Firing up and running the D&RG K-27 2 1/2 scale live steam model 

There is a group NEOLS (Northeast Ohio Live Steam) not far from where I live, 20 miles or so, that is pretty impressive, not sure if they have a turntable, but many other things. Funny story a man who had a metal shop in his basement, lathe, Bridgeport etc. lived around the block from me when I was a teen. My buddy and I were trying to build a helium neon gas laser and needed some machined parts to hold mirrors etc. My other friend told me that perhaps the guy with his shop in the basement, Mr. Williams would help us, which he did. Wow, turns out he was a member of NEOLS and had a basement full of wondrous stuff. A locomotive in progress, some heat engines he built from Popular Mechanics and other things I don't remember. I was in awe. He passed quite a few years ago. When I worked at Goodyear Aerospace I worked next to his son-in-law, which I found out when he (son-in-law) asked me if I was interested in trains, I said yes, and as we were talking I discovered his father-in-law was the one that made parts for the laser project when I was a teen. Small world! Here is a link to a lot of pics and vids of NEOLS club meets. neols.net/photosandvideos.php

There are ways of building live steam trains on the cheap.

littleevan99 How? anything under 4K? please reply

Build it yourself, that's what I'm doing. When I'm done it should cost around $2,000.

littleevan99 Some of us don't have that skill XD

I don't really have the skill either but I'm learning how to do the stuff. There are even books that tell you how to do everything. Look up "Building the Pennsylvania A3" by Kozo Hiraoka. That book practically holds your hand and shows you step by step how to build a working steam engine.

Filip Latka efforts

+A3Kr0n As the description notes, this engine was built by professional modelmaker Richard Ulin. most live steamers build their own engines however.

Nan Doit ghjj

Richard Ulin. It's in the video description.

I have an excursion with Pere Marquette 1225 on March 14th. You can get more info at railyardproductions.com

My favorite is the U.P. Big Boy 4-8-8-4 Have 3 in H.O. scale.

Probably one 50lb bag of char or less depending on how hard you are pulling.

The Steam Channel d

Do u know were to get a 1 1/2 scale mogul? Cuz I want one and I can only find a 1 1/2 scale one but I want a 2 1/2 scale one

Have a go at building one yourself, as that's how most miniature locomotives are built.

The Steam Channel is

RMI sells steel rail. But it cost $25 a 10' length. Al rail costs about a 1/4 of that. You can get rid of most of the shine by giving the Al rail a coat of Rustoleum primer. And pocket the change.

The switches on this railroad are all return-sprung so you can run through them regardless of setting. Most live steam railroad switches are built that way, especially return-loop switches for dog-bone style layouts.

7 1/2" gauge track is used for both narrow gauge (2 1/2" scale for 3ft prototype, 3" scale for 30" ga prototype, 3 3/4" scale for 2ft prototype) and standard gauge (1 1/2" scale). So unlike full size, the track stays the same and the scale of the engine changes. Which means that narrow gauge locomotives appear larger than standard gauge locomotives running on the same track, which is opposite of what you see in full size. :)

Got it ! You scaled the narrow gauge loco to fit the rails, analogous to the Fn-scale on G-gauge or On30" on HO track. Beautifully done, whatever the derivation !

+CaptainHarlock999 how do you get the fyling skotssman gowing i have it but how do you make it get moving

You build them your self.

wi11y1960, Even oil burners produce soot. About the only ones that don't are the ones that are fired on propane. I start mine on propane and many times it lights with a bang. The soot gets knocked loose and goes up the stack then. :-)

464 is located in Flint, MI at the Huckleberry Railroad/Crossroads Village. She runs just about daily and is currently their primary locomotive as they restore #2 (#152) a 4-6-0 Baldwin.

The 463 and 464 are the last of the original K-27 locomotives of the D&RG RR. The other K's on the Durango & Silverton RR and the Cumbres & Toltec RR are K-28's, K-36's, and K-37's. The 464 came to the Huckleberry by way of Knott's Berry Farm in CA after they got it from the D&RGW. It was too big and couldn't negotiate the sharp curves at Knott's. The 2-8-0's 40 and 41 have blind (flangeless) middle drivers and the K's have flanges on all drivers.

Depends on the engine, a K-36 is a quarter mil built RTR

Alex Dyson-Smith What about if you build it yourself?

I think Ulin wanted around $15k for the rough castings.

CaptainHarlock999 I see, thanks.

Alex Dyson-Smith Thanks for the response

It takes thousands of hours. I would guess he's 10,000 hours into this hobby with that engine.

You build it your self

+Travis Cascarelli Richard Ulin sells the plans and castings for about $30k I think.

He has sold it. Now you can get them from www.alcowestlocomotives.com/

Most are built by their owners. It isn't until you get down to smaller scales that you can buy ready to run. But then that costs more and takes away some of the fun. 45 years ago I was building 1.5" ( 1/8 full size ) models for sale with a local supplier. Even back then you could spend several grand for a Diesel and 10 grand for a steamer.