Injector System Modifications

Repositioned injector on a Feldbahn steam locomotiveBecause I had modified the Feldbahn to take the water for both injectors from the driving truck (and disconnected both onboard water tanks) I had to modify the injector plumbing.  Also my experience of operating a Stafford locomotive had shown that the single biggest improvement in injector reliability had come from relocating the injectors away from the chassis frames adjacent to the firebox to a cooler location.  So even though different injectors are fitted to the Feldbahn than those on my very early specification Stafford I decided that while modifying the injector water feed pipes I may as well relocate both injectors to a cooler location at the same time.  The photo on the left shows where they ended up.

The injector was originally connected to the pipe union that can be seen at the extreme right of the photo.  If I had left the injector there I would have fitted an extension to the injector overflow pipe that went to the same position as the pipe at the bottom left of the photo.  This makes the injector overflow very visible to the driver so that he can see exactly what the injector is doing, a very useful feature if you have problems operating injectors.

The new overflow outlet assembly is silver soldered together and the bright (over exposed in the photo) brass mounting plate is bolted through the rear buffer beam of the Feldbahn.  The injector overflow pipe is a simple loose slide fit in the top of this overflow assembly.  The water for the injector now comes from the front of the water valve via 8mm copper tubing to allow as little resistance to the flow as possible and only contracts to the 1/4" tubing required by the injector as it reaches the injector gland nut.

The first test run of the Feldbahn showed that everything worked satisfactorily, but I'll never know if the injectors really needed relocating as I never did any trials with them in the "as supplied" position.  However to me that doesn't matter and I'm happy with the revised installation.