New record in South Africa

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Bill Yoder
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New record in South Africa

Post by Bill Yoder »

Did any of you in North America other than Train Mountain notice that on 9 and 10 December a 7 ¼“ narrow-gauge 4-4-0 in South Africa set a new 24-hour distance record for a miniature steam locomotive? The old Guinness record set in 1994 had been 269 km; they upped that to just over 330 km (204+ miles). That works out to 8.51 mph. They had a pit stop for up to five minutes per hour; coal and water were taken on the fly. I understand the main problems were an injector and poor coal. The effort was headed by the youthful Andries Keyser, who also completed the loco in 2012. The team of 11 drivers (engineers) beat the loco for 881 laps, which is over 36 laps per hour. The prototype loco is the 2’-gauge Lawley 4-4-0.

You can see much more on Facebook; try for ex. The “Keyser Locomotive Works” page. Andries knows how to have a good time, and first achieved renown when he mounted his Lawley on a 42”-gauge maintenance-of-way put-put and made a number of successful, relatively high-speed runs.

The photo is of Andries and his wife Gisela after the event. The two live in Pietermaritzburg in eastern South Africa.
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10KPete
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by 10KPete »

I didn't even know such things were done!! That's one heck of a lot of running...

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little giant
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by little giant »

If you built a NYC Niagara you wouldn't have stopped that often for water and coal. Great job! though I thought our trains would go faster than 8.5 mph.
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Fred_V
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by Fred_V »

8.5 is a pretty good clip. This really speaks well for the quality of the build. How many of us can claim running 200 miles without touching the engine for repairs?
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Bill Shields
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by Bill Shields »

WHAT...no water scooping on the fly????? giggle....
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jcbrock
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by jcbrock »

Looks more like water tossing than scooping, Bill.
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Bill Yoder
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by Bill Yoder »

Andries says there were only 10 drivers - not 11. Remember: 8.5 is an average speed including stops over 24 hrs. I understood they hit 20 kph, which is 12.4 mph.
Bill Yoder
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by Bill Yoder »

Another correction: Andries says the top speed was 23.4 km/h, which works out to almost 14.5 mph. That's really fast for 7 1/4"-gauge.
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Steggy
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by Steggy »

Bill Yoder wrote:Another correction: Andries says the top speed was 23.4 km/h, which works out to almost 14.5 mph. That's really fast for 7 1/4"-gauge.
Any mention of how many times they had to rerail the loco?
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pat1027
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by pat1027 »

I've run 10 MPH to make a scale 80. It takes good track. ...but I never did it barefoot.
James Powell
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by James Powell »

I've done 9 MPH on 3.5" gauge...and contemplated a 24 hr run as a solo driver...I don't think a non stop is possible on 3.5, as you would likely have to pull the fire at least 2x, and sweep tubes. Anyone crazy enough to co drive? (before anyone asks, I have stood watches as boiler operator onboard HMCS Protecteur at 36 hrs awake, and that's a rather like being drunk happening. One hopes nothing happens during your 4 hours in the chair...)
Bill Yoder
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Re: New record in South Africa

Post by Bill Yoder »

On the question of any derailments, Andries responded: "Not once! It would have resulted in writing off the engine and driver if it had come off the rails at that speed."
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