I saw this challenge a few years ago in a train magazine. It was to live steam a Marx CV shell, no rules. The article mentioned one other that had been done and the article itself was a series of pics and some text of the author's successful attempt. He put the boiler in the tender. Here's my attempt, fresh from track tests. They went well. I based my conversion on a Mamod chassis. Boiler is shop made and is a flue/poker burner style. It is under the shell. The butane fuel tank is in the tender though. I had to use two CV shells for the conversion because the boiler wasn't specific enough. Backhead details are from Back Shop Brass. The finish is powdercoated. It was a very worthy project and will probably do a more specfic attempt that will require one shell only and have six drive wheels. Joe
Fascinating. It would be great fun to see this engine operate under power. Any chance of a little video?
I still need to apply some graphics on the tender and a couple of tweaks here and there...not to mention my pocket camera does shoot video, but not well. I'll remedy these shortly and get some decent video of the engine under steam...it's cool... Joe
Thanks, guys...some shots of the finished engine and tender. After some teething problems, the engine runs fine. My little camera struggled for these shots, so better photos and some vid is in the works. Joe
"http://player.vimeo.com/video/69387503" The video is a bit crude, but shows the Commodore flying around the track...Joe
Whoa. Very cool! That thing is really flying. Is there a way to control valve the steam, thus regulate speed? Maybe something between the fuel tank and boiler? It would be neat to know if this might have a slight chuff at lower rates of travel. Oh- How long does it run on the available fuel supply?
Thanks E50, I had set the throttle valve wide open, so slowing it down is no problem, close the valve a little and she'll shed speed. These type of cylinders are a bit on the quiet side, so not much of a chuff, but more track noise than anything else. It holds 3.25 ounces of water that provides 5 to 8 minutes of power. The fuel and water run out about the same time, perhaps a bit to close for commfort, so diligence is required. Another unedited video of the Commodore steaming up and pulling three heavyweights... "http://player.vimeo.com/video/69412087" Joe
