[modeleng] Meths was Cornpone

At 07:01 AM 6/27/05 -0500, you wrote:
>Yes a lot of the small copper boilered steamers are/were spirit fired as
>were the little Weeden=AE toy stationary engines.  These days the fuel is=
 in
>sugar cube size pieces

      This is not the case any more, except for those who have bought
toyshop steam engines (Mamod & Wilesco) and who must use the fuel pellets
(Esbit, etc.)  There are currently three fuels of choice in small scale (up
to 2.5"ga) live steam, "meths" (methylated spirits, denatured alcohol),
butane, or a butane propane mix, and coal.
      Of the three, meths is the garden railway "purists" fuel of choice
and is probably the most popular internationally, with butane second,
especially in the US where there are much larger numbers of newcomers who
purceive butane to be more convenient and reliable.  Of the three however
coal is the fastest growing, even in locos as small as Ga 0.  The last two
boilers I built for Ga1 locos have been to convert vertical boilered,
formerly gas-fired, Shays to coal firing and reports from test runs are
that they are a complete success.  One fellow in the UK, John Shawe, makes
a living doing nothing but converting formery meths or gas fired small
scale locos to coal firing.  This trend will continue to grow for a while
as people see that it can be successful in "their" loco.
      Almost everyone in small scale aspires to, or at least doesn't
dislike, coal firing however beyond that there is very definitely a "meths"
camp and a "gas" camp and rarely will the twain shall agree.  In either
case though, like technology anywhere else, both fuels have been developed
to very high levels of usefulness and efficiency, although it must be said
that creative boiler design has played an integral part in the increased
efficiency and in the ability of some very small boilers to create a
relatively large amount of steam.


Regards,
Harry Wade
Nashville  Tennessee

MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST.

To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, 
modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Other related posts: