[modeleng] Re: 3.5" gauge Diesel
- From: "Barrie Purslow" <bpduo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:40:57 -0000
Hi Rich.,
50 odd years of playing with model aircraft enforces my view that model I.C.
engines are best suited to model aircraft, then boats but not miniature
locomotives.
You are right to be concerned about the noise - it's annoying at best. Many
efforts have been made to silence model aircraft engines but nobody has
achieved to sort of noise levels we have come to expect from our
steam/electric locos. Another problem is the smell - it just doesn't go with
a loco and without a propeller to blast it away it hangs around. Finally the
fuel is pretty obnoxious containing methanol and nitromethane which will
strip the paint off your treasured possession unless you use certain paints.
Most of these model engines are not diesels - they are glow engines and
require a battery to heat the glow plug before they will start. Model diesel
engines aren't diesels either - they are compression ignition engines which
are difficult to throttle, vibrate more than a glow and use a fuel
containing ether and amyl nitrate.
If you really want to have a go at this branch of the hobby I would go for
the Honda. It's a four stroke petrol engine which will be quieter and use
less exotic fuel than a model aircraft engine and ....it's a Honda!
Cheers,
Barrie
-----Original Message-----
From: R.L. Roebuck
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2013 10:47 PM
To: modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [modeleng] 3.5" gauge Diesel
Hi there All,
I was wondering about trying something different for my next project,
perhaps a 3.5" gauge loco using an off the shelf internal combustion
engine (don't worry I'm not giving up on steam).
There are some video's of it having been done here in 0 gauge and gauge 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSwha_Ug7sk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6evZjlUpfW8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpl3Eq-wfoE
...but I would only want to give this a go if I could avoid having
something with that annoyingly high reving engine noise that frequently
accompanies this kind of locomotive.
Looking on the Honda website, they have a unit, the GX25
http://engines.honda.com/models/model-detail/gx25
...but a quick click on the "Performance curve" tab on the page would
suggest we're looking at 4000RPM minimum, which seems a bit high.
Also I'm supposing that I should be avoiding anything 2 stroke if I want
less noise, though I am beginning to wonder for very small engines whether
the 2 stroke equivalent might be slightly slower running, and thus
quieter, though this is based on very few observations.
Does anyone out there have any suggestions or thoughts in relation to
all this?
I don't suppose anyone has any experience of one of these actually
running:
http://malden-dsme.co.uk/public/Pictures/slideshow/1960_LMS_0-6-0_1831.jpg
http://www.modelengineerslaser.co.uk/locoparts.asp?loconum=289&locotype=4
...?
All the best,
Rich.
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