TAC got my wheels rolling in another topic he posted in the Gen forums. I have been toying with the idea of getting a live steam engine to play with. Im just looking for something simple and inexpensive. I have been looking at the ruby and under stand it is a decent engine for the price but does not handle grades well unless one adds an RC to it. This is something I am willing to do. The price for the Ruby is about what I would be willing to spend. TAC also mentioned Regner engines so I looked them up and found some great little steamers. One I fell in love with was the Lumberjack. Of course way out of my price range. Then I came across the Max and saw a price of 375. I thought that is more like it for a start and the engine looks decent for the price and im sure I can add a roof etc. What is this engine like and is it good for someone like me getting into live steam.
That’s kind of cute…
(http://www.traindept.com/picture_library/em25570_max_profilb1.jpg)
And look TAC - It’s been weathered !!! I know nothing about it, but from what I read on the page, it differs quite a bit from the normal operation of a model steamer with the open fire/sterno fuel and no reverse. With that limitation, you might tire of it quickly. If you can swing the Ruby, especially in kit form, you would probably be happier with that. I think the Ruby uses a similar boiler to the Shay, in that it can be controlled using only the reverser making single servo R/C possible.
If you want a kit, why not try this one?
(http://www.panyo.com/project/images/BPEmain.jpg)
They have instructions and parts list over at : http://www.panyo.com/project/ Scot Lawrence took one and customized it a bit:
(http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/steam_15.jpg)
More over at http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/steam.html
Bruce thats a great little kit. I checked it out im not sure Im ready for that. There are a lot of parts. Thats a bookmark site because if I do get into steam more that would be a fun project. It looks like that one also runs on the sterno.
Jon I really like that little steamer. Not having reverse is not a big deal as this would be just a fun little engine play with and maybe get me into steam a little more. I wonder if TAC would have any info on this little guy.
I ended up looking it up and from what have been hearing is a lot of good things and can be easily kitbashed etc… Garret brought it up over on MLS and it seemed like a winner. http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/11/aft/114191/afv/topic/afpg/1/Default.aspx
I also spoke with Regner in the US and got some great info. Does not look like any are in stock and they should have them back in 3-4 months. I put my name on the list for an order.
Shawn - it looks a great little loco but bleeve me ANY little steamer with ‘limitations’ is going to turn out to be a real PITA. The inability to go backwards might not be much of a deal right now, but picking it up and turning it around is going to be a pain in more ways than one.
As I said - my recommendation was to try and spring for a ‘Ruby’ kit - that way you’ll get to learn what makes a live steamer function as well as having the pride that goes with the ‘I built that’…
Add to the problem that in some places public-running of miniature locos with open fuel sources like a pan-full of Sterno are definite no-no, and you can see where I’m coming from.
tac
www.ovgrs.org
I agree with Tac, avoid the sterno/tablet fuel ones like the plague. Save up a bit more. One way is to buy the Roundhouse ‘kits’. You get a chassis kit and put that together, then get the other ‘kits’ that go with it. Spreads out the cost and you get a nice engine. Might check their website.
Kits are here:
http://www.roundhouse-eng.com/
SO…Is the BAGRS loco a copy of the Renger or the other way around? I’d prolly go for the Ruby, if I were patient, I’d save for the little 13 ton open cab Shay…
(http://www.quisenberrystation.com/images/Accucraft/Shay13TonOpenCab.jpg)
My little two-cylinder Shay is the ‘Roundhouse reliable’ loco of my AccuCraft collection…followed closely by the three-cylinder Shay.
If you can reach this little gem, you’ll be very happy for the rest of your life! All that’s missing is a crate of chickens and a hillbilly engineer.
tac
www.ovgrs.org
I’d go with the Shay and for get the ruby. Later RJD
I agree with you RJ.
Terry A de C Foley said:
Shawn - it looks a great little loco but bleeve me ANY little steamer with 'limitations' is going to turn out to be a real PITA. The inability to go backwards might not be much of a deal right now, but picking it up and turning it around is going to be a pain in more ways than one.As I said - my recommendation was to try and spring for a ‘Ruby’ kit - that way you’ll get to learn what makes a live steamer function as well as having the pride that goes with the ‘I built that’…
Add to the problem that in some places public-running of miniature locos with open fuel sources like a pan-full of Sterno are definite no-no, and you can see where I’m coming from.
tac
www.ovgrs.org
Terry, Shawn et al-
Interesting pick Shawn, as dad finally ordered one, we gave up on Regner and are buying it Stateside. Will cost dad a bit more, but hey, at least the guy in VA called him back! I am setting him up with some track and cars too…trade off for all the HO stuff I have looted off of him in the past.
Terry has some good points up above, and you will need to also decide if your hobby is garden railways or live steam. If it is live steam, one is happy with a loop of level track (or a stationary model, steam traction engine, whatever) on a patio or the like rolling along.
If a garden railway is your main aim, then take up the control and operation suggestions given here.
The above is why garden railways and live steam are two different hobbies to me. I like the hands on operation of steam, and would be as happy with a stationary model as a loco.
My railway suggestion comes from chasing small uncontrollable steam in our railway from the 1980s…
If you go the BAGRS route and like the smell of coal, a man here in Nashville has an option-
Garrett said:Garrett - good points and sensible comments, Sir. Thankfully, live-steam has come along way since the ability to run sideways just a mite faster than your loco was necessary part of the steam scene..... :)
My railway suggestion comes from chasing small uncontrollable steam in our railway from the 1980s...
Many of us, me included, have either or both manual and r/c for our little steamers. My Shays run at about the same speed as Mrs tac’s little boy can comfortably run these days, as does my Garratt, although THAT is r/c due to the Rube Goldberg set-up originally fitted to control the direction of running - the only steam loco on earth with a steering wheel. On the other paw, my new ‘Countess/Earl’ - named after our lobster - is also manual, but as it is a model of a loco that hardly ever breaks the 20mph barrier, I have no qualms in running it at a scale speed.
My Gauge 1 locos are free runners, as they are all passenger locos and run with long passenger car consists at quite high speed, as befits their prototypes. Sure, they WILL run slowly, at a scale 30/40mph, but the attendant jeers I get at doing so make it an unpopular move.
Like you, I get as much glee out of watching a stationary engine, or one that usually moves, but is temporarily at rest, just ticking over. I guess it’s just the magic of boiling water and watching it make wheels go round that provides the endless fascination.
Remember - just one cubic foot of water = 17,000 cubic feet of steam!
Best
tac
www.ovgrs.org
I must admit , the REGNER “MAX” is what it is and nothing more: A very basic beginners Engine! Well engineered but constructed with the live steam beginner in mind. I am heavvily addicted to steam critters of all kinds so this one is very attractive in my eyes, but Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I made a video of “Max” running on a testtrack in my room. The lighting conditions are not the best but it gives you a hint wether it is an addition to your fleet or not . The “stop” was caused by cold cylinders after he cleared his throat all went well
Please take a look at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn5jjkZhjLA
cheers Joe
Terry A de C Foley said:
Shawn - it looks a great little loco but bleeve me ANY little steamer with ‘limitations’ is going to turn out to be a real PITA. The inability to go backwards might not be much of a deal right now, but picking it up and turning it around is going to be a pain in more ways than one. tac www.ovgrs.org
I must disagree that “ANY little steamer with ‘limitations’ is going to turn out to be a real PITA.” I built the Bagrs variant posted above:
(http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/steam_15.jpg)
It technically has “limitations”, compared to other locomotives…but it has never once been a PITA! 
yes, its true it cant be reversed…but in the many times I have run this engine, that has been a total non-issue! most steamups I attend have raised tracks…no reversing is done…ever… I have never once thought “oh man, it sucks I cant reverse this engine”…I have never once had the need or desire to pick it up and turn it around while it was running…I also have a Ruby…and I have never once needed to put it in reverse! 
even though it does have the capaibilty… For the vast majority of live steamers, (the locos and the people running them) having the ability to reverse is virtually a non-issue… Yes, if you have a railroad that is maybe point-to-point, and you want to actually do some switching with a live steamer, then of course reversing is an issue…but I have never seen this done…most live steamers do their runs in only one direction… In fact, if my bagrs could be reveresed, I STILL would never do it! simply because the need never comes up…the need simply isnt there for me and they way I run my live steamers. they run in circles on raised live steam tracks… and even when I eventually build my own garden railroad, my live steamers will still run only in loops… I dont expect I will ever have the need to reverse a live steamer, in my life… (ok…thats not entirely true…sometimes you need to back an engine into a dead-end spur…if the steam up track doesnt have a switch on both ends…but on those rare instances, people just grab the engine and physically move it back! and most railroads equipped for live steam have steam up tracks that are set up like “passing tracks”…with a switch on both ends…so again, no reversing is really necessary…) So if you are considering building a “Bagrs Basic”…dont let the reversing issue worry you! they are very simple, but highly enjoyable engines…IMO the lack of reversing simply does not matter…at all. And there is no other way you can build your own little live steam loco for around $200… that alone makes the Bagrs Basic concept, IMO, a fabulous deal… I highly recommend it to anyone… also, I have never had any reason to dislike the sterno… outdoors (where 90% of live steam runs are made) is perfectly fine… there might some indoor venues where sterno is not allowed…but I bet in those cases NO live steam at all would be allowed, so probably if you cant burn sterno, you cant burn anything…so you wont be having a steamup there anyway. I have run my sterno-fired engine at several indoor steamups…RIT and the big Syracuse NY fairgrounds show… they are very big open spaces…the O-scale Lionel guys are fogging up the room with their chemical smoke-belching engines all day long… one little sterno burner doesnt even register! actually, I run my bagrs engine more than my Ruby…its much easier and reliable to run… yes it is very simple and basic…it cant “do as much” as other locomotives… but that is also part of its charm… the simplicity is not, in my opinion, a drawback… Actually, I see no drawbacks at all… Scot
Dear Mr Lawrence - Respectfully, there is a LOT of difference between ‘Max’ and the locomotive in your post, and yes, I think I get your point about not wanting to reverse, especially as you mention it eleven times. The BAGRS loco is one that I have absolutely no experience of running - in fact, I’ve never even seen one, so I defer to your greater knowledge on this subject.
However, I like to reverse my Shays, just like the real deal did and still does wherever they run. Just like the Heisler does on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, the Shay and Climax at Roaring Camp, and every loco on the Cass in Virginia. Even Garratts ran backwards, both on their original lines in South Africa and here in Wales in preservation. ‘Max’is based on the Welsh De Winton locomotive ‘Challoner’, which can be seen happily running in both directions [at different times, natch’]on its home track just outside Leighton Buzzard for much of the year.
With regard to fuel, of course, you may do exactly as you wish over in the USA, even firing your loco on unicorn grease if you have a mind to do so, but open-to-air pans of de-natured jellied alcohol - Sterno - that burns without either odour or visible flame, are prohibited in public exhibitions most everywhere here in Western Europe. The version of ‘Max’ sold here in UK uses Esbit tablets instead.
The alcohol/methylated spirit used by the majority of Gauge 1-ers has an ingredient that gives it its characteristic bouquet, so much-loved by those of us who also run G1 stuff.
tac
www.ovgrs.org
Just for the record…(not that it probably matters to Western Europe!
but Sterno has a quite visible flame, and a quite odoriferous odor…
Scot