The day turned out nice enough to run my live steam switcher. First time I got to test it on the outdoor layout. It ran very well and handled the grades with no problems. The temp was just cool enough to put out some nice steam. It actually does not look too bad running on my layout.
Dude!!!
Why you posting this here…put it in Live steam section!
Very Nice!
Nothing looks better than a real steam plume - NICE !!
Excellent!!!
Nice run Shawn
First batteries, now live steam…what’s next ?
Maybe a ride on…
Looks like you have plenty of space 
Ralph
Warning ! Optical Delusion discussion ahead.
Shawn,
The first photo gave me the optical illusion of a flat tender being pulled up over the top of an impossible “Casey Jr.” grade as seen in the beginning of the Disney movie “Dumbo”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxeLR_To0lc
See about 3:05
Joe
Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Steam!
Ain’t nuthin’ like it.
tac
Looks great.
What percentage grade does it handle?
Shawn,
Looks Great!
You’ll have fun with that.
David
Thanks guys. Doug im not sure what percent grades I have. If I were to guess maybe around 2 percent. I know someone with the same engine and has no trouble with 2% grades on his layout. Hope that helps some.
Nice plumes.
Shawn-
Thanks for the photos – question: The performance of the Aristo steamer better, same, or worse than a Ruby? Now that St Aubins is promoting the Aristo for under $500, does your experience say it is worth the money? I have a Ruby - built it from the kit – and it was tough to get the excentrics operating correctly.
Thanks,
Wendell
Wendell Hanks said:Wendell I would have to say it is a better beginer engine for someone who has no experience in live steam. It runs well out of the box and very easy to operate with the RC. It handles grades well and you can control the speed. The person that got me into this has a ruby and it took him 3 years to get the ruby to operate the way he wanted it. He basicaly re-did the entire engine adding RC ect.... He recomended the arsto engine to me rather then the ruby. Whats nice with the Aristo is for $500 you get an engine that runs out of the box, comes with RC and sound (sound is not great but better then nothing) Comes in a very nice box with wheels. You can either operate the sound and throttle on the tender or RC - its all done electronicaly. The one disadvantage to the arsito is that you can not operate the aristo manually if the electronics decide to die. Although someone who knows what they are doing can probably convert it to operate manually and use RC. Thats my next step. My buddy and I are going to do that eventually to mine. I have seen very few reviews on the aristo. The few I had seen were negative reviews. The issue were not anything major. The guys that I know have it and had no problems. On the other side I have heard ohers that have had problems. Guess its like everything you buy today. Once in a while you will get the lemon. Hope this helps some.
Shawn- Thanks for the photos -- question: The performance of the Aristo steamer better, same, or worse than a Ruby? Now that St Aubins is promoting the Aristo for under $500, does your experience say it is worth the money? I have a Ruby - built it from the kit -- and it was tough to get the excentrics operating correctly. Thanks, Wendell
Shawn-
Many thanks.
You have given a review that is helpful. I am considering another try at steam. My Ruby finally got the therapy with the excentrics and it does work —however, the slightest grade means stalling. So I run it only on a separate circle of track on the patio. This is only to see the novelty of live steam – which tires within ten minutes. To run it on the garden layout, with 2% grades, is a series of short runs between the grade sections, then picking it up and moving to another flat section. Obviously, this is tedious.
You are acccurate on the few Aristo steamer reviews. If I am understanding correctly, the radio control unit actually operates a throttle servo so grades can be met. Am I correct here? This feature alone enables use on most of our garden railroads. I’d appreciate your take on the use of the RC feature and how you do or do not handle any grades on your own layout. I may be getting one of these locos if so useable.
Thanks,
Wendell
Wendell you are correct the Rc unit does control a throttle servo located underneath the engine. Yes you can adjust the throttle to slow the train down on decent and speed it up on the grades. A buddy of mine ran his at are local fair for a weekend. Almosty nonestop except to refuel ect… and had no issues.
If you have anymore questions let me know.