A couple of years ago I bought my first live steamer,
possibly I would buy a second in time but probably just one would be
enough. My third live steamer is a
Accucraft Plantation loco recently purchased through Argle Locomotive
Works. It seems that just a little steam
oil in my veins is not enough! So why this loco for my third loco. Firstly if possible I wanted a loco with
inside frames, locos with inside frames being the vast majority of locos that
ran in NZ, secondly it would be ideally a smallish loco that would fit comfortably
with the 1:24 scale that our railway is loosely based around. Thirdly a loco with a sight glass, pressure
gauge and be able to be fitted with a Goodall valve or similar water top up
system. I didn’t initially covet the
Plantation, but when I had the chance to see one in the flesh I was immediately
smitten by it and on face value it ticked all the boxes. Having read a review in Garden Rail and some internet
browsing, my order was placed with Argyle Loco Works - there was no looking back! |
Plantation out of the box
From Accucraft’s website “The Accucraft Plantation 0-4-2 is an updated version of the Ruby design! This generic plantation engine has features that were common on all late 19th century Plantation locos. They were exported all over the world, and used mainly on Sugar Plantations in the south and also in Hawaii. Most of the American locomotive manufacturers built Plantation locos in 3 foot gauge, and ours follows Baldwin’s basic designs. The name IUKI in Hawaiian stands for Judy and it joins Accucraft’s other small generic locomotive names Ruby – Ida – Mimi”. Quoted at a scale of 1:20.3 there must be seriously small cabs on the prototype plantation locos as none of my 1:24 scale Supply Line Model figures can stand in the cab without stooping. For me that is not a problem, I’ll just shorten a figure or two slightly, but if your railway is based on 1:20.3 scale you would struggle to fit a normal height 1:20.3 figure in the cab, hmm you’d need a scale short of stature man like me. Accucraft quote the loco as 304.8mm long, 101.6mm wide and 127mm high, which is quite compact compared to some other 4 coupled locos on the market.
Raising Steam the First Time
I steamed it on rollers within a few days of arrival having read the instructions carefully. Sure not everyone reads instructions, but I did as I gazed lovingly at my new purchase, savoring the fine lines and evocative curves as I dreamed of our lives together. This is a steamie review isn’t it? The instructions told me to either fill the boiler with 80mL or fill to the top and remove 30mL. Hmm, fill to the top takes 140mL and drawing off 30mL leaves 110mL in the boiler. Okay that’s fine, at 110mL I should well have water left in the boiler when it runs out of gas, as the instructions say it will run out of gas before it runs out of water. The run on rollers showed several things, it starts easily and runs smoothly, but was oh so difficult turning the gas down low enough to not have the safety constantly blowing off also both the gas valve and the regulator were stiff to operate. Also I ran out of water before I ran out of gas. True it was on rollers so with a load maybe the minimum gas setting would be okay and not keep going out as it did on rollers, but I was worried if I would still run out of water first.
Before the first track test, following usual wisdom, the gas valve and regulator valves were removed and the O rings given a smear of Vaseline to help reduce the stiff operation. I also took the opportunity to remove the (to me) horrible black knobs on the regulator and gas valves and replace them with levers. Both these steps helped a little but I still had a devils own job to keep the gas turned down low enough to not constantly be lifting the safeties, just a smidgen less and out the gas would go, not straight away of course but in the most remote parts of the railway. If this was the first live steam loco I’d owned I would have started to be wonder what I was doing wrong.
Seeking guidance from others I was directed to aftermarket fine control gas valves supplied by The Train Department (TTD). Along with a fine control regulator valve the new gas valve arrived from the USA promptly and was equally promptly fitted. The cab needs to be removed to fit both the regulator and gas fine control valves, but with only 6 hex head screws to undo it’s not a big job to remove and refit the cab. The TTD gas valve made a marked difference but still not 100% so I tried making a slight adjustment of the air control ring which comes fitted as standard on the burner, opening the air holes to a bit over 50% open. Yippee I could now get the gas valve adjusted such that I could get burner settled nicely and not have the safety lifting constantly, if at all, throughout a run. True I don’t haul big heavy trains and maybe I need the burner turned lower than the designer envisaged, but either way TTD gas valve is much more subtle in use and looks better too.
Running Under Manual Control
Our railway has long ruling grades of 1:50, with similarly equally long 1:50 declines, winding between trees mostly at ground level. Not a problem for electric powered trains, or radio controlled live steam, but requiring a degree of athleticism when operating manual control live steam locos! I could manage with the as supplied regulator but it was better with the TTD one fitted, though in both cases it was easier to get at the regulator running with the cab roof removed. Operating on a flatter railway and with better access for manual control the experience would differ, however as my intention was to fit radio control running with the cab roof off while I learnt the feel of the loco under manual control was not a major issue.
Apart from the gas valve/burner issue I was very pleased with how the loco ran, it steams freely and sure looks nice, all be it a bit shinny at this stage for a Kiwi bush tramway. The Plantation comfortably hauls a train of 9 loaded Binnie skips, in fact the train isn’t really heavy enough to really make the loco work, but it looks a nice balanced load to me. With this load I’m getting basic run times in excess of 20 minutes. If steamed in the same fashion as my Accucraft Leader, i.e. turning the gas off when it reaches 40PSI, topping up the gas and relighting coming back to 40PSI then setting off, topping up the water after about 8-10 minutes and again at 16- 20 minutes via the Goodall valve borrowed from the Leader, I can extend the run to well over 30 minutes, maybe even 35 minutes. I’m pretty happy at that. Oh yes and there is oil left in the displacement lubricator at the end of the extended run.
A Chuffer is Needed
While the loco puts out a good steam plume it has an almost whisper quiet exhaust, a chuff pipe is needed! Fitting a Summerlands Chuffer was an easy job, my Plantation now has an audible exhaust, not as loud as my Leader but loud enough to add to the driving experience and well worth fitting
Further Initial Thoughts
Something that wasn’t apparent at first was that the driving wheels aren’t actually spoked. They are solid with a cast spoke pattern with a few discrete holes. From a distance they look fine, true genuine spoked wheels would be better, but since I didn’t spot it initially it tells me they create the illusion well enough. If at some stage I find some true spoked wheels I’d consider changing them, though as it would need almost a full strip down to change the wheels, I wonder as I type this if it would be worth the effort.
Another observation is the Plantation has more weight on the rear drivers than the front. I was worried this could be an issue in operation but so far it seems to be quite stable so maybe it is not an issue, I don’t have enough experience on locomotive balance to draw a factual conclusion. I think I will add some lead into the front of the saddle tank at some stage to increase the weight on front axle and see what happens.
Fitting Radio Control
Having completed 5 or 6 runs under athletic control, the last few with the TTD gas and regulator valves fitted, I felt at home enough with the loco to strip it down and fit radio control. I won’t go into full detail on the fitting of the radio control, but suffice to say it is possible with some very careful planning and some minor alterations to your new loco. Should you choose slightly smaller servos that I chose the job might be easier at least as far as fitting the servos.
Finding Room for the Batteries
The most difficult part was deciding where to fit the batteries, I like to use 5xAAA rechargeable batteries. With the low cab height there is not enough room to fit them under the room, well I don’t thing so at least without being visible.
But I didn’t take the easy way out, I dismantled the ashpan, altering the back end to be removable and lengthen a couple of millimeters thus creating enough room in the ashpan to fit my battery pack.
Fitting Servos
The obvious place for the servos is in the coal bunker, but it's a bit smaller than it looks. Well I guess there is a bit more room if you don't want the servos hidden from view if at all possible.
After careful measurement I established that I could get connect the reverser servo arm direct to the reverser control arm
Time to test if it really does fit in the bunker….it better.
Time to test, the first part of the run without the cab on so I could keep an eye on what was going on.
Hopefully the accompanying photos will give you enough of an idea as to how I’ve fitted the radio control gear. The receiver, charging socket, regulator and reverser servos are fitted into the coal bunker. The on/off slide switch is under the cab floor on the fireman's side.
Running Under Radio Control
Under radio control what a fun loco is to drive, very controllable and more than ample power for, to my eyes, a comfortable length train.
Better have a video to share the fun!
Conclusion (for now)
I have no regrets with my purchase even if exchange rates changed to no longer be in my favour thus stretching my budget a bit. Our Plantation has settled in well enough to have been renamed Ngahere. It will be run in “as new” condition for now while I consider what cosmetic changes will be made. Certainly a repaint and light weathering to remove the gloss finish is required, fitting glazing to the cab windows and adding coal to the bunker are also on my list, I’m not very good at leaving things in “as new” condition you see.
