Great pics, Mike, and you're not the only live steamer here. Best regards from a lurking Norwegian forum member.
Must not be many live steamers here. Anyhow, here are some new pics, I got all the brass and paint on the Mayflower polished up. I ran her on my indoor loop around the living room ceiling(steamed up on the stove top), she handled six LGB 2 axle passenger coaches and one 4 axle passenger coach. Several of which have heavy metal wheel sets in them. Powerfull little beast! Argyll was tried but with no RC and R1 curves, he would go to fast on the straight sections and stall in the curves. He is much larger than the Mayflower. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Here is my Roundhouse Argyll with one of my Autism coaches. If your considering live steam, now is one of the best times to get a Roundhouse engine with exchange rate at all time lows. A Katie or Billy is around $1300, they were up near 1500-1700 for awhile when the rate totaly sucked. Slide valve cylinders(the best, they wear in not wear out like piston valves), they get run in for 8 hours on a steam test bed at the factory and parts/support is second to none. It can be said, when one pulls one from the box and asked how will it run? It will run like a Roundhouse! Smooth and steady right from the first run on your line. Cheers Mike the Aspie.
Finaly got enough stuff sold thats been up for sale for awhile to add another live steamer to my own collection. So now I will have 2 of my own to run instead of using my friends that I care take for him.(not that he minds, but thier not my own engines!). I picked up a Roundhouse Argyll just before the holidays when I sold my Frank S live steamer as I want more of a UK style look to my railway. I have had my eyes on this Merlin Mayflower that was on ebay for awhile. Ever since getting into live steam and reading articles and seeing pictures of Tag Gorton's Longlands & Western light railway and his first engine, a Merlin Mayflower named Toni. Merlin might have had thier struggles but they got the looks of the Mayflower just right IMHO. I had hoped with Ian Pearse involvement with Accucraft UK, that we might see an engine similar to the Mayflower in looks but nothing that captures that look that I have seen. Most of the UK line look to "chunky" if not a tad oversize in my mind's eye. So I have "rolled the dice" on a Merlin that hasn't been run in 25 years. I did speak with the owner and he remember that it ran well for his father those many years ago. He did test the RC system and its functional and its a high end brand as well, no Futaba like he listed in the auction, but KO Propo, a level above Futaba. I only know this as that was the brand I ran in my RC10 buggy as a teenager when I raced on the local dirt track. Nothing wrong with old 75mhz RC, hardly anybody uses it anymore so the glitching really isnt a problem, atleast where I live. All my RC cars have it. I am the odd ball with the huge antenna at the RC car track! I hope to shoot a video of his first steam up in 25 years, pass or fail. I do have someone local that works on steamers if probablems arrise. Mike the Aspie.
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