Livesteam

You don't state what scale you want to model to. Live steam in the smaller scales up to (possibly) 0 scale is reckoned to be model railways. Live steam in scales of 1/2":ft (Gauge3) and upwards is reckoned to be model engineering. Live steam in Gauge 1 or its many variant scales as G scale is never quite sure whether it's model railways or model engineering.

Here's an example of a UK supplier dealing in live steam in G1, G and G3.

For other scales, you are going to have to DIY unless you have pots of money and can afford some of the live steam kits or RTR from Aster.

Here's a selection of mailing lists which cover the subject

for model engineering topics which cover the construction of live steam models. International list covering US, UK, etc.

for matters about large scale live steamers although there are occasional topics about smaller scales like G1 and 0 Scale. International list with subscribers from US, UK, etc.

General live steam coverage which includes railway models.

A good site to trawl around for information and links to model engineering web sites in the UK is Chris Heapy's site

A newsgroup which caters for model engineering in the UK is

uk.rec.models.engineering

This covers a wide range of topics, and live steam in all scales has been covered.

There is another newsgroup which also covers model engineering and live steam but it is very US biased and you are advised to wear a tin hat when you get involved with it - be prepared for strident politics :-)

rec.crafts.metalworking

Jim.

there is a discussion group devoted to garden railways at

You need to set up an account with Yahoo and search for '16mmgm' to read and post the messages but it's well worth while joining in

Regards Dave H