Greetings from Wales Massachusetts USA

trentbradbury · Greetings from Wales Massachusetts USA

Hello,
My name is Trent Bradbury, I got into live steam in 1999 with the purchase of an Accucraft Ida porter 0-4-0 locomotive. Live Steam engines have always fascinated me. About 10 days ago Ipurchased a MM1 engine from ebay I believe it is a 1976 model no level plug and no sight glass it also has a solid fuel burner. A quick question is should I use one or 2 solid fuel pellets ( I was going to try one first) I also purchased a Wilesco D-3 despite the bad reviews I saw. I watched the video of the engine that would not run correctly and believe that the issues were with the operator and not the engine(I may be wrong) But I believe that after nearly 40 years as an Automotive Technician and Instructor I should be able to overcome any mechanical issues that occur. After the new engines arriv I shall post some pictures
Trent Bradbury

steamyjim

Welcome to the forum!

Swift Fox

to the forum.

jakesm

hello and

from johannesburg, south africa

oh, by the way-two pellets/tablets!

Sandman

A big Scottish welcome to the forum Trent.

You're in the best of company here.

IndianaRog

Welcome Trent from Indiana. I grew up in Massachusetts, perhaps you know of Seekonk, MA? Podunk little town that was a bedroom community to Providence, RI.

Anyhow, as you note, with 40 years of mechanical experience, I believe you will get your MM1 and D3 up and going in fine form.

Stoker

Hello Trent, welcome to the forum!

Esbit tablets are expensive and leave a lot of combustion residue. You may find that filling your burner tray with sterno makes a better, cheaper alternative, though still not as good as a more traditional meths burner! Gas burners are the cleanest/hottest heat source for these engines, though not really at their best on the very small boilers you are referencing.

You'll have no problem sorting these simple little engines out and making them run like a fine Swiss watch ... well nearly so anyway.

Enjoy!!!

dampfmaschinenjoe 1967

Welcome from Northern Germany, Trent.
I recently sold a d 3 to another member and it is in fine working condition It needs a little bit of fixing and tweeking now and than but see the Video "My Wilesco D3" to see one running nicely . It´s not mine any more as it went to a new home at Phils place.

cheers Joe

Les

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Kevin Klein

Welcome to the forum Trent, you will like it here.

Dauntless

Welcome Along from Wales in The UK!

trentbradbury

Thanx for all the replies, as far as alcohol goes I prefer not to use it I have Multiple Sclerosis which makes a bit teetery at times and cause me to fall some. My accucraft uses butane which I enjoy a lot it works well. I have never tried any type of solid fuel in a steam engine Ithink for the little guy's the Esbit/ solid fuel will work fine. Yes,I have heard of Seekonk and have raced there many times years ago, it has a very nice Nascar short track oval
I thought some about using sterno I see no reason not to on an engine with a sight glass. However my Mamod Minor probably will only run on the solid fuel as there is no way to guage the water level in the boiler ( unless some one can enlighten me)
Trent

IndianaRog

Hi Trent, so you raced at Seekonk Speedway...who knows, maybe I saw you many years ago...watched a lot of races in the early '60's.

Suggestion...avoid Esbit tablets indoors, especially if you are sensitive to strong smells as the Esbit smells worse than denatured alcohol combusion byproducts. Outdoors is fine, but it will gag a magget indoors!

Sounds like gas might be best option longterm.

Again, glad to have you aboard.

benchmark

Greetings and welcome from Denmark.

trentbradbury

I typically fire my locomotive outside,,, However it has had it's share of runs in my basement work area. Typically I was in the pits at most races I did however run may demo derbies back in the day
Trent

MrDuck

Hello and

mogogear

Welcome to you Trent from the Left coast...Always good to have more steam folks

Steamfan

Hello and

from Illinois!

Dean W

'

Hello Trent and welcome from Idaho.

You know, about the Sterno, it might be worth looking into if you are a little unsteady at times. It won't spill,
besides the benefit of not smelling too bad. Also, it doesn't make such a nasty mess of your boiler.
Maybe clock how long a couple of Esbit tabs burn, then work up a known volume of Sterno that will burn a similar time.

Have fun here. Looking forward to your posts.

Dean

trentbradbury

Thanx for all of the replies the sterno is going to be an experiment I'd like to try. I bought a set of rollers fo my Steam locomotive which I relly like With the Radio you can really slow it down and watch the side gear closeup. the radio also allows you to clear the condensate from the cylinders as well.
Trent

johnreid

Welcome to the forum from another Indiana member, instructions for filling the MM can be found here
http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about17841.html
Hope that helps.

MrMamod

Trent from the UK

.

Freespawn

welcome

46u

Welcome from Macon, Georgia US. Good to see you here.

Graham-Jilly

Alf

kusuchi

A warm welcome from Richard and Andrew in the US Virgin Islands!

Steam Models

Hello, and welcome to the Forum Trent.

and

I'm sure that an Auto Technician will find fixing a Toy Steam Engine easy going.

Albert.rivero

Hello!

And welcome form spain!

bigal

Welcome Trent,

We now count three from Western Mass, Iggy from Uxbridge and myself from Wilbraham so you're surrounded on the east and the west.

You may be aware there is a Live steam club that has an annual show on father's day in Southwich Ma. Great event

I have more than a few engines and want to extend an invitation to examine a rather ecclectic collection of steam.

Sandman

Albert.rivero

Helloand Wellcome form spain

steaminon

Big welcome from Bozeman, Montana