Pvc pipe for air ??

[Bill Shields]

Use a paintball C02 tank

[Ken Schroeder]

A used fire extinguisher tank makes a good air tank. The ones I have used are aluminum, non refillable but when new are charged with 120 pounds of pressure. They are fairly small about 3" dia. and 12" long.

[nabob]

discussion under "resource library" regarding PVC for air

[cbrew]

I used to use PVC on the cars. but had issues with leaking around the air line connection threads. I have since moved to alum paint ball tanks, they can be picked up off amazon for 20 to 25 bucks each. 10 minutes on the lathe to modify the brass tank valve assembly and its ready for service.

they are a bit big for car tanks and need to be hidden unless you have passenger cars, then they can be made to look like belly storage tanks.
the other down fall is the lengthy charge time with prepping for the trip when there is 7 to fill

[NP317]

"...the other down fall is the lengthy charge time with prepping for the trip when there is 7 to fill"

Prototypical. Makes train operations that much more fun!
From personal experience, I LIKE your air brake system. (You can provide the picture...)
~RN

[rkcarguy]

The paintball tanks have an expiration date, and can be had for next to nothing once so. There should be no problem with the expiration date being they will be delegated to low pressure use.

[cbrew]

"...the other down fall is the lengthy charge time with prepping for the trip when there is 7 to fill"

Prototypical. Makes train operations that much more fun!
From personal experience, I LIKE your air brake system. (You can provide the picture...)
~RN

here is what could have been a lot worse, we was moving a pretty good pace, this area is descending a bit so i already had a 10psi reduce on the pipe.
once i saw "arms a swinging", I dumped the pipe.
with out the full train brakes, we likely would have wadded this up a bit more.

we did already start moving his loco back to track, he did split the switch almost perfectly

[ChuckHackett-844]

BTW: just to add to my post: my reservoirs are between two frame sections. Even if the PVC fails all the thrown pieces will go downwards into the ballast. My train line is 40 psi. Also, this is THICK wall PVC.. Do not use the thin wall.

[ccvstmr]

...we did already start moving his loco back to track, he did split the switch almost perfectly

Should have been a 3-way switch. No derailment. Problem solved!

BTW: just to add to my post: my reservoirs are between two frame sections. Even if the PVC fails all the thrown pieces will go downwards into the ballast. My train line is 40 psi. Also, this is THICK wall PVC.. Do not use the thin wall.

Believe most common PVC piping does NOT have UV inhibitors. Therefore, the plastic is subject to decay...even if not directly exposed to sunlight. Another problem...polycarbonates do not do well with pneumatic synthetic lubricants. During my industrial days...specified metal bowls or metal shrouded polycarbonate bowls for filter/regulators and other such pneumatic controls. Have to believe some thread sealers might also not be compatible with plastics. Just sayin'... Carl B.

[mspetersen]

Instead of PVC or Copper air lines in the shop consider 1/2" Poly lines. Its cheap, easy to run and if you do damage it you can fix it with a simple brass push lock type connector. Want to add a new drop? Cut the line and add a tee connector. We've had ours up almost 20 years of daily use without any problems.

[Greg_Lewis]

When I was re-doing my shop I discovered a PEX that's rated for air. I decided not to use it since it's not commonly available locally while copper is available at the big box home stores and hardware stores.

[Scroggin]

Our club has passenger cars built with a welded square tube frame this frame is the air tank