Cheap live steam

Just seen on e bay,

Porter live steam

£272 at the moment and I dont think it'll fetch much more.

There are 2 available and I suspect a whole load more where they came from, Guandong or Lo hung maybe.

As discussed elsewhere these appear to be pretty good Accucraft Ruby copies. It was rumoured that Bachman were going to sell these but nothing has come of it.

The Accucraft ruby is a bit of wild thing but with some modest improvement can be made into respectable engine that will run smoothly.

If anyone is thinking of buying - Laurent perhaps....? I would recommend them as an entry level but expect to pay for some improvements after.


Oh and he takes Paypal with $44.95 shipping to France.

8 mins runtime would be disappointing I think. But this could be an exaggeration, if as you say it is a direct copy of a Ruby it is probably more.

A Ruby should give you about 15 mins on a good day.

I have had a couple here running in the past and my firend Daniel Benet has successfully tamed one and prolonged the running time without major engineering or compromising safety.

I would say that I was quite impressed.

I'm sure he would impart his wisdom and experience to any apprehensive owner.

There is a lot discussed on the American forums in their model press about
Things to do with a Ruby

And you can find numerous film on You Tube.

I had a search round and this is the company making them.

Wuhu

They must have a connection with Accucraft (US) somewhere or maybe they actually made the Ruby for Accucraft and now have decided to go direct.

I've also just seen this on German e bay.

Wilesco

Don't turn your nose up at it.
Deciphering the German it says it's only been used once and sat on a shelf, is dusty and has no original packing.

They used to sell these years ago in Beatties as kits alongside Mamod and LGB.

IMO it's worth a pop at less than 100€ and some people have turned them into decent machines.
Here's a link to a pic of the original kit.
Wilesco kit

They are making as well a nice loco made of brass and copper scale 1:20 with an electric propulsion.

Looks really nice, need to buy 20 of those to be delivered (maybe a bargain could be done here as they are package by 4 to 6)

The Porter-Ruby thing from Wuhu via the US went for over 500$ (£300+) in the end.
And the Wilesco is nearly 400€ (far too much I think) with still a day to go.

So no real bargains there....!