General Discussion

The other day I replaced the piston and gland o-rings on my DDE. An easy job and well worth doing. However I found more than I bargained for....

Not only was there the o-rings, but on one side was this extra thing! It was a metal ring within the gland nut. Amazing what some people do, see photo, the metal ring is the one on the right.

I have read in peoples testaments of running their locos for around 30 minutes, and I got to think whether they could go longer on one steaming. Try 45 minutes!! Here's how:

Firstly I will describe my layout. It is a double track main line with R4 outside and R3 inside settrack curves set in a shed 6x3 metres. The outside track length is 15.412 metres long.

So the 'how' is easy. Isolate part of the circuit from electrical power. I have two sections of isolation, one being the access bridge to the room, 914mm and the other is between sets of points which is 3.27 metres long.

The train was Mallard with 8 Backmann MK1 Blood and Custards all with metal wheels and to minimise rolling friction I lubricated each axle.

I firstly ran Mallard for a few laps to warm her up, then after cooling for a while…

In preparation for the upcoming oolivesteam members meeting, I have the DTFS ready for action.

Could the commitee update the database with the following details :

certificate : 0583

boiler number : A3_3801

date of manufacture : 12 08

Mark (top-shed)

OO Live Steam Club Limited Edition Salt Wagon

As is often the case these days, a ‘mascot’ appears to be a nice little touch generated by organisations and here at the OO live steam club we feel the same.

So here we present for the first time an OOLS Club wagon specifically produced for the OOLS club by British manufacturer Dapol. Dapol special commissions are limited-run model railway products, typically wagons, created for specific retailers, clubs or societies.

These collaborations result in unique liveries and, thanks to the efforts of committee member Jack Lythgoe OO Live Steam Club members can now purchase one of our very own limited edition