Super to see Tested do a segment on Model Railways/Railroad. An incredible feat of engineering an actual coal fired locomotive! Also great to see Welsh Coal is still burning within the bellies of American Locomotives. Wales is where I live, so I am lucky to have it nearby! I am an avid follower of Tested, especially Mr Savage, so keep up the fantastic work!
I just wanted to say that Norm, you are a FANTATSIC interviewer. You engage someone and ask the perfect questions without making anything cringy. I know you've been doing this for a long time, but so often people become complacent and think they're good simply because they've been in the game a long time. You ARE good, and so I just wanted to express how great I think you are during moments like this. No matter who you're talking to, the interview flows well. It's great!
This is a hobby you can get deep into. This is G scale live steam, which is really the scale most well known to the public. However, you can get even bigger ride on engines in increasing gauges. Alternatively, there are clubs for smaller gauges such as O and HO. Really it's a hobby that is worth getting into. A lot of the people are very friendly. It's amazing to see the machine work that goes into one of these engines.
MrRailroadrunner It is also veeeeeeery expensive, which is why many people are put off the live steam hobby. Being a young generation hard-core railway enthusiast and railway modeller myself, I can relate to this problem first hand, as I wish to built a particular Gauge 1 live steam engine kit very much, but simply cannot afford it that easily off my pocket money. Rather sad really...
From the owner's standpoint, the maintenance makes the train more cost effective as it lowers the price of entertainment calculated as the cost in dollars per hour of modeling pleasure...
Still got my 5inch gauge engine to build. Last guy had it for about 15 years, I've had it for about 4 and all I need is a few rods and crosshead to be rebuilt and I can get the chassis running on air. Without the necessary preparation and tools, building them is a hassle but once they are built and adjusted, it's amazing. It really is a labour of love. The coal thing he's so right. I'm Welsh myself, and our railway use Welsh coal always, but once we had some imported coal to use as a cost saver or something, I don't quite remember why we had it, but we used it in our 7 1/4inch engine, and it was horrible. It burnt quick and the steam was this horrible sort of brown colour and it was heavy and lingered around the ground for hours. Was horrible to breath in and you couldn't see through it.
I remember going to one of these guys' houses a few times as a kid - his whole yard had an elaborate railway setup, from the front yard to backyard - they even let me control a couple trains! So much fun and nice to see they are still around. I was also a member of the Peninsula Model Railroaders Association that used to be housed there at the fairgrounds.
I belong to the Long Island Garden Railway Society & we meet once a month at a member's backyard railroad. In the cold months we have a indoor display/meeting at one of L.I.'s museums.
Benjamin Finlay Hornby and very few other manufacturer's actually made h-o scale live steam engines. They were never very successful but they are still out there. There was one "scale" smaller i know of that was h-o scale but on n gauge track like a narrow gauge. But the h-o scale ones are at least around 1/4th the size of these ones
wargreymon 1109 oh they absolutely worked. They just weren't very successful in the market. They didn't sell as well as hornby had hoped is what I'm getting at. But yes they worked surprisingly well but as you said any layout would have to be completely changed as well as it was very difficult to run them at anything close to a slow speed.
I'm building a mini live steamer in the next larger scale ⚖ of 1/2" =1', thats 1:24 scale, on 2&1/2"gage track, a GREEN BAY AND WESTERN 2-8-2 MIKADO built /ALCO /1937. A cardboard mockup is 3ft.long. Drive wheels are cans from frozen orange 🍊 juice. BOILER is round cardboard tube. Tender is from soda can long box 📦. The Real live steamer will have copper boiler. Either gas, or coal fire 🔥. Brass tender, and cab. Regular wheels are available for tender trucks, but unique 8 Drivers are Boxspok and need special machining. And weigh nearly 30 lbs. And powerful enough to pull 5 adults. On elevated level tracks. Stay tuned for more, ok!! HI in June 2023A.D.!!
i can only imagine how small the margin of error is on a train of that size.. real trains have a reasonable margin of error but as the parts used gets smaller and smaller the margin also shrinks... i can't even imagine the precision of the welds and all the pipes in that small boiler... eventually things gets so small so a single grain of sand could clog a pipe and cause it to malfunction.... making a small scale fully accurate working model of something requires a whole new level of engineering experience...
That's actually pretty amazing! When I googled it I wasn't sure that I'd find a real model steam engine. I didn't even realise that you had different levels of coal, which is interesting. Massive thumbs up! 👍👍
I'm a live a live steamer in this scale myself, and I will say it's possible to have hills on one's railroad, provided they aren't too steep. My own line has a couple grades, and I put them in deliberately so my engines would have to work a bit to pull trains over the line. Nothing wrong with burning butane either, way I see it it's an analog to having an oil-fired locomotive in full-scale.
Brian B. Under my basic knowledge of economics. It’s probably pretty high. If you were to calculate per pound how much the coal these modelers use compared to the coal used in power plants, the modelers pay a pretty penny. Mainly because it’s so clean and because they buy it in much smaller quantities.
One of the Best Tested Videos yet. I have been a Scale Steam enthusiast most of my life. Having been an avid watcher of Mythbusters, in full appreciation for how they promoted skepticism, critical thinking and the scientific method for over a decade, I am very glad Adam Savage is with Tested.com. Even negative feedback can be helpful. But as Adam Savage said in one video (With Micheal Stevens doing a modification on his glasses for a mic), they don't need useless noise, either. Will and Norm started Tested long before Adam Savage joined and have done a fantastic job. After Adam joined, they have been a Class Act ever since in sharing the screen with a Known and Experienced Star. There is a difference between Critical Thinking and being Overly-Critical. For many of you that post such negativity: Are you helping to build the readers experience and understanding or just trying to elevate yourself by knocking someone else down? To Tested: (Doubt you read the comments anymore but...) I have watched your videos for years. I guess it took a Steam Engine to get me fired up enough to post a comment but- THANK YOU for providing so much excellent educational material.
I understand that he's a purist and all, but I think it would be interesting to create a hybrid engine that created the steam from the electricity in the rails of a normal model train. That way you could control it without RC.
Ah, you missed it starting. How a model starts and stops I think is the main indicator of how good the engineering is. A smooth realistic acceleration and deceleration.
I used to have plans to make a garden railroad never intended to run live steam much less make my own live steam engines but i admire those who not only run them but also build them. Wonder how much it cost him to build given the prebuilt ones can be several throusand dollars.
By gas powered, they mean that it uses gas as a heat source to create the steam, so it’s still a steam engine. It just uses burning gas instead of burning coal.
it's about a cleaner, more efficient burn that doesn't leave too many unhealthy deposits that can ruin burners and boilers. There's no such thing as "clean" coal, but you get coal that burns more efficiently.
Clean means it contains less sulphur in this case, that's what is responsible for some of the worse effects of burning coal. Anthracite is over 90% carbon (wikipedia says 92-98%), so less other stuff to gum up the engine
Ben Goldberg anything that burns will create CO2, but no coal contains more than 5% CO2. In America, synthetic coal is being produced and it is around 25% less harmful to the environment than petrol/diesel and 10% less than normal coal
Mad Cow Rebel Depends on the type of coal and the way it's fired. If you pile on a ton of dirty coal yes you'll get black smoke but if you fire a steam engine properly you should get little to no smoke. On a big engine it's often called a salt and pepper smoke because it will have a little black mixed with the white steam. Any more and you're wasting fuel
Jarrod Baniqued You can buy one from Accucraft here: accucraft.com/wordpress/?page_id=795 It burns denatured alcohol and not coal but with some minor modifications you could convert it to burn coal. I'd recommend burning alcohol though as it burns cleaner and is less mess.
Aaron W Aster is another good company to look at. I can understand wanting coal but butane is much better. In most cases it's cheaper than coal, burns cleaner, and is far less mess for the owner. No dumping the ash tray or blowing soot out of the firebox and tubes.
Loving the tiny little shovel that he uses to place the coal in there lmao
They all have one. Every single person who takes the time to run O-Gauge coal has one AFAIK. xD
Women do love little things....oh, wait....
Uhmm. No. I met a guy with a coal O-Gauge train at a model train show once and he had the same shovel.
petlahk your point?
Lindsay Daly lol
2 years, but it's gorgeous...!❤
He corrected himself I think. And quickly asserted "3 years"
Super to see Tested do a segment on Model Railways/Railroad. An incredible feat of engineering an actual coal fired locomotive! Also great to see Welsh Coal is still burning within the bellies of American Locomotives. Wales is where I live, so I am lucky to have it nearby! I am an avid follower of Tested, especially Mr Savage, so keep up the fantastic work!
Absolutely. Model Railroaders have been keeping the maker flame alive since the beginning of the hobby.
I just wanted to say that Norm, you are a FANTATSIC interviewer. You engage someone and ask the perfect questions without making anything cringy. I know you've been doing this for a long time, but so often people become complacent and think they're good simply because they've been in the game a long time. You ARE good, and so I just wanted to express how great I think you are during moments like this.
No matter who you're talking to, the interview flows well. It's great!
Adam Savage should have done this segment. His enthusiasm would have set the place on fire.
This is a hobby you can get deep into. This is G scale live steam, which is really the scale most well known to the public. However, you can get even bigger ride on engines in increasing gauges. Alternatively, there are clubs for smaller gauges such as O and HO. Really it's a hobby that is worth getting into. A lot of the people are very friendly. It's amazing to see the machine work that goes into one of these engines.
I agree. I have a OO guage (similar to HO gauge but more common in the UK) layout and it is so much fun
MrRailroadrunner It is also veeeeeeery expensive, which is why many people are put off the live steam hobby. Being a young generation hard-core railway enthusiast and railway modeller myself, I can relate to this problem first hand, as I wish to built a particular Gauge 1 live steam engine kit very much, but simply cannot afford it that easily off my pocket money. Rather sad really...
I have a mamod o gauge live steam locomotive as well as some old Lionel engine i run on my layout. They're a fun way to pass the time.
MrRailroadrunner I'm hoping to get into live steam someday. Accucraft and Aster make some great kits.
Ho scale master race
The coal powered Trains are very cool, but need a lot of maintenance.
Cool thanks for the information
From the owner's standpoint, the maintenance makes the train more cost effective as it lowers the price of entertainment calculated as the cost in dollars per hour of modeling pleasure...
Oh my goodness this is so cool!
You mean coal?
@2:00 me too buddy
thats not funny
It actually is funny
Léon the Professional maybe to you but not me
Drew’s Train’s what exactly bothers you about it? Is it just not funny or do you take offense to the innuendo?
Lol
Still got my 5inch gauge engine to build. Last guy had it for about 15 years, I've had it for about 4 and all I need is a few rods and crosshead to be rebuilt and I can get the chassis running on air.
Without the necessary preparation and tools, building them is a hassle but once they are built and adjusted, it's amazing. It really is a labour of love.
The coal thing he's so right. I'm Welsh myself, and our railway use Welsh coal always, but once we had some imported coal to use as a cost saver or something, I don't quite remember why we had it, but we used it in our 7 1/4inch engine, and it was horrible. It burnt quick and the steam was this horrible sort of brown colour and it was heavy and lingered around the ground for hours. Was horrible to breath in and you couldn't see through it.
I remember going to one of these guys' houses a few times as a kid - his whole yard had an elaborate railway setup, from the front yard to backyard - they even let me control a couple trains! So much fun and nice to see they are still around. I was also a member of the Peninsula Model Railroaders Association that used to be housed there at the fairgrounds.
I belong to the Long Island Garden Railway Society & we meet once a month at a member's backyard railroad. In the cold months we have a indoor display/meeting at one of L.I.'s museums.
This is amazing. Just amazing. I had no idea you could make a steam engine that small.
Benjamin Finlay
Hornby and very few other manufacturer's actually made h-o scale live steam engines. They were never very successful but they are still out there. There was one "scale" smaller i know of that was h-o scale but on n gauge track like a narrow gauge. But the h-o scale ones are at least around 1/4th the size of these ones
Aaron Divel actually they did work they just weren’t clear on how to operating them they use different voltage than regular OO/ho locomotives
wargreymon 1109
oh they absolutely worked. They just weren't very successful in the market. They didn't sell as well as hornby had hoped is what I'm getting at. But yes they worked surprisingly well but as you said any layout would have to be completely changed as well as it was very difficult to run them at anything close to a slow speed.
Great interview. Many model train guys are Makers of the highest order.
And have been making for decades :P
“So there’s no engineer on it?”
What did you expect, a tiny driver?
Kidding, he means rc!
Gotta love that O-Gauge!
Hell yeah, I love trains.
Oh man, where can I get one? How much would he charge?
Very coal
WELSH COAL #FTW
😂👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Oh my gooood its beautiful
I'm building a mini live steamer in the next larger scale ⚖ of 1/2" =1', thats 1:24 scale, on 2&1/2"gage track, a GREEN BAY AND WESTERN 2-8-2 MIKADO built /ALCO /1937. A cardboard mockup is 3ft.long. Drive wheels are cans from frozen orange 🍊 juice. BOILER is round cardboard tube. Tender is from soda can long box 📦. The Real live steamer will have copper boiler. Either gas, or coal fire 🔥. Brass tender, and cab. Regular wheels are available for tender trucks, but unique 8 Drivers are Boxspok and need special machining. And weigh nearly 30 lbs. And powerful enough to pull 5 adults. On elevated level tracks. Stay tuned for more, ok!! HI in June 2023A.D.!!
That's a new one for me. That is very awesome
I was part of a train club and people there had these trains. So great!
Big shout out to the welsh for there coal :)
Wales getting a shout out! 💪
i can only imagine how small the margin of error is on a train of that size.. real trains have a reasonable margin of error but as the parts used gets smaller and smaller the margin also shrinks... i can't even imagine the precision of the welds and all the pipes in that small boiler... eventually things gets so small so a single grain of sand could clog a pipe and cause it to malfunction.... making a small scale fully accurate working model of something requires a whole new level of engineering experience...
That's actually pretty amazing! When I googled it I wasn't sure that I'd find a real model steam engine. I didn't even realise that you had different levels of coal, which is interesting. Massive thumbs up! 👍👍
I'm a live a live steamer in this scale myself, and I will say it's possible to have hills on one's railroad, provided they aren't too steep. My own line has a couple grades, and I put them in deliberately so my engines would have to work a bit to pull trains over the line.
Nothing wrong with burning butane either, way I see it it's an analog to having an oil-fired locomotive in full-scale.
Are you implying you can't make a scale oil-burner? If so, why not?
this is so cool -- id love to have one of these one day
Now what I need next is an Ant-Man suit!
Awe man! Please! That would be fun!
For a moment, I felt like a kid again!!! Nice video!!
Wow, so cool.
MARAVILLOSO. Thanks for sharing. From Chile.
How much more expensive is the coal used in this train as compared to regular coal mined in places like West Virginia??
Brian B. Under my basic knowledge of economics. It’s probably pretty high. If you were to calculate per pound how much the coal these modelers use compared to the coal used in power plants, the modelers pay a pretty penny. Mainly because it’s so clean and because they buy it in much smaller quantities.
Terrific. One way to get to know how a steam loco works - build one.
Awesome..I am interested..how to buy this train
You'll have to find the bigger live steamers in the future that people make big enough to ride on. Their whole clubs dedicated to such engines
Like LALS.org
One of the Best Tested Videos yet. I have been a Scale Steam enthusiast most of my life. Having been an avid watcher of Mythbusters, in full appreciation for how they promoted skepticism, critical thinking and the scientific method for over a decade, I am very glad Adam Savage is with Tested.com. Even negative feedback can be helpful. But as Adam Savage said in one video (With Micheal Stevens doing a modification on his glasses for a mic), they don't need useless noise, either. Will and Norm started Tested long before Adam Savage joined and have done a fantastic job. After Adam joined, they have been a Class Act ever since in sharing the screen with a Known and Experienced Star. There is a difference between Critical Thinking and being Overly-Critical. For many of you that post such negativity: Are you helping to build the readers experience and understanding or just trying to elevate yourself by knocking someone else down? To Tested: (Doubt you read the comments anymore but...) I have watched your videos for years. I guess it took a Steam Engine to get me fired up enough to post a comment but- THANK YOU for providing so much excellent educational material.
Welsh coal is the World's best! I use it on my locomotive. It helps that I live in Wales.
Where can you buy these types of toys that use coal. I have looked everywhere.
I have 2 of these that run on live steam .
And i can say that i only use welsh coal because the rest is way to dirty.
I wonder if you could fit a speed governer on the throttle. So you can just wack it open. And it will regulate its top speed
I understand that he's a purist and all, but I think it would be interesting to create a hybrid engine that created the steam from the electricity in the rails of a normal model train. That way you could control it without RC.
I want one sooo baad!! This is simply greatful!!😀😀
Any idea about who is sailing these .. as I am from India and want to purchase
That's neat!
Always loved this stuff.
Please more trains on Tested!
What gauge are the trains?
Ah, you missed it starting. How a model starts and stops I think is the main indicator of how good the engineering is. A smooth realistic acceleration and deceleration.
Somebody needs to make a diesel mini train. Call somebody that has one of those model diesel engines and put it into a train engine.
Delightful, but as a followup we need some good audio of the tiny little steam engine chuffing along.
Great job.
I shouldn't watch this or else I'll get addicted!
thats my childhood fantasy... yet to be fulfilled 😦
Steam engines are a beautiful concept.
A group of enthusiasts drove a model steam train across Scotland last year 71 miles .
I’m imagining seeing Dr. Sheldon Cooper geeking out in the background
Well that's just absolutely awesome
Where can I purchase a "Fuel.Tank" for Hit n Miss Model Engines
That is simply awesome
All aboard!
I used to have plans to make a garden railroad never intended to run live steam much less make my own live steam engines but i admire those who not only run them but also build them. Wonder how much it cost him to build given the prebuilt ones can be several throusand dollars.
Where can buy one?
Sheldon will love this 😂
where it you buy
This is pretty cool!
"i chose to have fun with my self" said a train enthusiast
What are the manufactures
Wonder how long it takes to start her up.
How do you even build such a machine!?!?!
Ah friends of the Cumbres and Toltec!
I actually have one of these mini steam engines they are alot of fun
Hi from South Wales 🙋
Looks perfect. :) thanks for sharing this engineering :)
i love this all aboard
They r so amazing work
how can I buy or build a diesel model locomotive with real diesel engine?
How many people love this stuff but don't have the time money or space to do this😭😭😕
me
By gas powered, they mean that it uses gas as a heat source to create the steam, so it’s still a steam engine. It just uses burning gas instead of burning coal.
fantastic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Simply awesome..!!!
So clean coal might exist, but only in Wales.
it's about a cleaner, more efficient burn that doesn't leave too many unhealthy deposits that can ruin burners and boilers. There's no such thing as "clean" coal, but you get coal that burns more efficiently.
If it's Anthracite and from Wales i think it's the cleanest coal any country has found.
Clean means it contains less sulphur in this case, that's what is responsible for some of the worse effects of burning coal. Anthracite is over 90% carbon (wikipedia says 92-98%), so less other stuff to gum up the engine
Actual clean coal would have to not produce CO2.
Ben Goldberg anything that burns will create CO2, but no coal contains more than 5% CO2. In America, synthetic coal is being produced and it is around 25% less harmful to the environment than petrol/diesel and 10% less than normal coal
This is great!
impressive worksmanship, I would love to build a steam engine one day, but I'll probably never achieve a working piece like that.
MAYER MAKES You can buy one from Accucraft for about $5000. They burn butane or denatured alcohol.
Wonderful machine. Excellent job Sir. By the way my nickname carries the same number as your locomotive do.
Awesome!
Why is there no smoke from the burning coal? Shouldn't that be coming from the smoke stack?
Mad Cow Rebel
Depends on the type of coal and the way it's fired. If you pile on a ton of dirty coal yes you'll get black smoke but if you fire a steam engine properly you should get little to no smoke. On a big engine it's often called a salt and pepper smoke because it will have a little black mixed with the white steam. Any more and you're wasting fuel
Why does the steam come from the whistle and not the funnel
I'm getting some Henry vibes from all of the types of coal talk.
fantastic
That is so cool!
They have been there for 10 years just standing there
I love model trains...They are so playful
Didn't know William H. Macy has a thing on for trains...
I want to see a coal and steam-powered model of the Penn T1.
Jarrod Baniqued You can buy one from Accucraft here: accucraft.com/wordpress/?page_id=795
It burns denatured alcohol and not coal but with some minor modifications you could convert it to burn coal. I'd recommend burning alcohol though as it burns cleaner and is less mess.
Amtrak In O Scale Cool, thanks!
Jarrod Baniqued No problem
This is why trains are cool. :P
Fantásticas miniaturas! Rio de Janeiro RJ Brasil
What are some of the companies that sell them?
Aaron check here for model steam engines:
www.accucraft.com
thank you Russel! It looks like they only make butane powered ones. Im more interested in coal. Ill keep looking tho! Best lead ive gotten yet. :-)
www.accucraftestore.com/product-page/d-rgw-c-25-375-flying-rio-grande-coal-fired
Aaron W Aster is another good company to look at. I can understand wanting coal but butane is much better. In most cases it's cheaper than coal, burns cleaner, and is far less mess for the owner. No dumping the ash tray or blowing soot out of the firebox and tubes.