Working Sanders?

This forum is dedicated to the Live Steam Hobbyist Community.

Moderators: cbrew, Harold_V

User avatar
Trainman4602
Posts: 3482
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:26 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: Working Sanders?

Post by Trainman4602 »

Not only does the sand need to be dry the air need to dry also. I made working sanders using some compression fittings I made a venture nozzle they worked fine. You really don't need a lot of sand to get traction. It would be a nice addition but they are really not needed unless you are going to pull a very heavy train.
ALLWAYS OPERATING MY TRAIN IN A SAFE MANNER USING AUTOMATIC AIR BRAKES
Pontiacguy1
Posts: 1566
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 10:15 am
Location: Tennessee, USA

Re: Working Sanders?

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

Harry 'Scorcher' Bean used to have working sanders on his SP Consolidation. His sand was stored in dummy 'tanks' right under his running boards, and he had a manual valve that had linkage back to his cab. He would pull the rod back and sand would start dropping from his 'tank'. He had one for each side, totally separate systems. His method was that when he needed sand, he would alternate opening/closing one side then the other, back and forth. I believe his system dropped sand right in front of the 2nd driver. I do remember that he had oversize piping from his tanks down near the rail, but that it was kinda hidden, being a bit back and turning out towards the rails a little bit. Anyway, his system seemed to work good and I never saw him have problems with it. I must also point out that this was running down in Texas and it seemed like it was always hot... and dry. He's the only person that I ever saw who consistently used sand when running. He could pull some pretty darn impressive trains with that Consolidation, too. I asked him what sand he used, I think he said that he used beach sand, and would sift it then lay it out in the sun on a newspaper to get it completely dry, then would put it in a sealed can to use in the 'tanks'. He was very careful to keep everything dry.
User avatar
FLSTEAM
Posts: 1571
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 10:55 am
Location: Central Florida

Re: Working Sanders?

Post by FLSTEAM »

Play sand from Lowes, et al comes in a nice sealed bag and is always dry. ( unless they stored it outside )

John B.
rkcarguy
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:33 am
Location: Wa State

Re: Working Sanders?

Post by rkcarguy »

I'll 2nd FLSTEAM's comment, the very light colored sand used in ashtrays, for blasting media, and in sandbox's is pretty nice dry stuff. My RR is going to be pushing the envelope for grades, so I'm watching this thread for ideas for some home-made solutions.
tomc
Posts: 375
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:04 pm
Location: Sw of the Windy City

Re: Working Sanders?

Post by tomc »

We use plastic tubing from the dome down to the frame. I put a hole in the end of a 35mm film canisters and push it on the hose to help keep them dry as u can't hammer on plastic very well to vibrate the stuck sand out.

Tom C.
tom_at_srclry_com
A student of the Southend RGS!
Post Reply