For those who think the hobby is getting expensive

Neat stuff.  

 

I hate to say it but we are comparing apples to oranges.  There is no correlation between the price of live steam and the price of O gauge.  Even the actual aspects of the hobby are very different.  These folks obviously have deep pockets so what they do with their money is up to them.  

Exactly! Plus, besides their "deep pockets", they are highly skilled Machinists! 

Not usually one to pick at little things, but there are actually many 1.5"scale clubs throughout the US.I know Riverside is one of the largest, although train mountain also comes to mind.  I have also been to Reading Society of Model Engineers, PA live steamers, Joshua Tree and Southern,  as well as a club in OH whose name escapes me at the moment. The costs are astronomical but everything is custom.  There is very little than can be purchased from a kit.  I love the live steam hobby and was actually into the real big stuff, 3" to the foot.  Unfortunately it can bankrupt you and just takes up too much time.   It is a good idea to keep things in perspective though. 

 

Expense means nothing for something you love wether it's "O" gauge , 1.5 gauge, doughnuts or Your SoCal sweety!!

If your near Riverside you must be familar with the Los Angeles Live Steamers, they have a terrific facility.

Consider that it is possible that "most" people on this forums may have more money spent on their trains than one live steam engine. Most modellers here are craftsmen of one or more or all aspects of this hobby. Live steam, like almost all hobbies can have real craftsmen of all kinds.

 

The cost? it is the same for all hobbies, it is always more money than one needs to spend on any hobby

Great pictures, and a good post.  I have but one question.  How do you get it under the Christmas tree?  

Or maybe several live steam engines.  Live steam is very cool.  But it seems to me to be a very different hobby than O-gauge railroading.  I can go up and run my trains any time I want, for five minutes or five hours, often just on impulse.  With live steam, its more of an occasional thing done with lots of planning and preparation, even if you have a large property and an outdoor mainline: taking out, warming up, servicing the loco takes quite some time.  For me, I like the O-gauge, but I can see the appeal of the live steam.

Don't overlook the high investment in machine tools that every "live steam modeler" needs. The lathe, milling machine, drill press, grinder, and possibly a welder all cost a lot more money than the few small hand tools we use in O scale modeling.

There are two clubs within 60 miles of me in western NY.

As for cost its like anything else. The more you can do yourself the less the dollar outlay. This hobby began with skilled craftsmen who made everything themselves including making their own castings. It evolved into specialists making parts for others and then building complete engines.

 

Pete

I had a live steam "Ruby"in G scale and it gave me an unexpected perspective on what the O gauge world blithely argues about "realism" and being "prototypical" as who has seen a real steam engine without steam powered by electricity running through the rails? I had to use distilled water to avoid scale, fill up the lubricator, set the fire, watch the steam pressure gauge...then blow off the condensate ..before a run. The real steam whistle is fun. The engine cost as much as one high end say..Big Boy....Its a different universe in the great outdoors.

Nice photos & videos.

The Pennsylvania Live Steamers near Collegeville have fairly large facility.

 

http://palivesteamers.org/layout.html

Yes, and the years of training it takes to know how to use a lathe at a certain time of the day to assure the machine and the materials are at the perfect temp to get the best possible machined tolerances possible.

Nice equipment!

many

What percentage of Live Steam owners build their own engines?

 

Seems to me many  in the hobby purchased their engines from former owners.

Holy cow...how cool are these things??? Kudos kudos kudos to ALL the craftsmen out there no matter WHAT gauge, what power source, what road name, what venue or whatever else you prefer. I have a hard time removing a motor out of an N-ga loco without usually breaking something. I am in constant awe (and am a little envious as well) of all the talent and devotion seen in threads such as these! I haven't a clue as to how many young people there are out there who will carry on the things discussed in this and other similar forums, but I suspect there aren't as many as there should be!

 

There is a fairly substantial secondary market...You can also buy kits. This is one out of several...http://discoverlivesteam.com/d...sale/locomotive.html

I was going to say, too, if Riverside Live Steamers is promoting some aspect of being "the Only steam 1 1/2 inch scale group in the United States", they must not get out of the machine shop much as we have two clubs within an hour just from little ol' Rochester NY. In the northeast. Where it snows. A lot. 8 months of the year.

If I'm not mistaken, that Riverside Club makes that claim due to the fact that do NOT allow ANY type of locomotives other than steam, i.e. no battery powered nor gasoline engine powered diesel or electric models. They are truly 100% STEAM!

nice pics, O gauge is unique in my opinion in that we tend to buy pre-made trains and stuff, where as most other gauges build everything. I had friends on the job who were machinists, and their hobby was building live steam locos. these guys were average working people, but because they built the items, they were affordable.  there is not a large secondary market for these, so most re-sales are very affordable when you compare what it would cost you to have it built.. I bought a 3 1/2 " gauge coal fired "Green Arrow" 2-6-2 with blueprints for $1000, it took 1000 hours to machine and build, besides the materials. with a machinist commanding near $100 per hour, you can see what I mean.

 

Certainly a wonderful part of model railroading. Thanks for the pictures and video, good stuff.

Cool Pics.   Thanks for posting.

Live steam collecting is more akin to classic car collecting in terms of time, money and work involved than o scale model train collecting. A 1 1/2 inch to the foot big boy is worth far more than 20 VL Big Boys. It really is a comparison of apples to oranges

This claim reminds me of a sign I saw when I lived in San Diego CA. It claimed to be the "Longest Concrete Pier in Southern CA". 

 

There is a longer Wooden Pier in Southern CA and a longer Concrete Pier in Nothern CA. The claim is true but only because of the tricky wordplay.

Tim, thank you for the great pics and video.  All I can say is, "Wow".  I have seen smaller steam engines and a diesel that visited Steamtown for a demonstration, but nothing as large as those in your pics.

Train Mountain was mentioned above. You could spend some time on their site.

 

 

Pete

Do you have pics of what was bigger than the big boy?  I would like to see that up close.

For that kind of money I hope they come with the boxes?

Cool stuff.  Thanks for sharing.  Puts a whole other perspective on what constitutes "toy trains"!!! 

 

David