Great Central Railway - News and "Stuff"
Discussion
The ArtfulBodger said:
toastyhamster said:
Looks great Phil.
I have a really dumb question. I know steam boilers can't be made from stainless steel (well they could but they'd never get a boiler cert), but why not use stainless steel in wagon use/more generally in railway stuff that rusts? Cost? Ease of use? Also, why are connecting rods etc stainless?
Cost, pure and simple.I have a really dumb question. I know steam boilers can't be made from stainless steel (well they could but they'd never get a boiler cert), but why not use stainless steel in wagon use/more generally in railway stuff that rusts? Cost? Ease of use? Also, why are connecting rods etc stainless?
Goods wagons were not and still are not expected to last a lifetime - making them out of stainless won’t extend their useful service life nor make them more economical to operate.
Incidently, Coupling and connecting rods on steam engines are not stainless - just polished high grade steel.
spikeyhead said:
If it's so great, why don't we make cars from it. If Mercedes used if for the bodies of Sprinters they'd become the perfect van.
As said before Cost.Google Delorean Motor Company
Why would Mercedes want to build everlasting vans? A van is usually required to work hard for 5 years or so then considered a write off from a company point of view.
Meanwhile back in the shed we were able to remove our brake cylinder.....it is a bit bigger than a car one!
We had to take it apart, clean it up, install new seals, re-assemble and put it back under the wagon.
Here are the works - essentially the piston (centre) sits in the cylinder (left) which sits in the dome (Right). Then a vacuum is created by the locomotive in the train pipe which keeps the brakes Off. If air is then admitted in the train pipe, or the pipe breaks, then the vacuum retained in the dome means that air pressure will apply the brakes...so it "Fails Safe".
We had to take it apart, clean it up, install new seals, re-assemble and put it back under the wagon.
Here are the works - essentially the piston (centre) sits in the cylinder (left) which sits in the dome (Right). Then a vacuum is created by the locomotive in the train pipe which keeps the brakes Off. If air is then admitted in the train pipe, or the pipe breaks, then the vacuum retained in the dome means that air pressure will apply the brakes...so it "Fails Safe".
Edited by Flying Phil on Thursday 4th November 09:03
mcdjl said:
Flying Phil said:
Does it have any public running planned?However Tornado is then scheduled for planned overhaul, so is not running in the Winter Steam Gala.
Other news from the GCR is that the A60 bridge is to be refurbished this year. This has been carrying the Gypsum trains but was closed to all trains last year due to corrosion. There has been a lot of "discussion" between the various parties as to how to proceed but recently it was resolved and the final fundraising is going ahead. Now £30,000 has been raised, of the £110,000 target - in about three weeks!
The a60 bridge is on the northern part and links the heritage line to the main line. The gypsum trains run about half the length to East leake from the main line but haven't for about a year after since masonry fell on the road. That bridge still needs linking across the factory car park and to the new bridge over the mainline.
Network rail are doing a separate inspection on a bridge in East leake over night in the next few weeks.
Network rail are doing a separate inspection on a bridge in East leake over night in the next few weeks.
toastyhamster said:
Yeh, I meant on the northern section specifically, I thought there were some ORR findings that needed addressing, or has all that been done?
I think there are organisational issues, they didn't run on the northern part at all last year but covid may have had something to do with it as well.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff