Re: Common problem with articulateds

Greg,
As Gavin said, the Class 25's had sanders, but like all the other steamers on the SAR they were of the gravity fed type (i.e.- not very consistent or reliable). This was one of the obvious things Wardale tried to improve on #3450, without a great deal of success.
Wardale saw pneumatic sanding as the obvious solution, and suitable sanders were already stocked by the SAR for their diesels. Wardale first fitted a reservoir and surplus air compressor from a Mercedes truck, powered by a huge pulley mounted on an crank on the left side of the engine. This worked well enough, but had the unfortunate tendency to throw the belts with regularity. It also gave problems when the engine operated in reverse- the air compressor didn't care which direction it turned, but the air compressor oil pump did! Reverse operation = no lubrication. They later moved the air compressor to the tender and powered it with a chain drive off of the stoker screw, which was a much more reliable drive and which had the added benefit of being able to produce air with a stationary locomotive.
Of course, a single lung air compressor would have been a much neater solution had one been available...
Hugh