GGRailway Videos

It was rather cold and windy so I left the Mamod indoors. The new wagons (at the back of the train) are hand made from 3mm (1/8") external ply. The wheels are turned from 32mm (1 1/4") bar on an Axminster Sieg C0 micro lathe (blooming difficult by the way; I recommend a bigger machine if you have the space and cash) with the recess milled using a milling cutter in the lathe and a home-made jig on the cross slide. They are insulated with a nylon insert between axle and wheel. Buying the ...

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Sorry it's dark; it was light when the run started! How long, I wondered, could the little engine run on one fill of gas? Answer: 36 minutes and 12 seconds from start of normal running to stop. I cheated a little by using water straight from the kettle but otherwise this was a normal run. The load was two MSS carriages. The track is almost flat. She ran for 30 minutes at a nice slow speed without stopping. She then needed an occasional pause for breath before restarting. The video shows the ...

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A very brief shot of an old Mamod (MSS) and the new Mamod double heading a train. It's not really practical - the new engine runs for double or treble the time. Get the gas balance right and 20 minutes is easily possible (my record is 36 minutes) compared to 10 minutes if you're lucky with the meths fired oldie. But it was fun for a while.

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This is the all new Mamod engine. What can you get for around £200 ($300)? That's half the price of the Chinese machines. it has to be fairly useless, surely? Well, I tried it straight out the box on a rolling road and it seemed OK so I gave it a run and it seemed happy to move so I put on a few more carrriages and then some more and then some weights to try to slow it down. In the end I had 8kg of load, half of which came from Bachmann plastic wheeled stock which is a real drag so to speak ...

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Join Roger, the driver of the Bachmann 45 ton GE Diesel, as he runs round our track. The camera was mounted in the cab so you get a very realistic view through both front and side windows.

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A view from the cab of the MSS (Mamod) steam engine. The track is a bit bumpy in places but most of the movement came from the 10 year old wheels that were slack on their axles! Now replaced thanks to the folks at www.dream-steam.com. To read more, especially how to make one of these old things actually work instead of doing one circuit and running out of breath, go to www.bredhurstchurch.org.uk/ggr3.htm

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An MSS steam train that is now about 10 years old but still going depsite having been melted a few times. We call it Duck because its green and waddles. There is no other resemblance to the Rev Awdry's engine of the same name but it keeps the grandchildren happy. Thanks to the people at Dream Steam for providing the bits for the latest rebuild including a replacement for the single screw I dropped between the floorboards of the shed. www.bredhurstchurch.org.uk/ggrhome.htm to see more and ...

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During our visit to Wekense the church presented us with an utterly extravagent gift of honey. Their generosity is absolutely astounding - as a proportion of their income this was huge but Beth said we must accept it as to do otherwise would be rude. We were utterly embarassed and have left it with Beth to distribute around to others.

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Somewhere near Dodoma on one of the better bits of this road, bounce along with us for a few minutes and then imagine this in the back of a crowded bus for four hours. And I didn't film the AK47 carrying guard squeezed in next to me for part of the journey..........

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I will never complain about church action songs ever again! Read more at www.bredhurstchurch.org.uk

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