Member postings for Stephan Gaal

Regardless of all the sums the biggest advantage of super heaters on a model loco is that the steam coming out the stack is hotter and less likely to create a big white cloud in front of you that makes life difficult, especially if you wear glasses. This I discovered by accident when my super heaters failed and I did a quick patch up to bypass them so I could run. After that a new set was soon made.

Do they save fuel and water ? Perhaps but half the fun of steam is shoveling coal so I don't mind either way.

My own opinion is that Tich is not an ideal loco for a beginner. It is small for a 3 1/2 and as such all the parts are small which means you have less margin for error. As mentioned above the boiler is also very small so in service there is not much spare capacity. To have a successful running locomotive everything has to be spot on. I do not believe it was ever intended as a beginners loco but was rather an attempt to see how small they could go on 3 1/2. This is not to say it is a bad design. Many have been built. But unless you have a reason not to go any bigger I would go for a larger engine. Conway for example is a very good engine. I also like P.V.Baker and there are many others. The number of actual parts you will have to make are about the same and if you can cope with something a bit bigger you will have more options at the end and you won't have to re build it as often. For me the boiler is the key. The rest is not that much different.

I think the biggest mistake made with loctite is not leaving enough room for it. You can't expect it to hold things together if you squeeze it all out during assy. Having said that I still use a pin at the end once I am sure everything is where it is supposed to be. Perhaps I am a cave man but I would rather have a pin and not need it than the other way around. To date none of my wheels have moved on their axles.

I am looking for information about this model as designed by Alan Green.

Has anyone else built one and how well does yours run.

I have also heard a story that there is an error in the valve gear design that has since been redrawn by Mr Ashton. Likely some time ago.

Is this just a story is there any substance to this report.

Thanks in advance for your time.

Steve