Yes, I've been drooling over that site already; Roundhouse's as well. Roundhouse is quite clear about selling both kit and mostly-RTR; Accucraft's site is a bit vague on that particular detail.
Thanks!
Stu
Streamlined steam, oh, what a dream!!
All of Accucraft's engine's come pre-assembled unless you order one of their engines in kit form. For example, you can buy the Ruby either pre-assembled or in kit form. The only engine I know that Accucraft offers in kit form is the Ruby, but there might be a UK model that they offer. The kit form is a tiny bit cheaper but not by much. I am not extremely familiar with Roundhouse but as far as I know, any engine that they offer in kit form, they offer in pre-assembled form. Go to Accucraft's Estore (http://www.accucraftestore.com/) to see all the products they offer.
As someone keenly interested in live steam, I would humbly beg to insert a question here.
Do Accucraft locos (1:20.3 narrow gauge, specifically) usually come in kit form or RTR?
That Lady Anne is gorgeous, by the way.
Sorry, I just forgot two pretty good ones:
6. Mamod Mark II ($450) I have seen good reviews.
7. Accucraft starter kit ($830) Includes a prebuilt ruby, 5ft diameter circle of track, brass boxcar, brass caboose and steam oil. I consider this a really good deal. The only other thing you would have to buy would be distilled water and butane. Accucraft is having a discount on this item I think so check out their estore website and look at the different started set options they have.
I haven't been very active in the Forums but I have a little advice. About 3-4 years ago, my brother and I bought an Accucraft ruby kit for our railroad. I built the kit not to expert standards and I had a little trouble. The hardest thing to do is to set the timing so it runs correctly. I had so much trouble that I sent it to Accucraft to see if they would time it. Well, two weeks later, we had a RUNNING ruby in our hands. Over the years I have done so many things to it and to name a few would be, converting it to a forney (twice!) installing radio control and modify the timing (Once I got comfortable with the inner workings, I re-timed it so it ran better in forward than reverse). It is much more reliable than our electric trains and is a blast to run. Accucrafts's service is second to none. We even visited them one day and the owner gave us a tour and their head "mechanic" showed me how to time and re-time the ruby. The timing is difficult but with the help of the great people in this forum, it can be done. Plain and simple, I have two live steams (1 is a Wilesco Stationary) plus I have gone to steam ups and seen a lot. Here is what is in your budget and what I recommend:
1.Accucraft Ruby (kit $499 or not $539)
2.Accucraft Dora ($435)
3.Regner Max ($350ish) Friend has one. Really great engine (SIMPLE)
4.Locomotion Pepper ($389) Out of Stock at the moment
5.(New) Mamod Brunel Vertical Boiler Engine ($580) A little pricy but I hear it is worth it
There is not an engine that I would put down because I believe EVERY engine has potential and can be fixed, bashed, modified to whatever one's desire may be. Good luck and happy steaming!
-Paddy McConnell
It appears that you may be in the north philadelphia area and there is a live steam club with G scale track in the area.
Also there are Mamod units for sale on Ebay. I bought an aristocraft 0-4-0 as I already have a garden RR with 2% grades. Radio control helps on the hills.
the problem with USED live steam is if somebody ran it out of water there may be damage requiring silver soldering. There are people in the area that repair this commercially.
Live steam is a different kind of fun from electric locomotives.
Wow, it's been a while since I checked this thread!
Thank you everybody for your help. I'll probably get a Ruby or a Dora. EMDMIKE, thank you for your tip about Roundhouse locomotives. I may end up buying one sometime in the future. Your Lady Anne looks great - beautiful paint job!
S&S
Modeling the Pennsy and loving it!
In live steam, one really gets what one pays for. Ruby can be a nice engine, but more often than not it can also need lots of tinkering to run best. Avoid the Mamod/MSS engines, they are toy level, dont tolereate breezy days in the outdoors due to the burner being under the boiler. If the price locks you at $500 or under, go with the Ruby or the new Accucraft Dora. If you can buy in stages or wait a bit and save your money, I highly recommend the Roundhouse kits. Yes you have to soft solder the body work, but if you have a few small clamps, some flux paste and a small pencil butane torch(available for under $5 at Harbor Freight Tools!) you can build the body, or someone like myself can build it for you. By building your own engine, you will better understand how to fix or correct any problems that crop up in the future. Roundhouse engines have the absolutly best reputation in the industry for engines that run near perfect everytime you steam up. Thier instructions are excellent and not awkward as can happen when other languages are translated to English. While the Roundhouse kits are more expensive, about $800 more than your budget, you can buy the kits in sections to spread out the cost. My Lady Anne was made up of 3 kits, Chassis, Boiler and Body. Of all the live steamers I have owned, the Roundhouse run the best of them all. Regner comes in second with only long delays to get some things and poor instructions in the negative column. Here is a pic of my Lady Anne to give you some food for thought. Roundhouse also offers the Billy, Katie and Fowler as kits. I can walk you thru the build up, painting ect thru email or phone calls if you need help. Cheers and good luck!!! Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Well i stand corrected looks like MSS is the way to go i used your link and the MSS side tank kit is $255.00 US dollars now it depends on shipping and handling.
Thanks for the link
Ed
When I read about the evils of drinking I quit reading.
There is no such place as dreamsteam.com, I assume you mean www.dreamsteam.co.uk
The one you are quoting is the crap version made by MSS
Mamod MK II£349.00 £295.00
Mamod Mk11 "O" gauge Locomotive
MSS Side Tank Loco£213.65 £185.00
The most popular in our range of fully assembled ready to run live steam locomotives.
rbott
money is the main issue so i guess I'll learn on my own or ill build my own and learn from trial and error
The Mamod does cost $282, I did the conversion for you. dreamsteam.com list a prebuilt Mamod at 185 pounds!
Modeling the Bellefonte Central Railroad
Fan of the PRR
Garden Railway Enthusiast
Check out my Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/PennsyModeler
GRIMS, buy the kit, either Ruby or a Roundhouse (more money but a better engine).
You will learn important things such as driver quartering and valve timing which you will have to know if you build your own from scratch.
I have been following this thread because i'm not into steam but was thinking of haveing one to play with and learn so if i decide to do it again i can build my own and the accucraft seems to be the best bang for the buck.
correct me if im way off on this
I wish it would cost me $282. Then it would be worth it. You forget about the exchange rates, throw the exchange rate in plus shipping at it will cost almost $500 if you live in the US. If your going to that, then get one of these. Much better then a Mamod. I
http://www.roywoodmodels.co.uk/
"A Mamod costs $282 for a prebuilt version at dreamsteam.com"
That is £282 (British pounds, not dollars) which converts to about $465.
The last small engine I had shipped from England cost me $80, not $20.
A Mamod costs $282 for a prebuilt version at dreamsteam.com, the kit is even cheaper. A Ruby costs $500+ for a prebuilt version. Even if you add the $20 dollars needed to ship a Mamod engine overseas, it still is must cheaper.
The mamod might be the same price but the exchange rate is what kills it. If the Mamod was made in the US it would cost a lot less then the Ruby. To me what we have to pay for a Mamod in the US is not worth it unless you can get a good deal somewhere. I would go with the Ruby. The other thing you have to look at, do you want a US style engine or UK?
Dont get me wrong I would love to get a mamod someday but Im not willing to pay the price.
The orginal Mamod is going strong as far as I know: http://www.mamod.co.uk/
The after market costs of a Mamod do increase its price, but the same price you would pay for an unmodified Ruby.
If you would like to see what people have done to Mamods, look up the unofficial Mamod forum or look up "modified mamod" on google images.
If $500 is your limit then you will be very limited. Also dont forget that Accucraft is coming out with the new Dora for under $400. I have seen it run in videos and it looks like a good engine for the price and will have endless kitbash possabilties. In some ways it is better then the ruby. One way the Dora is geared while the Ruby is not. A geared engine will handle grades much better and you dont need RC because they will maintain speed. The ruby without RC will stall on a hill so you need to turn the throttle up but then on the downhill it will take off on you. RC is almost a must unless you run on level track. If you get the Ruby make sure you get the larger cyclinder uby. I think its the Ruby 5 that has them but the price will bring you over $500. Also go with the Kit, it will teach you how the steamer works and it will be easier to adjust and fix. The water issue is easily solved by getting a goodale valve. Just add water every ten minutes or so until the gas runs out.
For a few hundred more you can get a Roundhouse Sammie, Regner Konrad, Lumberjack and a few others (all geared). I would stronly recomend anything from Roundhouse or Regner.
Get a copy of Steam In Gardens March/April 2013 issue. A great article on live steam for beginers.
http://www.steamup.biz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115&Itemid=106
To give you an idea here is a video of my Accucraft Forney without RC. The Forney has the same cyliders etc... as the Ruby. This was the speed I had to set it out without stalling on my grades. Dont forget the Ruby can be made into a Forney.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwS3INBXSI
With RC and modified (big difference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4N5aSgvuqE
A geared steam train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lrHVfvZuQQ
The refill unit you are asking about is called a Goodall Valve, it replaces the fill plug and you fill the boiler under pressure using a spray bottle with a tube on it.
Join that group and read all the posts, you will learn a lot. One or two of the members on there sell goodall valves.
Thank you for the suggestion with respect to a good live steam forum. I took a quick look, and I found some pretty neat projects that people are working on.
I also observed that all the add-ons would significantly increase the cost of a Mamod locomotive.
Thanks for the tip about being unable to add RC to Mamod locos. I'm not planning on having RC installed from the start, but I would definitely like to add it at a later date.
I also found something that said that you could refill the Ruby's boiler without having to wait for it to cool and then unscrewing a plug. Is this option available on other locomotives and how does it work?
Mamod vs Ruby
Mamod uses oscillating cylindars, Ruby has piston valve cylinders.
If you later want to add rc it just bolts in on Ruby but cannot have reversing on the Mamod because the reverser is on the front beam in front of the boiler, no place to put a servo.
These after market products will double the price of the Mamod.
This company has not been making this engine forever. Mamod went belly up some years ago.
Someone bought the rights to the design and started to produce them again and had quite a few quality problems with the product. Not sure if all of the problems have been worked out yet.
The ruby is a proven design that works, there are many that have been kitbatched into beautiful little engines. You should go to some of the live steam forums for more info.
Try this one http://www.7-8ths.info/index.php
Roundhouse offers kits of most of their locomotives. You guy the chassis kit, get that put together, then the boiler kit(boiler is soldered) and a cab/accesories kit. Just go to their web page and you can see those. It will end up costing more than your $500, but it is spread out over a period of time.
Jerry
web site:
http://thescrr.com/
rbott Go with the Ruby kit for these reasons; 1. It is easy to assemble, Screwdriver is about all you will need. 2. You will learn how an engine works. 3. It is safe, the boiler is assembled and pressure tested for you. 4. Gas firing is not hazardous. 5. You buy butane ronson lighter refill cans at the store, easy to get. 6. And the most important, You Will Have Fun. p.s. One note you MUST use distilled water in these small engines to keep them clean.
Go with the Ruby kit for these reasons;
1. It is easy to assemble, Screwdriver is about all you will need.
2. You will learn how an engine works.
3. It is safe, the boiler is assembled and pressure tested for you.
4. Gas firing is not hazardous.
5. You buy butane ronson lighter refill cans at the store, easy to get.
6. And the most important, You Will Have Fun.
p.s. One note you MUST use distilled water in these small engines to keep them clean.
Thank you everyone for your help. Please keep the advice coming, as I haven't decided which one to get yet.
A few years ago some local stores in my area had 8 oz cans of Sun Flame butane gas cartridges on sale. The filler spout on them is the same as that used to refill a butane cigarette lighter.
PJM20 Mamod locomotives ARE gas fired. Mamod locomotives can be put together with only a screw driver. Also, Dream Steam makes a higher pressure boiler with gas tank with a regulator: http://www.dreamsteam.co.uk/mss-mamod-upgrade-parts/ceramic-gas-burner-set.html Cost alot, yes, but it still ends up cheaper than a Ruby. Also Dream Steam has parts and upgrades for Mamod locomotives, a following the Ruby doesn't have.
Mamod locomotives ARE gas fired. Mamod locomotives can be put together with only a screw driver. Also, Dream Steam makes a higher pressure boiler with gas tank with a regulator:
http://www.dreamsteam.co.uk/mss-mamod-upgrade-parts/ceramic-gas-burner-set.html
Cost alot, yes, but it still ends up cheaper than a Ruby. Also Dream Steam has parts and upgrades for Mamod locomotives, a following the Ruby doesn't have.
I have to correct my statement - recent Mamod steamers are gas fired. They used to be alcohol burners.
To the OP: There is absolutely no advantage in alcohol burners. Again, I think, they are a much greater hazard than gas fired locos.
You can use the gas bottles intended to refill lighters. There are also adapters available for those small bottles you use for camping stoves.
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