[Mike Toney]

Learning and engines "balance" is part of the process on every new model. How much blower at slow speeds(if any), does the bypass just need to be cracked or opened further? How many hand pumps can you get away with and not totally kill steam pressure and how many laps of a said layout before your engine needs attention. The labor intensive nature of steam locomotives was their downfall eventually in the 1 to 1 world. And we cannot be in the cab all the time to make those tiny adjustments on the fly like the fireman and engineer do. But once you learn your engines quirks and needs, they really come alive and you get very satisfying runs out of them. Going from a Ruby(think of a VW air cooled bug) to the C18(think high end sports car) is a major learning curve. Keep running, take notes on a pad of what works, what does not. Use a stopwatch to track various metrics during the run. Once you find the sweet spot and can repeat the same great run over and over, you will have found the engine's balance. Keep in mind that colder outdoor weather will affect the gas tank pressure, so warmer water in the tender will be needed and kept warm thru the duration of a longer run. Hence why you see at steamups in colder weather, a metal tea pot on a hot plate to give the runners hot boiler/tender tank water.

 

[Mike Toney]

I have one of those burners under a pot boiler Basset Lowke engine, and for it to get the best heat, you have to let the ceramic part warm up till it glows orange, then increase the fuel to it. This is where it goes into radient heat mode, otherwise your just blowing lots of mini gas jets up off the ceramic brick. This is why you need to be able to see a ceramic burner vs a poker burner. You will get the hang of it, just takes lots of practice. Same goes for alcohol fired models were you add in wick height/number of stands in each wick, or coal fired. The more complex the model, the bigger the learning curve as every single engine is different, even two of the same model and brand can have differences in how they want to be fired and ran.

 

[Mike Toney]

Thanks Greg! Helps I have owned my share of different models thru the years. Still wish I could fabricate better, but for things like boilers and gas tanks, I farm out to those better at it than me.