Live Steam Loco for a Beginner
- Thread starter SDJR7F88
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I think people use coffee filters as well (I like the handkerchief idea - hadn't thought of that) I use paint filters as I have a good stock of these courtesy of an aircraft painting facility I visited when one of the company's aircraft was in for a repaint a few years ago. I decant the water from the butt into plastic milk bottles which also makes a convenient way of taking water with you if visiting another line.
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Water Butts can be fine, but it needs to be filtered very finely. Trust me Water from a De-Humidifier if you can get it is best.
NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR PUFFER WITH OTHER WATER OF ANY KIND. YOU JUST CANNOT BE SURE.
For what you pay for your puffer it is just not worth the risk.
JonD
NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR PUFFER WITH OTHER WATER OF ANY KIND. YOU JUST CANNOT BE SURE.
For what you pay for your puffer it is just not worth the risk.
JonD
E
Elmtree Line
Guest
I know someone with a Dora, he gets on average 8mins run time before the boiler is empty. He finds that quite frustrating and has recently bought a secondhand Roundhouse Katie which gives him 35mins.
Now I know wine was made from water by some guy back in the day, but I have never heard of making water.....
No no no a thousand times no. Water Filter does not remove all the Minerals.You could use an expired household water filter. The de-huidifier water
Don't use just any old water - make your own!
No.
No again.
I will say it again, ONLY WATER FROM A DE-HUMIDIFIER TO BE SAFE.
JonD
Where did that come from??????? I didn't post that!
Offending text removed from previous post.
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You could use an expired household water filter. The de-huidifier water
Don't use just any old water - make your own!
I know of several lines where all water has to be passed by the management.....
David
Ground, surface, or borehole water will contain minerals in varying proportions. Rainwater is a result of evaporation - collecting it is another problem. Collected off rooves via spouting, it will pick up dirt, moss, spores, and other contaminants. A primary filter will remove particles but will not remove micro organisms or indeed, any minerals introduced by water spouts (on sea or lake water), or deterioration of concrete roof tiles.
Drinking water is contaminated (sorry, treated) with chlorine, or products like Sanosil, which kill the nasties like Ecoli, or other Coliforms, and such like, Where there is turbidity in drinking water, this can combine with Chlorine to produce Trihalomethanes - these result in carcinogens!
So distilled water, or dehumidifier water is definitely the way to go!
I remember it being said that the tap water in Leeds was good enough to put directly into lead acid batteries. The creation (or stealing of municipal enterprise) of the big water companies and the sell-off of these assets now means that English water could come from anywhere!
I agree Jon, but first you must have access to the results of de-humidification. Not everyone has.
Exactly. I have used filtered rain water in all of our locos (2 x Merlins, an Accucraft, a Roundhouse and a Mammod) for years will no ill effects. In fact one of the Merlins and the Mammod were run on water straight from the tap when first acquired in the 80's as our water supply came from a desalination plant (we were in the M.E. at the time) and was so 'soft' excessive use of soap could result in more bubbles than you knew what to do with!
I don't have access to an electric dehumidifier, our home doesn't need one, and the train shed uses a chemical one, the precipitate from that I certainly wouldn't use, but it does make a good weed killer!
Can I humbly suggest that we now drop the matter and just agree to disagree on suitable water sources?
Distilled water can be made at home. Or, use one of those pitcher type water filters. Over here there is a brand known as Brita and another brand I cannot recall the name that says it removes five times more stuff than Brita does. Aquarium keepers will know that when they add water to their fish tanks it must sit in an open top container for a couple of days. This allows the chlorine to dissipate. Would this be satisfactory for the live steam crowd ?
I spoke to Roundhouse about this some time ago. They say soft water from taps is fine.
Go with the MSS Starter Kit. Live Steam doesn't get simpler, OR cheaper than that!Hi all.
Over the past few weeks I have been thinking long and hard about getting a Live Steam Loco for the railway. Now, I've never had a live steam loco before (the close thing I have gotten to it is a Mamod Traction Engine).
I looked a various Models on the mark and there certainly is a fair few, but was wondering which one would be the most suitable and for the best price.
If I were to get one it would need to meet some criteria
1. Easy to use - As mentioned I've never use a Live Steam Loco before, and would like to start of with something easy to use)
2. Reliable - I know there are some Live Steams that have a tendency to be a bit temperamental or shoot off like pocket rockets (A geared loco would be superb)
3. Go around LGB 1st Radius - My railway consists of 1R's, so it must be able to get around them.
4. R/C - R/C is not an issue, but would be nice if it's the right price
5. And the most important, Price - I don't want to break the bank.
I have a friend who has a R/C Accucraft Ragleth and he swears by them, my only issue after just look at the Track-Shack Website, they have just gone up by £200, making them now over £1000! Which it well out of my price range, looking for something around half that at most.
I know it's a big ask, but would interesting to hear if there is anything suitable out there.
Sir:
Not to be overly argumentative, but you say that Regners sell for a good price. So far, the cheapest one of theirs that I've come across is no less than $900.00. As opposed to this, a MSS Side Tank ,is app. $263.-, and a self-assembly kit is less than $250.-
For a beginner, wouldn't this be the better rout to go?
As I'm a beginner myself, I'm more than just curious as to what others have to think. For myself, I'm initially acquiring a Roundhouse Lady Anne Chassis kit, for $462.05. This will be followed in about six months with the boiler kit.
Now, while a Lady Anne isn't exactly cheap, since it's kits are modular in form, it allows me to spread the price out over several months, to soften the blow.
I built a Roundhouse Billy in the mid 1990's as my first live steam locomotive. I built mine in phases also. I regretfully sold it after a move and just this year built another, this time with a slo mo unit and DJB whistle. I personally look at these steam engines as a hobby and investment. You don't tend to lose money on resale (compared to rc airplanes for example) and can often make money. I had an Accucraft Mogul a few years back and found out I good not run it on my track and sold it. I wish I had kept it. In a few years they went from $1300 to $2500. The Roundhouse is a quality machine and built to last. Mine runs like a swiss watch. I had a bad experience with a Mamod and personally would not want to go that route. An accucraft ruby might be a better choice. Roundhouse has a basic series as well as Regner. I have a Regner Lumberjack and think that would be a decent loco for the beginner. Another consideration is if you plan to run remote control. If not, a geared engine like the Lumberjack works much better on layouts with some grades and are easier to control speed. Just a few thoughts.
I hate to kick the water debate hornets nest again, but as a newcomer to live steam I'm curious...
I live in a very hard water area, so tap water isn't an option. Since we have a condenser tumble drier, I have a large tank of what is essentially free distilled water every day or two. I tried running it through a water filter but that didn't remove all the particulates, so I subsequently ran it through a muslin type filter and that seemed to do the job. I'm assuming the end product should be fine to use in a Roundhouse Lady Anne?
I live in a very hard water area, so tap water isn't an option. Since we have a condenser tumble drier, I have a large tank of what is essentially free distilled water every day or two. I tried running it through a water filter but that didn't remove all the particulates, so I subsequently ran it through a muslin type filter and that seemed to do the job. I'm assuming the end product should be fine to use in a Roundhouse Lady Anne?
But that you have! This is a tricky one, on the face of it the Water should be good. But it is the Particulate removal that worries me. If you can get something that removes all of them then it might be the way for you. Note I cautiously say might.
2 other options.
Some time back in the 16mm society people were doing things with a fridge to make it work as a dehumidifier and collecting good Water for their puffers that way. May be worthwhile researching this one on the net.
I now have 2 Dehumidifiers, one a bigish (bout the size of a Beer Fridge) one that I got in a Sale around 1995 for around £50. It still works fine and I have it on for a couple of hours a day to match Showering Time and Laundry Time so that the Dampness is taken out of the Air near the Bathroom.
2nd I picked up a little beast like this at Lidl. It lives in the Shed to remove Damp Air over the Winter. Not very big, but does provide a Pint or two every other Week.
http://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p...ce=Apadwords&gclid=CPO8i8HDu88CFQMW0wod4WAFGw
JonD
I also live in a hard water area, I have been using filtered rain water for at least the last 20 or more years, sight glass still viewable so as far as I can see no adverse effects.
Shaun
Shaun