10 Tips on Building A Live Steam Engine

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We're giving you our top ten tips to consider before starting a live steam locomotive project. Thank you for watching this video here on The Steam Channel. If you have any questions, please drop them in the comment section below.

We'd like to thank our YouTube & Facebook members and our Patreon patrons supporting our productions. A special thanks to Jonathan Grueber for his support!
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Do not underestimate acquiring an older locomotive that is due for a rebuilding. There is much to be learned and the satisfaction level is on par to a new build.

steampipe
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I would like to recommend Kozo Hiraoka's Pennsylvania A3 switcher book for anyone looking to build their first live steam engine! The book takes you through the construction of every part on the 0-4-0, and is geared towards the complete novice. You will need to know the bare basics of running a mill and lathe, however, so a machining class or two would get you off to a great start.

I've been working on my A3 off-and-on for about three years now, and have enjoyed the process immensely. I had no machining experience when I started, and I learned for the sole purpose of building this locomotive. I've completed the frame, suspension, fire grate, tender wheels/axles, and a few other things, all while working in other people's shops.

Three years may sound like a long time, but I've heard the average for a new locomotive builder is seven years. This is not a project for the faint of heart. It will take you a LONG time. Just think about it in terms of "one part at a time", and enjoy the process!

William Liebbe,
Houston, Texas

williamliebbe
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I bought my mill and lathe from Precision Matthews and I'm extremely pleased with my machines. I broke one of the cardinal rules and started with a 4-8-4. I'm a retired architect and have NO machining experience although I've tinkered my entire life. The reason I started with a 4-8-4 is because I'm part of a group restoring the NC&StL #576 in Nashville and I wanted to also build a live steam model of it. I spent over a year measuring and making drawings before starting on the actual build April 2019. 16 months later, I have a completed frame, trailing truck, brake rigging, drive boxes and springs/rigging and am now finishing up the cylinders. It can be done if you're patient and willing to throw out a bad part or correct mistakes. I'm planning on being finished in another 2 years, but I'm at an advantage over most since I'm retired. Don't let the naysayers tell you that you can't do it. You can if you put your head to it. WARNING: be prepared to spend some serious $, but it's worth it for me. I'll leave my grandson a nice loco.

MLFProp
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I've always been fascinated with live steam, I currently own a little engines mogul that I purchased, but ive always wanted to build something of my very own. This year I am taking machining classes at my college, learning how to use lathes and milling machines, as well as saving up for buying all the equipment required to build one.
Thanks for the video! Was very helpful, as well as your little engines northern videos, I am seriously considering buying one of these kits for myself once my skill level has reached that point.

KurtisHooey
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Thanks Blake,
A video on servicing a locomotive for winter is needed, one for cleaning a boiler, and one that shows wear and tear to locomotive and what it takes to fix it. I enjoy the videos that you have made.

johnlipsey
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Blake,
Thanks for a very realistic and detailed talk on building and owning a live steamer. Some thoughts I hadn't been aware of. Very good advice!

rogerhuber
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It was great seeing you guys at Mill Creek on Friday. I had to leave on Saturday due to arthritis pain, but while we were there we thoroughly enjoyed our limited time there. I did build a 1" scale 4-6-2 back in the early 60s when I attended trade school to become a tool & die maker. I had to have the boiler built but the rest of the engine using LE castings I learned to machine. After running it for a couple of years I sold it to a fellow in southern Minnesota. A couple of years ago we visited the track at St. Croix and learned that the engine was in the process of being rebuilt. I hope they get it running again.

formerparatrooper
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Having watched my neighbor maintain (and occasionally rebuild) his Pacific every season, I have figured out why diesels are king of the modern railroad.
Steam locomotives (regardless of the scale) are maintenance intensive. It takes a lot of time to get one running every time you take a steamer out. If the boiler fails, you are done (new boilers can be expensive and time consuming to build).
With diesels (or the gasoline powered model equivalents), you hit the start button and away you go. If the engine fails, you pull it out and put in a new one.
On the 7-1/2" gauge side, electrics are very popular, but they do have their draw-backs. When the batteries dies, so does the train (regardless of where you are on the track). I have found that I don't have to worry about battery charge (and pulling power) on my gasoline-powered box cab when making the run up to Hope Circle at Train Mountain.

fxynq
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My machining experience was turning on a lathe in 8th grade metal shop. I chose a Allen Fitchburg Northern. Had to buy toy sized 9" Iathe and bench top mill and tooling. Total cost $9, 000. My machining isn't great but my engine runs well, a tribute to steam power.

johnnyjames
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I'm 17 and have always been a fan of steam engines. Watching this has just made me even more keen on one. I want to try and recreate the Sir Haydn model but to a life size scale.

sirsuitcase
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Thank you so much for this! As someone hoping to start a live steam engine sometime in the near future (1-2 years from now), i found this very helpful, along with the other videos on your channel. I have a few extra challenges though: A) I want to build a 1.5" scale narrow gauge (4 3/4" gauge) mogul. Not too different from standard gauge stuff, but different enough. B) my nearest club is about 4 1/2 hours away, so a long way to drive (for me, anyway), which is unfortunate, but oh well. C) I don't currently have access to, nor can I afford, a lathe or mill, so I'd have to use the equipment at the club (aside from what I can get finished in metal fab classes, which probably won't be much). But, to be fair, every hobby has its challenges. And really, by the time I'm done, I know I'll be proud that I built it myself, and I will have had fun along the way, as I've always loved designing and building things. Anyway, thanks again, and sorry for the long-winded comment.

nicholmansgarage
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Thanks for this video. As a young individual, I find this video very helpful. Im considering building an 0-4-0 (Ajax type) and so these tips are helpful, especially for someone who has never really built anything much!

Benji_transport_vids
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Excellent advice from a knowledgeable person!
That bit about the tender construction is so true for me as it was the last piece of equipment I completed.
I would add a couple of points.
If you have no machining experience whatsoever, take some night school courses at the local community college. This will save you much time and aggravation, and best of all, you get to practice on someone else's machinery.
If I were to build a model from scratch I'd build the boiler first, or buy one. Making a copper boiler with flanged joints to be silver soldered is not a trivial job. For good joints a gap must exist between the joint surfaces from .002" to .004". This will give a joint strength that exceeds that of the parent material. If you have no experience with this start with small jobs. However, a locomotive boiler, even in 3/4" scale, is a 2 man job especially the larger sizes. Many a locomotive chassis was abandoned for lack of a boiler.
For the raw beginner I'd recommend building 2 or 3 stationary engines of increasing complexity. This will confirm to you whether the hobby requiring so much machining and hand work is really for you.

BasementEngineer
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Great tips and things to consider for sure. The second you put a fire in the belly of one of these suckers, they start to tear themselves apart naturally.
For those without a machine shop or who want to put a little engine together with all the parts included, (or those on a tight budget like me!), I recommend the Accucraft "Ruby" kit. It's a little freelanced 0-4-0 based on Baldwin practices with lots of room for creativity. I have one I put together and it has its flaws, but it's fun to fiddle with.

PowerTrain
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these tips are nice for absulute beginners and none machinists,
if I wouldn't spend 3 1/2 years hand crafting and machining in my professional school, I'd go insane figuring out how to
make all this stuff needed.
I for my self could wrap up an running locomotive in a month, but then it's only a 0-4-0 self propelling case of beer or a tank.
Details are what makes it take for ever, no mater the Scale or what you building, in the end you want it to reensamble a prototype.

Happy new year.

dark_one
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Nicely done, Blake 👍. 10 great points for potential builders to consider. A little forethought, sensible planning and realistic targets often prevents costly mistakes and a weighty headache. The aim must surely be to both learn from, and enjoy, the hobby, not be driven prematurely grey by it...

stuartcompton
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Thanks guys, this was really insigtful

TheOldMates
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Well conceived list. Live steaming is totaling addictive!

PRR
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I've been wanting to build this live steam locomotive for quite a while

maxwellcousineau
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It is great channel to watch. The thoughts of manking an engine would be my dream come true. Love the design of engineering that goes into the making of these loco.
Greetings from Dublin Ireland bless you.

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