Well, me and ig finally got Rod Blakeman to carry out a r/c conversion on our Accucraft NG/G16. It had been running just fine, and I know the old adage of not fixing anything that ain't busted, but a. I'm getting old and running after even a pretty slow Garratt is a mite ungainly with the remains of two ankles, and b. there was always the passing chance that something dire would happen to it pretty soon, as has happened to many an owner of the first run models.
As it transpired, there WAS an unseen problem that was in need of a fix - the steam pipe to the front engine had a passage-reducing kink in it, and was, without doubt, holding up a lot of valuable steam. So that was replaced - you can see the whole works, including fast and slow air tests and two short steam tests here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/wpandyr/TacSGarratt
As I already had a 2.4GHz Futaba digital system for my four other steam locos, I stuck with that for this one, Rod using high-torque metal geared servos to do the work.
Rod also installed the #80 mesh burner silencers - a gift from the generous Gordon Watson [Thanks, Gordon - I've passed on most of the other sets to other Accucraft owners].
I won't get to steam it myself until I go over to mainline131's track in a week or so, but I'll be more than happy if it performs like his does after Rod's attentions.
I still love the loco to bits, and, as I say, I had not noticed any problems in the 18 months or so that I had had it, but that d*mned 'steering wheel' surely did get in the way of the throttle, and being basically lazy, the idea of r/c on THIS particular loco had great appeal.
More and longer vids will follow on YouTube.
Best to all
tac
PS - I DID mean to type AccUcraft in the title, but my jet-lagged fingers wouldn't let me...
As it transpired, there WAS an unseen problem that was in need of a fix - the steam pipe to the front engine had a passage-reducing kink in it, and was, without doubt, holding up a lot of valuable steam. So that was replaced - you can see the whole works, including fast and slow air tests and two short steam tests here -
http://picasaweb.google.com/wpandyr/TacSGarratt
As I already had a 2.4GHz Futaba digital system for my four other steam locos, I stuck with that for this one, Rod using high-torque metal geared servos to do the work.
Rod also installed the #80 mesh burner silencers - a gift from the generous Gordon Watson [Thanks, Gordon - I've passed on most of the other sets to other Accucraft owners].
I won't get to steam it myself until I go over to mainline131's track in a week or so, but I'll be more than happy if it performs like his does after Rod's attentions.
I still love the loco to bits, and, as I say, I had not noticed any problems in the 18 months or so that I had had it, but that d*mned 'steering wheel' surely did get in the way of the throttle, and being basically lazy, the idea of r/c on THIS particular loco had great appeal.
More and longer vids will follow on YouTube.
Best to all
tac
PS - I DID mean to type AccUcraft in the title, but my jet-lagged fingers wouldn't let me...
