It's nice to have a water supply that works when you are stationary.
I've had good success with injectors.
Every system, steam-powered, axle and injector each have their pros & cons. All of them have check balls in common and none will work if they do not seat or get stuck.
Personally I like to have a steam-powered pump to amuse myself. Second, an injector because that's part of steaming a loco.
Conner Beam Engine
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Best regards,
Jim Leggett
Montreal Live Steamers
www.montreallivesteamers.org
A Founding Member of the Tinkerbell Scale Society - Northern Division
I'm an A.R.S.E. (Association of Railroad Steam Engineers)
Toad Swamp & Punk Hollow Railroad - Head Tycoon
The Juvenile Traction Company - CEO & Apprentice Machinist 3rd Class
White Mountain Central RR - Engineer & Fireman
Jim Leggett
Montreal Live Steamers
www.montreallivesteamers.org
A Founding Member of the Tinkerbell Scale Society - Northern Division
I'm an A.R.S.E. (Association of Railroad Steam Engineers)
Toad Swamp & Punk Hollow Railroad - Head Tycoon
The Juvenile Traction Company - CEO & Apprentice Machinist 3rd Class
White Mountain Central RR - Engineer & Fireman
I like to have a stationary water input solution as well.
It doesn't hurt to have an injector as backup even if you have an axle pump. If one breaks, the other works and you can keep on running until you get back to the shop.
The thing is, you can set up an axle pump and injector combo so that either the axle is primary and injector is secondary make-up, or vice-versa if you turn the axle bypass on a little bit more on average.
Ideally, you want three methods of input (hand, axle and injector) but only really necessary for coal fired engines where it's harder to turn off the fire instantly. When I was first learning to fire the coal burning Shay (poorly in the beginning, heh) I had a situation where both the steam pressure and the water was low, so I had to use the hand pump to get the water back up, then I stoked the fire up again. Hand pumps are a pain in the rear but will save you in an emergency.
I've also run engines that only have a single injector for water input, all day long. Contrary to reputation, when they're set up well with a water filter in-line, they rarely cause problems. A single water input would not be my personal choice though and I always feel a little uneasy running that way. One time I was running an engine with just an injector, and the darned boiler check decided to quit. Bah!
-M
It doesn't hurt to have an injector as backup even if you have an axle pump. If one breaks, the other works and you can keep on running until you get back to the shop.
The thing is, you can set up an axle pump and injector combo so that either the axle is primary and injector is secondary make-up, or vice-versa if you turn the axle bypass on a little bit more on average.
Ideally, you want three methods of input (hand, axle and injector) but only really necessary for coal fired engines where it's harder to turn off the fire instantly. When I was first learning to fire the coal burning Shay (poorly in the beginning, heh) I had a situation where both the steam pressure and the water was low, so I had to use the hand pump to get the water back up, then I stoked the fire up again. Hand pumps are a pain in the rear but will save you in an emergency.
I've also run engines that only have a single injector for water input, all day long. Contrary to reputation, when they're set up well with a water filter in-line, they rarely cause problems. A single water input would not be my personal choice though and I always feel a little uneasy running that way. One time I was running an engine with just an injector, and the darned boiler check decided to quit. Bah!
-M
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Water inout
Mike,
Most tracks require at least two different forms of water injection, with one of them able to work while not moving. That is so if you get into a yard and boxed in, you can still get water into the boiler.
You can have axle or crosshead pumps in addition to one of the stationary methods, or two stationary methods. (By stationary, I mean the movement of the loco, not the method of water injection.)
If I had a loco with only one input into the boiler show up at my club or private track, they would be asked to shut down. They are welcome to stay, but no running the offending loco.
And yes, the more options the better. Three is just fine.
Most tracks require at least two different forms of water injection, with one of them able to work while not moving. That is so if you get into a yard and boxed in, you can still get water into the boiler.
You can have axle or crosshead pumps in addition to one of the stationary methods, or two stationary methods. (By stationary, I mean the movement of the loco, not the method of water injection.)
If I had a loco with only one input into the boiler show up at my club or private track, they would be asked to shut down. They are welcome to stay, but no running the offending loco.
And yes, the more options the better. Three is just fine.
Matt Mason