Bevan

In regular service the garratts in general did not have the gauges as found on 29 now.  By my time when gualified for them in early 1965 I can remember few having the original ones that were enclosed in the single casing. Possibly as they were a bit more labour intensive when needing to change just one of the gauges at a time.

In the main the two round gauges the independent being the smaller, showing the amounts of the pressure applied and again IIRC a steady 100psi as per the main reservoir setting this gauge was to the left of the main larger gauge.  The large round gauge showed the BP usually 70psi and the constant MR pressure of 100psi.  Being an A6et BV, this was designed to allow a minimum reduction of 7psi when the handle was lapped, that also allowed the high pressure controller on the pump to cut in and charge the supplementary reservoir to 125psi to assist in BP and auxiliary recharges.

Some, and not many did get the duplex gauges but it generally only was for a stop gap measure when waiting on the normal gauges as needed.  I personally never saw a duplex on a garratt for the independent brake, that is not to say there were none.

You mention an exhaust steam pressure gauge, are you talking about something along the lines of the 36cl podgers gauge, certainly that was never on them in regular service and unnecessary.  I have noticed an external valve on the outside firemans side of the smokebox below the pumps line and towards the rear, again that is something new.

Having a multi Valve regulator fitting for the regulator the garratts also had a continual blow down pipe located under the firemens side step just to the rear of it, same as the pigs and 38's also I believe on the 57 and 58cl.

PS.

I personally cannot understand why duplex gauges are used instead of the originals, if its a spare parts thing, I would think that the round types which were interchangeable with those on diesels would be much more able to be sourced than the duplex gauges.

On old engines that only had the single BV, especially the #4's descending heavy grades such as the Blue Mountains, Illawarra Mountain, and long descending grades of 1:40 or steeper, the regulations provided for the driver to increase the BP pressure, and on those old BV's the handle was put in full release making the BP pressure 100psi.  It meant as you got nearer the bottom of the grade, you had to slowly bring the BP pressure back to its normal setting of 70psi, this was done by bringing the train to a stand 3 times and adjusting the slide valve feed valve down 10psi at a time. In a sense it was the same with diesels on those grades but it was also different as far as how much air adjustment was made as it usually meant the BP was only set at around 85 rather than the 100psi of the MR.

I hope this helps

Thanks for that comprehensive answer, it does indeed help.
I've just had a close look at that wonderful cab ride footage filmed by Roger MCkenzie when he did a trip on a Garratt working from Newstan to Port Waratah, and there are a couple of brief glimpses of the gauge set up. The loco he was on did indeed have two large six inch duplex gauges, just like 6029 now has, so my recollections are not as reliable as they used to be!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Vj0E0GODc&t=550s

Am I wrong in thinking that the Garratt didnt have dual controls when they first went into service so when they were traveling 'In Reverse' the Driver stayed where he was as did the Fireman?
Also even when they were modified, there were still valves/taps whatever were not duplicated.

Despite it returning from Bx attached to the rear, it was great to see and hear again, it took me back to when I was just into my 20's starting out as a SWSA and watching W44 going through late afternoon, listening to the cinder pellets that were belched out of the chimney falling on the Tin roof of the signalbox.

Am I wrong in thinking that the Garratt didnt have dual controls when they first went into service so when they were traveling 'In Reverse' the Driver stayed where he was as did the Fireman?
Also even when they were modified, there were still valves/taps whatever were not duplicated.

Despite it returning from Bx attached to the rear, it was great to see and hear again, it took me back to when I was just into my 20's starting out as a SWSA and watching W44 going through late afternoon, listening to the cinder pellets that were belched out of the chimney falling on the Tin roof of the signalbox.

Garratts that had the DC on the bunker and tank were Dual control fitted.  As to setting them up and working with them set up was not a real pleasant experience at times especially for the fireman sitting on the normal drivers side, as the regulator still was set in position unlike the new DC regulator that was hinged and when not used chained up to the cantilever arm under the ceiling. When the driver sitting on the firemans seat opened that sloppy regulator he needed to warn the fireman just in case the fireman was looking out the cab at the train or the road ahead, as when that regulator was opened, so did the normal one, and as a fireman you could very easily get a whack with the regulator under your left ribs at the back.

How marvellous they were was that there were only two control knobs for stoker operation on the DC setup, and it required the fireman to walk over to check the firebox as to how the main five jets and pressures were set up to ensure things were going ok on that side.  Other aspect was that the primary injector to use was that found on the normal firemans side putting that workload onto the driver, who had enough to do with the dumb set up to adjust the screw as required which was like a sanding valve handle that allowed a shot of steam to alter the locked in latch on the drivers side screw to move, problem being that unlike other steamers the reversing screw was steam rather than air operated, meaning to adjust the screw settings it was not as straight forward as winding the screw out or in one or more notches, with the garratt you had to nudge it one way and then back using both hands and an ear to the beat to get it in the right position.

In all my time working the Short North and from Goulburn I can recollect having the DC set up less than 10 times, very few drivers considered them satisfactory and few firemen disagreed. They were fitted basically as the result of the NSWGR wanting to run them very long miles bunker first, which created eye problems with coal dust from the bunkers. Where possible even from Goulburn we were allowed to turn them on the MV triangle to run them engine first to Enfield.

You mention Gordon the sound of the cinders on the roof, imagine being in the cab high summer temps and the two roof hatches open to allow the heat from the cab to escape, running engine first up grades the cinders that came down through them created a big dirty build up in the middle of the cab, as such when we got to the top of the bank the deck hose was used to wash the mess out the door, and over the whole cab, boiler water made the cab cooler.

I took this photo on 6001 in October 1967. It almost shows the area you mean. The Ken Groves "60 Class" book has a couple of photos of the rectangular double gauge as built, on pages 22 and 23.

I took this photo on 6001 in October 1967. It almost shows the area you mean. The Ken Groves "60 Class" book has a couple of photos of the rectangular double gauge as built, on pages 22 and 23.

Imagine turning the drivers seat around and the position of the regulator, then while you look forward that regulator comes out when the driver on the other side is set with the DC controls, straight under the left back ribs.

The main gauge is the BP and MR, note the small one near the independent BV is the flow meter.