From a regular child’s toy, to popular collectible that gets annual meetings throughout the world, model trains and railways have turned out to be a famous standard in hobbying. What makes model train hobbying more interesting is the astistic and technical aspects that make it possible to enjoy and run model trains.
A model train collection’s artistic aspects include the crafting of little sceneries and buildings that include foliage, tunnels, and train stations. It also involves the attention to fine points with the train and locomotive’s interior and exterior to make them look as elaborate as possible.
For the model train’s technical aspect, the wire setup of the model train and railway is what makes each bit in the collection move and go. It’s the thing that gives a model train hobbyist the sensation and pleasure in having to own these not so cheap collectibles.
Because we are already in the subject of making miniature trains run, what about the function of their life size counterparts? Electric current that passes along a model railway track is what makes a model locomotive run just like modern electric trains from monorails and subways, but life size steam locomotives run from steam. So how do burned coal make the iconic steam engine run?
During the 19th century, the primary action of an engineer to make a steam loco move is to release the brake, followed by a slow release of steam. Directing power needs collaboration among the engineer and another man (fireman) or two that will shovel coal from the tender to the boiler. Proper synchronization and coordination between engineer and fireman is very valuable in order to make the locomotive run in the proper speed without exploding the boiler. In a day, 12 to 15 tons of coal gets burned.
The firebox inside the boiler generates flame with a temperature of greater than 2500 degrees that incinerates the coal. An extra partition within the boiler surrounds the firebox and its function is to deposit gallons of water. It is of great magnitude to have water in this slot because this will prevent the firebox from melting and the heating of the water is what will grant the locomotive’s steam-power.
The steam given off from heated steam goes to the steam dome (performs like a car’s carburetor) where the throttle from the engineer’s cabin is attached. When the engineer pulls on the throttle lever, the steam dome releases steam into a tube that will transfer it to the cylinder. The cylinder contains the piston that connects to the train’s wheels. The cylinder’s piston then gets its back and forward movement from the steam generated which makes the locomotive go forward.
For a hobbyist who uses a DCC for running their model railway, he he would pretty much feel like a real steam train engineer. If a command in the throttle is pushed, it transmits a current to the command station, which is like the steam dome, and it sends out a digital packet to the booster.
The cylinder of a real steam locomotive is equivalent to the model train’s booster which regulates the power being distributed to the model railway that turns the wheels on the model trains.
Now that you’ve read all about the basic function of actual steam trains, you can now visualize yourself performing the duties of a train crew back in the 19th century.