The Home Machinist!

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Photos of the RGS-20

It just so happens that there is a Fesco toy caboose for sale right now in the "for sale" section. It looks to have had the fake trucks removed and replaced, and is set to carry up to a 30lb horizontal propane tank! The cupola has been moved from the back to the center, and the top has bee...

Wow - not sure where TrainMan shops, but that 10 jet burner he has (10k BTU at 10psi) is available from BayouClassicDepot.com for $28!

I am not affiliated with Bayou Classic, nor with TrainMan!

This is the crate that PostwarBob referred to above.

I once had a locomotive shipped to me in California from Ohio by Yellow Freight. I was astounded how it was crated, and that it made it as well as it did -- no damage. I do NOT recommend ever crating a locomotive this way - this photo is "how not to do it". If a locomotive is on a sturdy p...

I have found and fixed the specific problem on this specific engine. What I am trying to say here before I detail the solution is this might not be a universal solution - and I am not trying to change peoples thinking, etc, etc. In other words - I will not force this solution on you, so don't throw ...

Dan - I tried all the things you suggested - moving to a different place lower, etc. in fact, the glass is plumbed to a spot very low on the backhead now. Bill - I will run a line from the bottom of the sight glass to the left side blow down this afternoon. As Chris confirmed, the problem behaved th...

To be clear, the engine does not really have a baffle plate. It has a steam dome welded to the body of the boiler that covers 2 1/2" pipes. So when I am talking about drilling holes inside the steam dome to drain water and facilitate steam movement, I am really talking about the boiler shell - ...

OK - I made sure the holes in the boiler are at least 3 times the area of the pipe to the throttle and pipe to the manifold. Both those pipes are 1/2" pipe. If you did not notice in earlier postings, the steam dome is just a dome welded to the top of the boiler shell, with the pipes runing thru...

My opening were WAY less than 3 times the area. Even when I opened them up so the open area was equal to the dry pipe area yesterday it turned out to be not enough, but did help a little. I felt I was on the right track with no real proof. This afternoon I will open the plate to be at least 3 times ...

Today was full of suprises. I remounted the sight glass, and plumbed to the bottom hole on the boiler. On one of my most memorable tests, I ran a pipe from the top of the water glass to the top of the steam dome - and had spectacular results - all bad of course. When plumbed to the top of the dome, ...