PPS cylinders

H

hornbeam

Registered
Im planning on building a live steam gauge 3 tram loco. Im looking at the powerplant and am seeking some advise. One option is the GRS steam motor which is geared, but expensive. Another option ive thought of is using a set of PPS mamod upgrade cylinders. Im thinking of cutting down some mamod frames and using the PPS reversing block along with one 32mm wheel set tro connect to the cylinders. This would be chain driven to the loco wheels and hopefully fit between the frames. ( unsure of the width of the cylindres ether side of the frames).

my questions are:

am I in cloud cookoo land? (be nice!)

If connected to a good boiler will they be powerfull enough?

any other ideas?


looked at the Regner unit as in lumberjack but unsure of price- feel they will cost a lot.

Thanks, si.
 
hornbeam said:
am I in cloud cookoo land? (be nice!)
Click to expand...

Probably more in the land of invention and evolution.

My experience of PPS cylinders was on my Mamod locos.
I would think they would have sufficient power.

Control is the usual issue, as ossies like to run fast.

The best option would be a steam motor with reduction gearing.
If available, the Binnie version may be cheaper than GRS.
 
I think you are correct in your plans, twin cylinders and gear reduction you will have a tram with some pulling power. Nice thing about geared engines is they always run at a nice speed even in tight turns.

I had a thought that the Regner Lumber Jack would be a good drive unit for a tram engine. I have a Regner Victoria with the twin engine similar to the Lumber Jack and it runs like clockwork.

Steve
 
hornbeam said:
it will be built with R/C but am now a little worried the PPS cylinders will be of no use without gearing.
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You mentioned chain drive in your first post. Maybe you could arrange a suitable reduction by this means?

Edit, I see Steve was thinking along similar lines whilst I was posting. :bigsmile:
 
Many thanks for the input guys.

My only tools are a bench drill and hand tools, so am a little limited. I will look into gearing it. The main wheels will have 6mm dia axles and am unsure of the other end. MMS to a marine engine so I maybe able to get some parts from that to use ( thinking of the assy less cylinders, reversing block and fly wheel then chain drive off that.
 
I can't help with your specific question but may be able to assist in relation to other components. I am currently building a GWR steam railmotor in Gauge 3 as shown in the photo. Like you, I have no workshop facilities and had to stick to off the shelf components and the use of hand tools.

The boiler is a gas fired vertical boiler purchased from GRS. The valve gear is Roundhouse as are parts of the frame and other bits. I am using 2.4GHz radio control with two servos for regulator and reverse.

Peter
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hornbeam said:
Many thanks for the input guys.

My only tools are a bench drill and hand tools, so am a little limited. I will look into gearing it. The main wheels will have 6mm dia axles and am unsure of the other end. MMS to a marine engine so I maybe able to get some parts from that to use ( thinking of the assy less cylinders, reversing block and fly wheel then chain drive off that.
Click to expand...

Many good things can be achieved even with very limited resources. Ingenuity is the thing, and don't be frightened to make a jig for something, if necessary.

Small additional pieces of kit can be added, one at a time, as required, one suggestion might be a cross-vice for your bench drill, it can allow very accurate positioning of repetitive holes, and has many other uses. I have even used my bench drill as a temporary light miller for soft material with a cross-vice.

Moonraker, love that Rail-motor. Deffo gonna be the DBs.
 
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