Bill Davidson Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 I'm contemplating using live steam on my oo gauge DCC system. Does anyone have experience of using live steam? Obviously I'm aware that it cannot be used at the same time as my DCC trains, but am I able to use the same track layout without any modifications? As far as I'm aware the tracks themselves can get quite hot due to the higher voltage passing through them. Would this be a problem with my soldered link wires? My plan is, only to use the outer loop of my layout without bringing any of the points into play. Would appreciate any advice the forum members could give me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddles Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 It has definitely been done. I've seen it on a video and I had been contemplating doing the same thing myself. I've decided against it for the time being as the wiring would need to be kept totally separate from the DCC bus. You say that you wouldn't bring any of the points into play but you would need to make sure that your circuit didn't rely only on the point blades to carry the high amps. I would suggest that you avoid any gradients. Hornby live steam is difficult to control under perfect conditions due to the difficulty of setting the steam valve accurately. There is a useful article at http://www.scottpages.net/ReviewOfLiveSteam.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Otherwise, go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Davidson Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 Riddles said: It has definitely been done. I've seen it on a video and I had been contemplating doing the same thing myself. I've decided against it for the time being as the wiring would need to be kept totally separate from the DCC bus. You say that you wouldn't bring any of the points into play but you would need to make sure that your circuit didn't rely only on the point blades to carry the high amps. I would suggest that you avoid any gradients. Hornby live steam is difficult to control under perfect conditions due to the difficulty of setting the steam valve accurately. There is a useful article at http://www.scottpages.net/ReviewOfLiveSteam.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Otherwise, go for it! Thanks for the information, I had a look at that web site last night and it does give a lot of useful information too. Still not sure about my wiring though and would love to hear from anyone actually using live steam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 ...Yeah, Craig uses Live Steam - you do mean the Hornby Live Steam don't you? I'm surprised he hasn't responded by now - why not drop him a PM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Davidson Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 mick said: ...Yeah, Craig uses Live Steam - you do mean the Hornby Live Steam don't you? I'm surprised he hasn't responded by now - why not drop him a PM? Thanks Mick i'll do that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Davidson Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Mick, have tried sending a message to Craig Crane through vimeo but unfortunately it s not going through for some reason. Are you able to give him a shout? would appreciate his experience in this matter. His videos are absolutely out of this world, wish I had a garden to support such sizable layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I've sent Craig a nudge Bill, I'm sure he'll get back when he can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublecee Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 how did I miss this thread? Thanks for the nudge Mick. Thanks for the kind words on the video. I blame Mick and his Selby Garden Railway for getting me started. Right... so, yes, the high Ampage can make track a little warm, but if you have every track attached to a bus like I do, then you are fine. The need for dead level track is essential. More so with LS because you cant just stop a train, and if it derails, it still has motive power and will continue to run until its run out of steam... so really reduce the chance of a derailment by being really anal about track. Other than that, enjoy enjoy enjoy! the smell is amazing and the steam on a cold day is awesome. Im hoping that the two weeks of coming up will see me once more in the garden steaming up. On the down side, the recent hike in ebay prices, the lack of spares and they do require constant care and TLC. Ive taught myself how to strip them down and rebuild, and having nothing beats a good deep clean Sorry about the lack of PM on Vimeo. I have it set to not accept any Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Davidson Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 Thanks for getting back to me craig, appreciate the advice. It's definitely something I'd like to try but keep getting outbid on e-bay. Will keep trying though. Merry Christmas to everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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