The Journey Begins....

The UPS man dropped off a box today.


What could it be?


Inside the box is another box.


The label on the box looks promising.


It's certainly well packaged - almost like I'm not supposed to open it.


After judicious application of a razor knife, and a little muscle, voila:






Isn't she cute? I think I'll keep her. Seems to be well built - better than your average Chinese stuff. Can't wait to fire her up. That'll have to wait, though , since they didn't include any oil in the box, and I will have to get some butane as well.

A couple of more detail shots of the runing gear and the cab. BTW, 047 is the serial number.




More to come.....

Hi Bill.
Nice looking loco.
Looking at the pics,two things spring to mind.
Wheres the drain off for the steam oil lubricater and where is the reverse lever.

It's a beauty Bill!!

fm12 wrote:

Hi Bill.
Nice looking loco.
Looking at the pics,two things spring to mind.
Wheres the drain off for the steam oil lubricater and where is the reverse lever.

 There is no drain; the instructions say to use a syringe to suck the water out out of the reservoir. The reverse lever is here:

Yes have spotted the reverser now.
Its no big deal not having a drain for the lubricator,its probably quicker to use the syringe anyway.
I see Accucraft do a UP bigboy,is that your next foray into live steam?

Once your loco is bedded in, can you let us know the running time please.

fm12 wrote:

Yes have spotted the reverser now.
Its no big deal not having a drain for the lubricator,its probably quicker to use the syringe anyway.
I see Accucraft do a UP bigboy,is that your next foray into live steam?

Once your loco is bedded in, can you let us know the running time please.

Actually, I have my eye on the Pennsylvania T-1  . I always liked the lines of it and almost bought one in HO scale many years ago.

The instructions estimate 10 minutes of running time; I've seen folks say they get about 15 min on a Ruby, so I suspect the 10 minutes is probably accurate. I'll let you know what I get. I just found some cylinder oil at a reasonable price.

Well done Bill, that looks a great little loco for your first foray into live steam?

No pressure gauge either, but you don't really need one, it won't move at low pressure and the safety valve will blow if it's too high.  The port for a gauge is there, if you want to retro fit one or a steam whistle or both.

Can't wait to see the running clips.

Bon courage

*Jealous" - still waiting for mine. I suspect there´s going to be a lot of loco-bashing going on soon with this little one as a starting point.

*Jealous" - still waiting for mine. I suspect there´s going to be a lot of loco-bashing going on soon with this little one as a starting point.

k&nwlr wrote:

*Jealous" - still waiting for mine. I suspect there´s going to be a lot of loco-bashing going on soon with this little one as a starting point.

 Yup. The instructions actually mention (encourage?) the kitbashing potential. I wish they had included at least a tiny bit of cylinder oil. It's like Christmas morning without batteries .