Thread: GNR Stirling Locomotive

I don't know if it's any help but I found this.

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Cheers
Trev.

You're the MAN - Woopie YES

Thanks

Charlie

Well Trev found what I was looking for - you beauty.

I have been working on the drive cylinders. Had a few goes at making the stuffing glands as my first attempt didn't look to scale, but happy with this. I have made the Fireman side piston as well but not the slides. I have made everything so it can be removed. At the moment you may notice that the top slide is a bit ajar of the crank guide. This is because it is just sitting there at the moment. The piston cylinder has been secured with studs that I drilled - fitted to the cylinder and then bolted through the chasis - so it is removable.
This is a slow process with lots of assembling and dismantling and assembling again to make sure everything fits. The gland fittings are turned down pine and the flanges are 3mm MDF. Forstner bits are fantastic as they give a beautiful accurate and non wandering hole.

Regards

Keith

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Point the barrel up and it would make a mean cannon but it's going to be one nice train!!!

Originally Posted by Keith_1

You're the MAN - Woopie YES

Thanks

Charlie

The short pipe sticking out the side suggests it might be a live steam injector?

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

The short pipe sticking out the side suggests it might be a live steam injector?

Thanks mate

Regards

Keith

This is something I have wondered about since this thread started. It is on both sides of the engine and not being able to trace the pipes or see full drawings of the engine makes it hard for me to say what it is.
I do not think it is a blow down valve (two handles make this unlikely) and the possibility of being a steam injector (to feed water into the boiler) is there, but why have the valves outside the cab?

Here is a wild theory and you can tell me what you think.
The GNR Stirling was built from 1870 onward. The steam injector originally invented in 1858 by Henri Giffard. Prior to the adoption of the injector, engines had pumps directly driven from either the crosshead or from an eccentric on the driven axle (crankshaft). The problem with this is that water can only be put into the boiler when the engine is operating and in the case of a railway engine, in motion. This means you can not put water in the boiler while the engine is stationary for example at a station or in an engine shed.
So is it possible that Stirling has one or two engine driven pumps for use when in motion and two injectors to put water in when stationary? This would explain the valves outside the cab.
A view from underneath might provide the answer.

Multiple injectors were common.... Ive seen many older (late 1800's-early 1900's) locos with both live steam injectors and crosshead pumps. More "modern" locos often had live and exhaust steam injectors.

Why external valves for the injector on the Stirling loco? Perhaps the two valves in the photo were for "fine tuning" of the steam and water supply to the injector....the valve for turning the injector on or off might have been in the cab.

Here is another image of a Stirling engine. https://www.flickr.com/photos/whatst...ream/lightbox/ You will notice some differences, eg splasher for main driver. The item in question is still there, but the control handles can not be seen. They might be there, just not visible or in a different location on the engine. Is that a misty vapor discharge from the item in question?

The next photo suggests there's both steam and water venting from the pipe.....this is what you one would expect if this is an injector. https://www.flickr.com/photos/whatst...ream/lightbox/

Originally Posted by Keith_1

One thing that I have found which may be of interest to other Forum users is that the tap and die set I got (many years ago) has taps that have different thread pitches. Also when you buy metric screws from Bunnings - they don't have the thread pitch on the little cartons. I have made up a thread gauge that I use to screw the screws / bolts into so I know that I am using the correct pitch tap or die. The taps and dies are marked with the respective pitches.
This way you can be sure you are tapping or threading to the screw or nut you have purchased - Just a suggestion

Attachment 404030

Bunnings probably don't bother with the thread pitch on the packaging as it probably doesn't mean much to most people who don't have a mechanical background. It is unlikely that you would be able to get any fasteners from Bunnings that are not the standard metric coarse thread. So all your fine metric taps will probably never be needed if using Bunnings fasteners.

Thanks for the interesting conversations about the valves in question and also the extra photos. Any further help most appreciated

Regards

Keith

Wow Handyjack those are some interesting photos of the train and of that time.
Be sure to go both forward and back wards for more pictures.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/whatst...ream/lightbox/

After doing a fair bit of investigation I found this photo of a 5" gauge model of a Stirling loco. It's got a live steam injector where the mystery device is on the actual loco. The injector looks a bit different but its got the same two valves above the running board and the exhaust pipe.
5-gauge-GNR-Stirling-Single-live-steam-locomotive-for-sale-06.jpg