Just put an order in with Jason for the Regner Henry
Now there is a loco just screaming out for loading up with extra details… I’m looking forward to seeing how you get on with it.
Best
tac
OVGRS
I know I’ve got a couple months wait for it to show up, but I’m like an antsy little kid. I’ve been going through Ozark Miniatures to see what I can use.
I ended up selling my dora and sparky to help fund the new Regner. I put in an order for one with Jason. Knowing how well my Konrad and Otto run I know this will run just as well and fit perfect into my back woods logging theme.
P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E, not one of my better virtues. Been giving the Sammie a second look, as well as checking out the Mamod Brunel and Mark II locos. I’m sure the Regner is a good choice, but the waiting may get that $$ spent elsewhere. Planting season is coming up, and I need to fix a section of my layout that sunk during the winter.
I posted on your thread over at MLS but will here for the guys that do not go there as well. I got to see the Brunel run at a steam up last Saturday. Ran beautifully, the burner being a ceramic bed style is basicly silent to my ears, none of that poker burner noise. Excellent engine for bashing into something logging, tram bodied ect. Even upscaling to 7/8th’s is possible in my eyes. I like the looks of the new Regner, but from my experience, you have to be careful handling the wood bodied Regner engines as they are a tad fragile over a metal body like thier Otto model was. I am a bit clumsy and can misjudge distances when I move or pickup something, so I have to really watch when I pick up my friends Regner Shay, I have had to repair it’s wood body a couple times now. I am in the process of possibly getting a Sammie to go with my Ruby #5 and Merlin Major. Love to get a Aster Climax, but most are beyond my budget unless the owner would take my Merlin on partial trade! Sammie is sized right to my line though and matches the saddle tank Ruby #5. Mike
Mike - the Aster Climax is a real ‘Hiawatha’ and without a totally unreal load behind it will easy hit a scale 150mph - totally unlike the real thing. Add to that that we are talking about an early Aster model with a VERY slim chance of getting ANY parts apart from screws. It used a strange pressurised fuel system, too and without putting too fine a point on it, requires very careful overview and pretty sharp eyes to operate successfully.
An Accucraft model will be in a more readily workable scale, as well as a whole lot more simple to operate - IF you can find one.
Nice to look at, for sure, but…
tac
OVGRS & POCRR Eastern Sub
Thats why I didnt get one, like thier shay, the gearing isnt steep enough for a geared model, something like 2:1 gearing I read somewhere. My friends Regner Lumberjack is similar, and while she wont just run away from you, she struggles on slight grades that my Regner Willi that I had at one time went up with no problem thanks to a bigger ratio in the reduction gearing. But with my normal train, my Ruby #5 with the bigger cylinders runs just fine even without RC for now. And since parts are NLA for so many Asters, are you saying we should all relagate them to the display case and not run them? I should think not. I will stick with smaller models and thus got myself a Roundhouse Sammie second hand from a forum member. Mike
True, not even their latest gas-fired Shay likes to run slowly, although I HAVE seen it happen.
I’m not saying that all Aster models should be relagated to the shelf, after all I have a couple that I like to run, but after the fire sale last year, nobody REALLY knows what there is left, in spite of high hopes over on the other forum.
Roundhouse Models, OTOH, have spares going back to their earliest alcohol-fired models, and can be relied upon totally.
The Mamod Brunel Mk II is a real hoot of a model, based on a De Winton of Caernarfon prototype, but not too closely. Addition of wood slats around the boiler, like Shawn did with one of his locos, makes a lot of difference to the running time, as well as looking good. Don’t expect great performance, though, it’s a lightweight loco that hauls lightweight trains. My pal Pete has one - you can see it running on his YT channel, petesteam-something.
tac
OVGRS & POCRR Eastern Sub
I think most live steamers short of a few geared examples, need a decent load on the draw bar to run at a more scale speed. And while I prefer smaller models, I wouldn’t turn down an Aster Climax if one was offered and I could get my stuff sold to purchase it. It would be more of a speical occasion engine and one to take to steam ups for the “wow” factor. With a couple companies springing up like Tripple R services, I think most Asters are safe to be run as most parts that wear out can be remade. That might come at a price, but so does keeping a car on the road these days! Mike
Triple R Services are not so handy if you live the other side of the country, or even here in UK. Sending a loco to the USA is fraught with risk of attracting a whole new set of taxes and import levies when it comes back, as a pal of mine found out the hard way.
tac
VCRAI
This is very true Tac, one of the down sides to living over there. I will find a new home for my 16mm stuff then see what I can come up with. I am working a couple angles now on engines. Know where there is an Aster B1 from the earlier runs I can get in my price range. It more or less fits in with my small rod loggers. Just would need to come up with an Aster suction fan(dont care for the Accucraft one as I had one at one time). Still love that Climax and 2 truck shay that Aster did though. Shays need proper Stephenson valve gear, something the Accucraft ones lack. Yes it adds complexity to it, but with all that motion out in the open, that is part of the eye candy on a Shay. The Aster Climax can be in my budget with carefull paring down of some of my items. Just need someone not in a huge rush to have payment in full. Mike
Tac, how does the addition of wood slats around the boiler help? Does it act as an insulator to keep the boiler hot, possibly increasing running time?
Yes it does, as does wrapping the exposed steam pipes in cotton kite string then soaking it with super glue. Just like the big engines had thier pipes lagged, and boilers lagged with asbestos under the thin sheet metal wrapper.
Thats what I did with mine. Wrapped it with that cotton kite and then I added the wood over that. It does add extra insulation and keeps the boiler from cooling in the colder weather.
For lagging boilers I always use 1/8" cork then a jacket of some kind, usually brass, around that. My gas-fired BAGRS has just wood. I may add some insulation but have never felt the need. My coal-fired BAGRS has fiberfrax with a brass jacket. It’s fire gets so hot it probably doesn’t need it.
My in-progress Emma bash has three layers of the cork then an .010" brass jacket. I have yet to roll the bands to hold it on but it should look good when finished. The three layers were more for looks (fatter boiler looks shorter) than insulation. i seldom steam in cold weather, I’m not as hardy as Shawn is.
Some one ought to do some testing with an infrared thermometer or some other sensitive temperature device. I am doubtful that any boiler or plumbing wrapping in our scales yields enough insulation property to make a difference.
There, I’ll be the devil’s advocate.
Tom Bowdler said:
Some one ought to do some testing with an infrared thermometer or some other sensitive temperature device. I am doubtful that any boiler or plumbing wrapping in our scales yields enough insulation property to make a difference.
There, I’ll be the devil’s advocate.
Unless your like me and run in 10 degree weather. Might be a micro difference(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
also helps to protect 1:1 scale fingers when probing around in the cab with hot piping. Not everything is hot to the touch once you lag the pipes. I lagged the pipes on my Regner Willi and found when running in cold weather, he filled up the condisate tank much less than without. Without I would have to stop halfway thru the run to drain the tank. But with the pipes lagged with heavy kite string, then soaked with ACC glue, this wasnt the case and I could run the old duration of the gas tank without having to empty that tank. So if you run mostly indoors in 55’F+ weather, probably doesn’t help much, but in colder weather, any little bit helps in my opinion. Mikie
I realize run times depend on multiple factors, such as length of the train, weight of cars, ambient temperature, size of the engines’ boiler, track layout, and grades (which mine is minimal, and need to re-level anyways), but can anyone tell me the run time of a roundhouse Sammie/Bertie compared to an engine with a vertical boiler?
Which engine with a vertical boiler?