The Home Machinist!

Kevin...very, VERY nice! If I didn't know better, I'd say it looked like an Athearn model on steroids! Great attention to details. Graphics make the model stand out. Can only hope somebody/anybody...doesn't decide to use one of those cars for ballast duty! Have hunch you're going to be busy selling ...

Anthony...very interesting that your scale injector experience was transferable to the 12" to the 1 foot scale equipment. Suspect when word gets out, there will be other full sized injector work in your future. Kudos to you for helping the live steam hobby with your (series of) injector alternatives...

Greg...always enjoy reading your "trip epistle's"! You have a way of describing things that makes one feel they're right there with you! Enjoyed looking at your pix too. Including the not-so-superscale injector, roof hatch, hydrostatic lubricator (have a friend trying to figure that stuff out), and ...

...we did already start moving his loco back to track, he did split the switch almost perfectly Should have been a 3-way switch. No derailment. Problem solved! :roll: BTW: just to add to my post: my reservoirs are between two frame sections. Even if the PVC fails all the thrown pieces will go downw...

Once again...the weak link to most model signal systems is...the operators! Haven't met to many people in the hobby that actually worked for a railroad. Most hobbyists...love trains and railroads, but are not fully familiar with RR practices, rules and signaling. Therefore, keeping a signal system "...

The goal is to get overflow water safely to the ground near the rails. ~RN Russ...agree. "...to the ground..."...and far enough away NOT to discharge on the rail(s)! Might not matter with full sized scale steam locos. Discharging overflow water to our smaller rails makes for slippery track. And tha...

Joe...have a photo of the connector you stock? Do you carry different sizes?

Otherwise, 45 degree connectors with a push-on barbed hose fittings from places like McMaster-Carr work. These may NOT as "quick" as a quick connector, but just as functional. Just sayin'....Carl B.

Which way are your whistles oriented? ...upright...or horizontal? Wouldn't expect any gurgling from an upright whistle. Horizontal whistle...that's another matter. I put a 1/8" thick spacer bar under the rear whistle support. Wanted to make sure any condensate in the whistle chambers had a way to dr...

...the one caveat with quick disconnect fittings...make sure they are "bored through". You don't want the disconnect fittings to create any restriction in the fuel path. Else, you might end up starving the burner for fuel. This has come up before. Carl B.

Thomas...now finishing up a re-boilering project of my own. The original boiler was 23 years old. Have been thinking about writing a re-build article for Chaski...but not ready to do that just yet. When the old boiler was removed, the frame was cleaned, painted, examined. For the most part, the engi...

Hoppercar... Whether you buy or build your own stand, here's a few ideas to keep in mind... 1) long and wide enough wheel base to prevent tipping when loading/unloading equipment (already mentioned). 2) larger wheels roll better than smaller wheels (mentioned as well). Might steer clear of polyureth...

...back on rotational speeds...think someone's math was off (or my math is off). A standard 1.5" scale, 4.125" diam, freight car wheel rolling down the track at 7mph is only doing some 600+ rpm. Hardly a high enough rotational speed to worry about. Unless there's some other influence (bad) on the be...