Truscale pipe fittings from Cole's

You are right Larry, these are beautiful "near scale" type fittings that look great and work wonderfully. Turns out the new Coles owners were always the original manufacturers of these fittings in the past...they do a great job and I have had good success with obtaining needed fittings from them.

Regards,
Cliff

Cliff Ward
Cary, NC

Are these the same bronze castings sold by Precision Research?

I used their steam fittings and valves on my 1.5 Allen live steam ten-wheeler twenty-five years ago. Beautiful pieces.

No Dwight.  They are different-- but very similar.  I have used both.  The key difference is that Coles sells two sizes that are smaller than ones available from PM Research.  Those would be 1/8 and 5/32 respectively.  PM Research does sell 1/8" pipe fittings in an unmachined state on a 'tree".  Basically a sprue with a bunch of fittings connected together.  To get the smaller pipe fittings in a machined state you have to get them from Coles.

If you are on a tight budget and you don't mind cutting apart castings and drilling them out, the PM Research ones are the way to go.  If you want the "authenticity" of pipes screwed together and you don't feel like machining all your fittings then go to Coles.

Regards,

Eric

Thanks Eric. PM Research 1/8 fittings were the ones I used, and I did have to cut them off a tree and drill them out. Wish I'd known about Coles back then. hehehe

Hi Dwight; I've been dealing with Cole's since I bought my IDA in 2001, & they were in North Hollywood! Ken in Texas is the new owner & he used to make some parts for the original owners. If you order fittings, you may want to order "pipe" also. It's thick wall 1/8" tubing that you can thread to 1/8" MPT (model pipe thread). It comes in 12" lengths & either brass or copper. Don't foget to buy the tap & die for this thread & of course their catalog! I make all my own pipe except the real short nipples ( I don't have any way to hold them once they are cut to size). Hope this helps. Jim Spanier

Is there a web site? How do I get a catalog?

Go to:   http://www.colespowermodels.com/index.htm   It seems to have everything you're after.

Llyn

Better be careful, Dwight, the Cole's catalog is addictive, For now, shop the online catalog and then call in your order--they don't have online ordering set up yet. nice folks to do business with.

Larry

Thanks.