins that look like UK buildings ect. The white sealer paint on the homasote will be covered by indoor/outdoor green carpet here soon. Motive power is comprised by 3 Bassett-Lowke steam engines(one is clockwork and two are live steam), then I have my Lionel 252 electric set. I also have three UK passenger cars from Darstaed on the way. Plenty of working lights and such are planned as well. I am going to double stick tape some light sockets inside the Marx freight house as it has lithographed images on the inside to that you cannot hardly see normally. I hope you all enjoy my journey into the world of tinplate. I will add to this thread as I do more to the railway. Mike the Aspie
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Off to a great start!!
I think the 0 gauge track is a great choice in that you are running Live Steam, and this should give more rigidity. In this application, it would be the best choice !!
Paul
The live steamers are lighter in weight than a small postwar 027 diecast electric steamer from Lionel. But I have that roadbed mostly onhand and it will protect the green indoor/outdoor carpet that now covers the layout from the oil drips those engines make. More pics coming soon. I keep to my 2nd shift sleep hours even on the weekend(very important for someone who is on the spectrum to maintain routine), so its bed time now. Cheers Mike the Aspie.
Here is my newest train additions to the railway. But the last for awhile with all thats going on. Bassett Lowke live steam Mogul, and 3 cars from Darstaed(2 coaches and a 12 wheel diner). The coaches are impressive, full interiors, sprung truks and LED lighting. I am gonna try to convert the lights to onboard battery power since I need the brake coach to get the track pickups for the lights.
And here is my clockwork Duke of York
Great line-up of crimson beauties!
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Those models look great!!! I can see your layout coming along, rubber roadbed, and grass mat.
As an aside, I do not have the budget for 0 or gauge 1 British models in live steam at the moment. But, I have been considering Hornby.I have been checking out their web site.I remember Hornby in the hobby shops in Australia 40 years back, and the models were beautiful!! I always remember...
But have you noticed that so many manufacturers do not have the vast array of products on their web sites anymore, just a few models. And, what they do have, you have to " pre order"...
Just an observation....
Yes, but that is pretty much how the new end of the hobby market is done now. Especially in the "niche" end of various scales. UK scale-plate, which is what most of the new models are, scale models but done in diecast/tinplate metal vs plastic. Is a very niche end of the O gauge hobby. These models are to coarse scale, vs fine scale, which would be 2 rail O scale in the USA. There is a dealer that comes to the Muncie, IN train show that usually has a nice selection of Hornby tinplate with him. There are but a few Hornby items on my wish list as most are very toy like. And the ones that do are as much as my Bassett-Lowke items. There is only one more BL engine I want, and thats a 20v AC powered one. Either a Royal Scot or LMS Compound, either in LMS Crimson red. Then it will be time for freight wagons and such. I got the far end of my layout "grassed" today, and that 042 with roadbed showed up in todays mail. I had been using 031 with roadbed but those curves are to tight for my BL engines. The 042 is just big enough, allows smooth and quiet running(important for alcohol fired live steamers) and the roadbed helps keep the grass clean from those steamers. I am blessed with a job that allows me the funds to buy these nice engines here and there. But with the turmoil, all of that is on hold now. I am working on getting a Lionel prewar tinplate bridge set to go in that area that has the foam blocks holdin up the track. I have more grass to simulate the banks down to the river area, which I will paint blue. Just need to make some wood "piers" that I will paint to look like concrete once I have the bridge and can figure out how tall to make them.
I still have not decided what to do with the other end of the layout. Just grass mat right now. I have thought about a Marx tinplate castle for a "Harry Potter" type thing. Or one of the 3d puzzle castles from the Harry Potter series. Just not sure yet. Mike
Live steam time! Running my old Mogul today to pass the time. Layout has a bad wall bracket on one side, so its way out of level causing her to nearly stall out pulling just one car. Fixing that now. She should handle 2 or all 3 of my coaches even on 042 curves. Larger 072 would be better but I lack the space. Mike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMKLk36jaQ4
Oh-so-cool Mike! A couple of questions.
1) How do you stop that thing? Do you just let it run out of steam?
2) Is there some kind of throttle ( maybe being a British locomotive I should call it a regulator?) on it? Does it run all-out all the time or can you set a throttle to slow it down a bit?
3) If you do have to let it run out of steam to stop what's the possibility of damaging any soldered seams on the boiller if you don't extinguish the fires quickly enough?
The one I ran in the video has a throttle lever sticking thru the roof of the cab, controls both direction and speed. The older 4-4-0 called Enterprise has no throttle, you add or take away cars or trim the wicks to control speed. Its a much earlier design model but stayed in the range for many many years as it runs really well. Yes you can damage the boiler if you let it run out of water, but the fire is easilly blown out should she start to run out of water or you get tired of running. The Enterprise and the Bowman model 234 4-4-0 can run nearly an hour on one load of fuel and water. There is a Bowman for 245 pounds sterling over at Station Masters, there is also another Enterprise I think, along with many Moguls. Just avoid the reissue one from Corgi, it needs Atlas O or Gargraves track and 072 minimum diameter. Mike
Good information! Thanks Mike!
I had a toy stationary steam engine years ago, and one time I let the boiler run out of water and the heat dissolved a soldered mounting, causing the boiler to go askew. No problem, I resoldered it, but I paid stricter attention to the sight glass after that. The toy engine had no throttle, but I controlled the speed by opening the whistle lever slightly to let off some of the pressure. Fun toy! And I loved that hot steam and oil smell!
The smells are part of the enjoyment of running live steam. I use Ignis Bio Ethanol fuel in my alcohol burners, cleaner burning and doesnt smell as bad as the Denatured Alcohol from the hardware store. It also lacks the methanol that is toxic, even if you just get it on your skin. I order it online, 6 quarts at a time and when one does the math, its cheaper than the stuff from the hardware store.
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