First steam on the Dyfrdwy Tramway...

After the excitement of bringing my first steam engine home, and then running it on a friend's line, I was waiting on some sundries to get running at home...

I needed a bottle of gas and filler needle, I needed a water bottle and syringe and I needed steam and lubricating oils... so once these all arrived it was out to the garden for a test run. Here you can see the locomotive warming up on a summer's evening a few weeks ago alongside the Radio Control handset.

For those unfamiliar with live steam there is an order and nice gentle mindful pace to raising steam. I started with draining the condensate from the lubricator, and then refilling with steam oil (this is the long tall cylinder in the cab doorway, drained at the bottom, filled at the top). Once done, I oil the moving parts. The dome is removed, and the safety valve unscrewed to reveal the boiler filling port, fill to the brim and remove circa 25ml from this Roundhouse Billy boiler. Finally the gas, check it's switched off in the cab, remove the roof and press down firmly on the gas tank with the filling needle. Remove when it starts to blow clouds off gas off. The last thing to check before lighting up is the R/C is working.

To light, turn on the gas on, and hold a lighter near the chimney. Once it's lit it may blow itself out so listen until it's a steady roar, back it off a little and go and get your rolling stock ready. In about 15 minutes you'll have 20-30psi on the gauge. I am still very new to this, so I've yet to manage to keep it there from the off, usually topping out at 40psi and blowing steam through the safety valve. Turn the gas down a touch, turn on the R/C hand unit, then the R/C on the loco and ease the reverser, then open the regulator...

And you're off... the first run at home was great fun. The tramway is a challenge despite it's relative short length with gradients up and down, along with sharp corners. I had a massive smile on my face all evening... more soon...