It has been a busy winter and the Train Fund is now depleted. First action came when I received Peter K’s Aster Reno.
This is 30-40 years old, and was the third locomotive Aster released. It is quite similar to my JNR 8550 but much prettier. The plan was to convert it to butane firing, but I’ve been unable to find an off-the-shelf gas tank. In any case, it is so good looking I think I will keep it on the shelf, and polish the brass when I decide to sell it as there is no longer any room on the shelf.
Then, from the same source, I acquired a Rishon Mason Bogie. These were built about 20 years ago in Australia, and not many were built, or imported for that matter. It has a wooden cab which fell apart at the seams in shipping. [The Mason Bogies swivel at both ends, like a diesel with 2 trucks. Theoretically they can handle rough and twisty track, which is why I bought it. In practice, both the prototype and model had flexible joints to get the steam from boiler to truck, and they can be problematic.] It’s a model of the “large” Mason, whereas the Accucraft model is of the “small” version.
It has full r/c which I converted immediately from 75mhz to a modern DSM2 receiver (though the servos seemed to die when I powered it up.) It also has a ‘water level detection system’ instead of a water glass. This blinked until I filled the boiler, but didn’t stop blinking until after I started the fire. Hmmm…
I did fire it up even though I had to burn my fingers turning the throttle manually. It ran on rollers, forward was smooth but it’s cranky in reverse. Probably needs the timing adjusted, which I may not bother to do as I have no idea how. 
Finally, on Valentine’s Day, a large package from Jason turned up - my Regner Heisler kit.
Of course, the instructions are in German and the contents are all nicely wrapped. I’ll try and take/post photos as the build progresses.
