Steam Locomotive Sand House - Chama New Mexico - Gathering of Victorian Locomotives
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- Опубліковано 29 січ 2022
- Take a "deep dive" into the locomotive sand house at Chama New Mexico. While we were at the "Gathering of Victorian Locomotives" in 2021 Pat Maufrais from the Friens of the Cumbres and Toltec gave us a tour of the sand house!
Steve Strebel (friend and great modeler) built a 1:20.3 model of the Chama sand house for our locomotive shops. We are building the Chama coaling tower and a Denver and Rio Grande Western narrow gauge railroad. We already did a "deep dive" video into the coaling tower, and now the sand house.
We could not find any information on the inside of the sand house, so Steve followed standard practices for the workings inside the sand house. As it happened, we got a bunch of things right, a few things wrong.
So, how does a sand house work? Steam locomotives, well ALL locomotives use sand for traction. Steel wheels on steel rails produce little friction, which is why trains can haul such massive loads, but they also produce little traction. So to help prevent wheel slip sand is applied to the rails just ahead of the drive wheels when needed. Steam locomotives carry sand in the sand dome, or domes as many have two or even three sand domes, and the sand for both steam and diesel locomotives is loaded from a "sand house".
On many railroads, including the Denver and Rio Grande Western Narrow Gauge sand was delivered in open-top from bottom gondolas. Then dumped into large open air sand bins. So the sand was wet and full of debris and needed to be cleaned and dried before it was loaded into the sand domes on the locomotives.
Two ways this was done, and we didn't know which was used at Chama. In the first system, wet sand was shoveled onto the floor of the sand house. It was then shoveled into a tray surrounding a large coal stove. From there the warm dry sand was screened into buckets and dumped into a bin where compressed air blew it into an overhead holding tank where it could be "drained" into the locomotives. We assumed this was the system used at Chama. Nope...
In the other system, the wet sand for the outside bin is shoveled into buckets and the buckets are dumped into a screened bin surrounding the large coal stove. As the sand drys, it falls through the screen onto the floor. From the floor, it is shoveled into the big where compressed air lifts it to the overhead tank. The D and RGW used a bin in the floor to hold the sand that was being blown up to the holding tank. The downside of this system is the heavy wet buckets need to be lifted about seven feet up to the edge of the heating screen. Hundreds of buckets each about 20 pounds. The advantage was the warm dry sand on the floor made it a great place to grab a nap!
We assumed that the sand house needed an air compressor to blow the sand up to the holding tank. But at Chama, they use air from the air brakes on the steam locomotives to blow the sand up to the tank! They have a long hose with a "glad hand" to connect to the locomotive. HOWEVER, I found an old photo that shows the air for both the sand house AND the coating tower coming from inside the sand house. An air line crosses between the structures, as does an electrical conduit on wood beams about ten feet above the ground. SO... there was a compressor in there! Steve build a GREAT compressor for the sand house and it turns out to be correct before about 1970... - Навчання та стиль
Thank you. I was researching sand houses. And for the life of me couldn’t find any. Until I ran across your channel.
Thank you Karyn and Dale for another interesting video packed full of great information. It was good to see Steve and his amazing modeling work.
More on Steve soon. He’s been moving some of his railroad to two different places. He wants that to be more finished
Well done, Mr Toy man! Well done by Steve on your model sandhouse. I really enjoyed all the details of your sandhouse.
Hi!!!! Found it. Oops!!! Anyway thanks again for all the help with these shows.
Good morning and happy Sunday hello from Detroit Michigan 👋
WOW! That is a real Jem of a model. My modeling skills just got lowered by a few notches and you no what, that's just fine. Gives me something to shoot for!
Now to FINISH THE THING!!
Everytime I watch this every Sunday you guys are always updating this Railroad and making it more beautiful every time. Keep on going Steve is done a wonderful thing with your guys's model railroad and your garden Railroad
Good morning!! Thanks!! I’ve been working on a spaceship of all things. Weird. Anyway back to the switching yard tomorrow.
Very nicely done 👍 CHEERS FROM New Jersey USA 🇺🇸
Thanks again 🚀👍
@@ToyManTelevision 👍🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾🍸
Thank you for this contribution! These contris are my favourite ones! Where you go out, see something and model it! Great work!
Thanks for watching!
This whole episode is full of amazement, from actual buildings of the past to detailed models representing the past for future times to come. Being who you are, I bet that you're granted access into buildings and shops that are off limits to most other people. The coaling tower and the sand tower reflects quite a bit of talent in recreating models of the actual things.
Thanks again for another great video!
Thanks again!! This was fun!! Been sitting on this show for months. Always something else to show.. also a show on the pile driver again. Oh and Durango and the big fire and conversion to oil. The trend toward oil.. Durango, Chama, Big Boy.. not a lot of people understand why. Should be a good show.
@@ToyManTelevision looking forward to it!
Steve's models are always amazing.
Check out the series "America's Historic Steam Railroads". They had an episode on the C&T and showed the inside of the sand-house and the drying grates and arrangement. Complete with a demonstration of shoveling sand into the grates from the furnace.
I’ll look for that!
Thanks again.
One thing about many railroad operations was the degree to which they refused to spend money unless absolutely necessary. The Rio Grande sandhouse is typical. Need an air tank, get one off the locomotive scrap line. Think about the Rio Grande Southern Geese. It is typical economy of operation. (& we got something wonderful to model and marvel at!).
Most railroads that survived, and many that didn't, you could hand a dollar to do something and they'd give you 99 cents change.
Just discovered you guys a few weeks ago! But watch you every sun and Tuesday when u guys post! And watch some old vids to when I have time! But love your vids u guys rock
The sand is being blown up through the pipe via the venturi effect. The sand funnel tee's into the pipe from the compressor to the storage tank. As the air rushes past the tee to the storage tank, it draws the sand up into the pipe from the funnel. Sandblasters for paint removal use the same method to pull sand into the nozzle.
I keep wondering why it’s in a pit below ground level. It makes getting sand in there easy, but why is the mixture happening down there. Ok only down a foot, but why I wonder..
@@ToyManTelevision my guess is that as you said, it's easier to shovel the sand into the funnel. In order to route the plumbing so it would work, they had to go below the level of the floor.
Great video such attention to detail
Amazing Amazing building skills from all of you. I love the actual lighting inside these buildings to give them life, beautifully executed.
Thanks! The lights are the magic. So fun to kill the room lights and turn on the structure lights. And the effects lights.
I AM AMAZED AT HOW MUCH YOU BOTH ARE AWESOME GOOD CRAFTSMAN AND SKILLED AT YOUR WORK AND HOW INTERESTING YOU ARE AND YOUR TIME I APPRECIATE YOU BOTH STAY SAFE AND CAREFUL JIM KAMMERER OF PHILADELPHIA PA NORFOLK SOUTHERN RULES MY RAILS AWESOME GOOD VIDEO THANK YOU AGAIN
Hi and thanks again for watching
Awesome 🚂❤️👍👍👍👍👍👍
This channel is awesome, ive learned so much. Keep them coming
Thanks
These old buildings and relics are neat and of interest too Me, HERE in Kansas and other places you can find Lots of old grain elevators and such and the really old ones are very small but cool too explore and almost all were made for RAIL interactions 😎👍👍
Really love the very old grain silos. Bright paint… weathered.
Impressive attention to detail. You never cease to impress.!👍
Hi and thanks! More screwing around ahead too!!
One of the amazing things about "Toy Man Television" is the unpresented access you have to things other folks would never have and the people, like Ed Dickens, that you know so well. I would almost give an arm and leg to know Ed.
Remember this; even though theses two building models are STYLED after Chama, this is your railroad, not theirs and because of that , YOUR engineers and mechanics do things differently, making it the TMT RR.
As usual, this video is superb and Steve's skills still are mind blowing. I'm looking forward to more great "screwing around", the kind that sometimes requires a screw driver. ;-)
Yup. Steve’s world is, or really was, his own art. Reality was the jumping off point. Then off into Steveland. Sad that he’s taking it all apart. But the parts live on! Now he back building a layout at the Train Shoppe.
I love your work, great detail!😊
If I remember correctly some sand towers not only used compressed air but also an Archimedes screw to lift the sand more efficiently .
What a wonderful scratch build!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Hi and thanks!!!!
A great looking model . Have a good weekend . thank you.
Thanks
What a great video. I might be dreaming, but we're both of you teachers? Both of you explain and demonstrate what you are talking about to the utmost detail. I use to teach and you have to explain things in great detail, little sections or parts as you go along. That's what makes your videos the best on UA-cam. I really love hearing both of you talk. Have a great and fantastic week!
You guessed it! Yes! Both Dale and I are educators, now retired. Once a teacher, always a teacher! It's a great profession!
Yup!!!! Gee it shows… or you can hear it or whatever…. Occupational hazard from teaching… always thinking your opinion matters! Trying to stick to known facts.. National problem too at this point… take for example everything I just wrote…..
Nice show on a cool project. Steve Strebel is a fantastic modeler. Yikes. You guys are going to have the greatest layout when you get all these things done. Thanks!
great video
Thanks
Dale, Karyn, Really good modelling and storytelling! Regards Stephen .
Thanks!!! It’s what we love to do.
Dale: Another great video. Delrin is a DuPont o polymer and is poly formaldehyde. With plastics the glue effectively is a solvent that softens the polymer till the solvent can evaporator. You have peaked my interest to do further research. If I find anything I will report back.
Thanks!!’
Looks like a screw head for the door knob. Great video with lots of info.
Steve said it’s a brad. A small copper brad turned on a lathe.
imagine the amount of sand in that poor man's shoes
I was not expecting the cobra.
Hi. Where did you see it? Is it in this show somewhere? Not that is not there, but I didn’t see it.
@@ToyManTelevision very last shot, bottom right
Wunderful how that one truss rod is below the sand because they drilled that one pole too deep
I’m betting a repair at some point. Bad wood above so…..
I never realized they put sand on the Big boy
Yup. Even diesels!!
Love Steve's work! And both of you as well. I have a Pola kit in HO from the 70's very similar to the coaling tower at Chama.German prototype,but it looks international. I am working on the sandhouse,also similar. More common euro practice is to have large steel structures with coal bins above the tracks .Smaller ones at track level with swinging cranes . Very interesting to see how the system works. Steam,diesel & electric locos use sand,perhaps you could cover these as well ?
sweet
Thanks!!
GREAT LOOKING MODEL ..... I was wondering WHY is it you are not using a 3D printer yet or are you ? I see so many place you all could use one . YES I KNOW , OLD SCHOOL !
Have done some 3D printed parts. A few… bought a printer years ago. $300 as a kick starter. Never got it… Don bought the same deal. He got his. Junk… anyway good ones out there but I’ve been using shapeways.
i’m not sure if they would have a compressor because the only time they really need to pump sand up to the tank is when there filling the locomotive so they already gave the engine right there anyway
Yup. Just use the brake air.
Dan get better soon. and take some rest on your voice. it is getting worry for me :)
I’m a pony. A little horse.
I can't stand not knowing how that sand blower works. If I was on the current crew, I'd be peaking into every opening with a Thrunite on 'sun power' mode.
Please forgive me I do not know the name of the pump but it is a piece of pipe with a T at on the top you put air across the top of the T and it sucks up water from the bottom that is probably what they used to pump the sand no moving parts
Yup!!!! Carburetors work that way. Or did… cars don’t have them anymore. The injectors on a steam locomotive work that way. Venturi. High speed moving air will grab anything in its path. Get caught in a sand storm!
Super video, modeling and tour of the old sand tower. Could you describe what the place looked like where they shoveled the dry sand to be blown up in the tower? Looks like it's sealed underground with a piece of plywood over the opening where the sand goes? In the middle of modeling this mystery! Thanks for any help.
Yup. Just a small pit in that corner of the room. Warm dry sand in huge piles on the floor. Shoveled into the “sump” and from there blown into the tank on the tower. The wet sand was brought into the room from outside in huge buckets. Well large… like 5 gallon buckets. Dumped into the heater. And falls through onto the floor.
That's gonna help alot of NON Steam ppl understand ; "Mr... Sand..man..take..me. slip away..Dale I think.theres a song in there 😆 OH you sound stuffed. (Not from Karyan's cooking ) 😕 ❤ U2 & take care .Neighbors 😋
As a kid I had no idea how a steam locomotive worked. I knew the boiler made steam and the steam moved the pistons. That’s it. No clue what was in the boiler. How the brakes work. Sand? There’s SAND??
@@ToyManTelevision Sand = "Gripstion" (new word lol) think I'd mentioned it back when But..I use to run a boiler in the Oilfield Dale, converted Ol'e 440 Baldwin if memory serves Made a Diesel injector for it but I Rodded & Maintained that old girl for 2 1/2 ys even got to roll Flues & rebuilt Crown plate nothing like rodding a Boiler outside in the Wyoming wind. I was a Boy. Of another Color 4 SURE.LABO
I'm making some heritage models of a quarter scale railroad I used to go to called Junction Valley Railroad, the railroad closed in 2016, so I thought I'd make some models for my railroad to honor the railroad
I’ve heard of that railroad… where was it?
It used to be in Birdgeport, Michigan
now I’m share there is rivet counters out there where do get your scale sand
Question? Could they have used a screw mechanism similar to a grain feeder into a silo ..👀👍👍❤️❤️❤️ Keep sefe
Probably. But it blows well with air. As long as it’s clean and dry. Modern railroads generally buy clean dry sand and keep it clean and dry and then blow it through pipes for hundreds of feet.
I really enjoyed this video. I am building a Banta Ridgeway O scale sand house and using this information for reference. Do you have any idea of what color he painted the inside of the sand house? Also, the manufacture and type of paint used would really help. I am still using Floquil paint if I can. I always got my best results using their paint. I think they went out of business in 2012 and it is very hard to find. I am planning do a similar interior with sand house coal stove, coal bin and air compressor.
Tamiya. Also Mr Color. Same thing. But both just like flowquil. Except really limited colors. But it’s all I use. Google them. Steve painted with an affordable water based acrylic. Green. But in the real building it’s bare wood.
Here are a couple of videos showing how the sand pump works. ua-cam.com/video/dNJTAbS_GBQ/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/fbwWXYcmmcs/v-deo.html. Enjoy.
How was the sand delivered to the wheels of the engine? I would like to do something like that with my car to help on icy roads.
What scale is this structure; O, HO, etc.?
Hi. It’s “F” scale. Fn3. Odd? Not really. Most people think it’s “G”. (Garden). F stands for fine. Fine scale. It’s 1:20.3 scale. G was 1:22.5 scale when LGB created it. It’s all based on #1 gauge track. 1 3/4 inch gauge. When LGB created G it was meter gauge prototype running on #1 gauge track. Hence 1:22.5 scale. But in about 2005? American modelers wanting accurate 3 foot gauge, not meter gauge, declared F scale. Just a bit bigger so the trains are accurate (fine scale) 3 foot gauge. Anyway the mess is that “G” scale or G gauge may be 1/2” scale, 1/32 scale, 1/29 scale, 1:22.5 scale or as in this case, 1:20.3 scale. Oh I forgot. Also 5/8” scale. 2 foot prototype. Sigh….