# Live Steam Locomotive



## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Hey all,
I would like to present to you my most beloved train a Hornby Live Steam Locomotive class LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard in HO/00 scale.  Yes a real working steam engine in HO/OO scale not no 7 1/2 gauge locomotive. she's a real beauty of a locomotive with quite a history. 

Here's her history

Mallard is the holder of the official world speed record for steam locomotives at 125.88 mph (202.58 km/h). The record was achieved on 3 July 1938 on the slight downward grade of Stoke Bank south of Grantham on the East Coast Main Line, and the highest speed was recorded at milepost 90¼, between Little Bytham and Essendine. It broke the German (DRG Class 05) 002's 1936 record of 124 mph (200.4 km/h).

Mallard was the perfect vehicle for such an endeavour; one of the A4 class of streamlined locomotives designed for sustained 100+ mph (160 km/h) running, it was one of a small number built with a double chimney and double Kylchap blastpipe, which made for improved draughting and better exhaust flow at speed; the remainder of the class were retro-fitted in the late 1950s. The A4's three-cylinder design made for stability at speed, and the large 6 ft 8 in (2.032 m) driving wheels meant that the maximum revolutions per minute was within the capabilities of the technology of the day. Mallard was five months old, meaning that it was sufficiently broken-in to run freely, but not overly worn. Selected to crew the locomotive on its record attempt were driver Joseph Duddington (a man renowned within the LNER for taking calculated risks) and fireman Thomas Bray[2].

The locomotive had had problems with the middle big end previously, so a "stink bomb" of aniseed oil was placed inside the big end, that would be released if it overheated. Shortly after the attainment of this record speed, Mallard suffered an overheated inside big end bearing and had to limp back to Peterborough after setting the record, it then travelled to Doncaster for repair. This had been foreseen by the publicity department, who had many pictures taken for the press, in case Mallard did not make it back to Kings Cross. The Ivatt Atlantic that replaced Mallard at Peterborough was only just in sight when the head of publicity started handing out the pictures. Inaccuracies in the machining and setup of the Gresley-Holcroft derived motion (which derived the valve motion of the inside cylinder from those of the other two, avoiding a hard-to-maintain valve gear linkage between the frames) meant that the inside cylinder of the A4 did more work at high speed than the two outside cylinders; this overloading was mostly responsible for the failure.


Mallard builder's plate with works' number 1870.Stoke Bank had a descending gradient of between 1:178 and 1:200. Mallard, with six coaches plus a dynamometer car in tow, topped Stoke Summit at 75 mph (121 km/h) and began to accelerate downhill. The speeds at the end of each mile (1.6 km) from the summit were recorded at: 87½, 96½, 104, 107, 111½, 116 and 119 mph (141, 155, 167, 172, 179, 187 and 192 km/h); half-mile (800 m) readings after that gave 120¾, 122½, 123, 124¼ and finally 125 mph (194, 197, 198, 200 and 201 km/h). The speed recorded by instruments in the dynamometer car reached a momentary maximum of 126 mph (203 km/h).

Her Specs

Power type	Steam
Designer	Sir Nigel Gresley

Builder	LNER Doncaster Works

Serial number	1870
Build date	3 March 1938
Configuration
4-6-2

UIC classification
2'C1'h3
Gauge
4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Leading wheel diameter
3 ft 2 in (0.965 m)
Driver diameter
6 ft 8 in (2.032 m)
Trailing wheel diameter
3 ft 8 in (1.118 m)
Length	70 ft (21.34 m)
Locomotive weight	102.95 long tons (104.6 t)
Locomotive and tender combined weight	165 long tons (167.6 t)
Boiler pressure	250 psi (1.72 MPa)
Cylinders
Three
Cylinder size	18.5 × 26 in (470 × 660 mm)
Top speed	126 mph (203 km/h)
Tractive effort
35,455 lbf (157.7 kN)
Locomotive brakes	Steam
Train brakes	Vacuum
Career	LNER, BR

Class
A4

Withdrawn	25 April 1963
Restored	1986 until 1988
Disposition	Displayed at National Railway Museum, York

Some photos of her in real life 









By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-22









By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-22

and the link to her in scale live action on my workdesk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0QnHp88FvI

More videos of her to come on my layout hauling passengers around town.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

GC,

Nice! (But video stopped at 2:22 on my end.) Looking forward to pic/vid of her running 'round the track!

How does something like that work? Are all of the throttle/direction controlled manually adjusted on the loco, or do they work electronically via power signals from the track?

And back to our little discussion from the other day ...

You're right ... the front end of the A4 Mallard is different from that Iraq train I had showed you. They do share a lot of similarities in shape from the 1/4-length point aft, though. Both are 1938-1940 vintage, British builders, etc. I'd bet the Iraq train's builders "borrowed" a lot of their thinking from the A4.

Cheers,

TJ


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Ok TJ I will tell you how this magnificant piece of machinery works . First you have a transformer 








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20
Then you have a controller








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20
on this controller you have a voltage meter a wheel which has four settings that controls the voltage going to the heaters in the loco and a spring loaded stick that controls the regulator that controls speed and the direction of the loco.
Then the power goes to the tender where there is a water tank and a heater








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20
The power is transfer to the loco by a cable going from tender to cab where the circutry is contained the heated water goes from the tender to the engine by a rubber pipe that feads the heated water into a boiler with what is called a super heater wich heats up the water further to a point where steam is produced this steam is then channeled to the regulator that connects the pistons on both sides of the loco. The excess steam from the pistons is then channeled to the smoke stack where there is an oil resevoir and the smoke pipe are located. (the oil resevoir keeps all the moving parts oiled and working freely.) Also steam is chaneled to two whistles before the loco's regulator opens to let you know it is about to move and be more realistic.








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-20








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-23








By gc53dfgc at 2010-10-23
Second to last image by Hornby and last picture by Mooseguy. (I would never take the cover off or advise someone to unless the locomotive actually broke or say spung a leak.)


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

The Locomotive runs on AC so no good with Dc controllers for american HO layouts unless you switch out the power track like for a AC DCC system.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

GC,

Fabulous! What a fantastic little piece of engineering.

So is the water/steam used just once in the cycle, i.e., no condenser to recirculate?

About how long will it run on one tank of water?

Thanks for sharing!

TJ


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

I'm pretty sure it does not reheat the water after it has been ran through the pistons after the first time because the water would become contaminated and you would not get the cool smoke type effect from the chimney.

I have never realy timed it but i will when i run it on my layout but i think i have had it run at full speed for about 20 minutes before needing to refill her on my rolling road.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

20 minutes! That's not bad at all for such a little boiler! Very nice, indeed!

TJ


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Hey all,
Sorry it's been a while since i have posted any new pics of the loco running on my layout
so here it is









By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-13








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-13








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-13








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUUnfRdcU1k
link to vid ^


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Envy...:thumbsup:

I do dearly enjoy live steam and hope to own an HO model someday, there are several out there. I do placate myself with my Mamod TE1a and my Wilesco D10 though.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Live Steam is a realy neat thing. It's a shame that Hornby quit producing the live steam line of locomotives.


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## Smokestack Lightning (Oct 31, 2010)

Mallards are cool:thumbsup: Real steam? It doesn't get any better than that.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

all we need now are live diesels and we would have everything the real world trains have except scaled down


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## marx1 (Dec 11, 2009)

What are the best makers of steam engines now and before. This is some cool stuff guys.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

do you mean like live steam models or real steam locomotives?


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## modeltrainhead (Nov 15, 2009)

i see its OO scale look on youtube same model


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## marx1 (Dec 11, 2009)

Man, if it wasn't oo scale you would need a magnifyer glass for all that stuff in there. How about HO scale. Find some tubing that small. Not even possible in N scale.


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## Boston&Maine (Dec 19, 2007)

So this Live Steam is OO scale? If so, I will move this thread into the recently opened OO Scale Forum


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

boston you can but it is exactly the same as HO scale same track same models size evrything it was running on my HO scale layout i even compared it to an HO scale steam train i have same sizes. 

Marx 1 
if you are looking to get a live steam train their are several makers and sizes. the first and biggest size is 7 1/2 gauge live steam trains. Then you have G scale live steam trains also known as 1 gauge. then there is OO/HO gauge which the only company to make it is Hornby and they do indeed still make them they are just hard to get. I garentee you there is a way to make them in N scale just no company has done it before. hope that anwsers your questions.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

here are photo's proving that they are to prototypical size








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16
The blue locomotive next to my Mallard is a Heavy Pacific it has almost the exact same life size specs as the mallard and as you can see they are the same hieght.
the far top right loco is the famous Daylight and the bottom left loco is a Daylight livery train from the mid 20's 30's.








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16
here is a side picture at level with the trains and just so you know i'm not playing camera tricks i threw in a Kato Bullet train in N scale for yet another reference








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16
picture level with the back of the passenger cars. Left Blue Comet, right 1920-30's Daylight.








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16
Left 1950-60's Daylight streamlined passenger cars. Right Mallard pulling it's passenger cars. photos were taken at level and my desk does not have any boes or warpage.
Pics of the whole gang well half of the gang 








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16








By gc53dfgc at 2010-11-16


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Locomotive Name , Wheel Arrangment , Year
Southern Pacific Mikado 2 - 8 - 2 1920 - 1930's
Blue Comet Heavy Pacific 2 - 6 - 4 1930 - 1940's
LNER A3 Mallard (modified a3) 2 - 6 - 4 1937 - 1938
Southern Pacific GS-4 4 - 8 - 4 1950 - 1960's

N scale Japenese Bullet Train two 2 axle trucks 1975


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

dug a little deeper on the differences of OO and HO scale. OO is technically 1/72 or 1/76 can't remember which and HO is 1/82. Both HO and OO operate on HO track and the difference is so small that there is only about a millimeter of a difference if not less. I sure do hope that Hornby decides to restart production on the Live Steam train line.


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