Model Steam Engine running

Congrats on the running engine, Paul. I'd like to see some ordinary pictures of the engine and the overall model power plant.

The video was a bit erratic, so more details could be seen in pictures.

Nice looking shop, too.

Nice job. You don't a lot of V-4 oscillating steam engines.

Thanks to all who had helped. Was able to get the old steam engine running:

It's got a crosshead pump?

I saw the manual feed pump and the glass of water, but I can't tell if there's a water pump on the steram engine itself.

All you'd need is a low water cutoff, and you could run it semi-unattended. Hook up a small alternator and make a battery charger - perfect for ham radio Field Day ops, you'll get extra credit for off-grid power.

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Hi Bruce, Robert, and Bill,

I do apologize for the poor quality of my video, my hands were shaking as much as the engine!

That was the first time this engine had been run on steam in over 25 years, and my first time ever.

Yes, it has an engine driven pump. I think the pump can empty, as well as fill, the boiler tank. Depending on valve settings.

I think I needed to shut off the pump intake sooner as that was flooding it when the video was shot. It ran better on a later fire last night.

It also has an inlet water pre-heater that exhaust steam passes through on the way to the smoke stack.

The engine is reversing via a valve handle atop it.

It has two gas burner tubes. They take a fair bit of gas to fire. The propane tank gets very cold from the high flow.

The boiler gets a real good boil going on in just a few minutes.

The pressure relief valve seems to open around 35 psi on compressed air.

The tiny "Smiths" pressure gauge goes to 80psi.

I will work on better photos and put them up in the drop box.

This was my Father's work, one of many engines. I'll say thanks for the praise though, he was the best machinist I've ever seen. He died in 1993.

Best regards, PaulS

Hi,

I've now posted some photos of the steam engine at:

Very nice looking pictures, Paul. Thanks for sharing them. I thought from seeing the video, that the engine display was a commercially manufactured model, it looks so professionally constructed and neatly laid out.