Re: Mamod engines
I read somewhere (old "Live Steam" maybe) that everyone eventually ends up with a plagued Mamod at some point, and ends up loving it for some reason or another. I don't necessarily agree, but found it an interesting comment all the same. Later, Trent
RE: Mamod engines
Vance, Peter Jones' "Kissing Frogs" Mamod articles are a good introduction to what is possible and what is recommended in the way of engineering for small, simple locos. His instructions on how to use a punch to make a hole smaller later saved me from using a lot of bad language when an ambitious loco project over-reached my machining skills. One of Jones' Mamod episodes was in the first issue of SitG that I received when I subscribed. Not being very smart, I didn't think to look for a SitG index online or anywhere else. Instead I started ordering SitG back issues in batches of five or six until I had all of Jones' articles in hand. Of course I also had a lot of SitG issues with a wealth of loco reviews, design info, machine tool basics, and so forth. The SitG back issues also introduced me, through steamup reports and written articles, to many individuals in the hobby that I have since had the pleasure to meet in person. Steve
Re: Mamod engines
In a message dated 00-12-09 22:26:17 EST, you write: Non Aster engines is my pot boiling Mamod where I built my own alcohol burner. But it's designed to run without a blower. My nephew has a Mamod engine that he has never run. I have only seen pictures in advertisememts. As I understand they are fired by some kind of pellets? Clark says his is a" pot boiling Mamod with a alcohol burner. So, what is one of the Mamod engines worth in $$ and would it be worth having as anything more than a conversation piece. They look a little puny to me. Salty
Re: Mamod engines
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: My nephew has a Mamod engine that he has never run. I have only seen pictures in advertisememts. As I understand they are fired by some kind of pellets? Clark says his is a" pot boiling Mamod with a alcohol burner. So, what is one of the Mamod engines worth in $$ and would it be worth having as anything more than a conversation piece. They look a little puny to me. Well Salty I'm going to answer your question by showing you how to fish and by this example actually feed you fish. 1. Point your browser to http://www.google.com/ 2. Type in 'Mamod Locomotive' in the Search window. Leave off the '. 3. Click on Google Search. 4. Google will return 161 entries that have Mamod Locomotive in them. 5. Five items down we find our friend Vance Bass's page listed. The Google search says: Small-Scale Live Steam Manufacturers and Suppliers ... Diamond/Yesteryear also carry the Mamod locomotive. It's at the bottom of the ladder in terms of sophistication, and the engines were plagued with serious ... 6. Now we have a hint of new information. Vance's page says Diamond/Yesteryear sells the Mamod locomotive. So click on the underlined reference in the Google search where it says: Small-Scale Live Steam Manufacturers and Suppliers 7. That takes us to Vance's page on Manufacturers and Suppliers. 8. Scroll down in Vance's page until you get to the Diamond Enterprises/Yesteryear Toys write-up. 9. Click on the underlined Diamond Enterprises/Yesteryear Toys entry. 10. That takes us to the Yesteryear Toys Books Inc. web page. 11. After checking out the various parts of their page we discover the Yesteryear Toy Shop selection. Click on that. 12. Now we are presented with more choices. Click on the one called Trains. 13. The trains page gives us four Mamod train choices. Since we are talking about the engine only lets select the last one: Mamod Steam Locomotive Kit Model 1402. 14. And at the bottom of that page we find the answer to your question "What is one of the Mamod engines worth in $$?" Price: US$395.95 It has taken me 45 minutes to write this answer. It took less than 3 minutes to actually do what I have described above. Yes, I do have a DSL line from Sprint which downloads at 512K rate. It might take a little longer with your computer. The point still remains that you have the resources to answer your questions most of the time. I hope that this message encourages you and others to attempt to find answers by using the power of your browser and Google.com's search engine. As for the last of your message about "and would it be worth having as anything more than a conversation piece. They look a little puny to me.?" is subjective and each person has to make up their own mind. My Mamod ran fine using the pellet fuel. I'm sure with a alcohol or butane burner they would be a fine runner. Here again beauty is in the eye of the beholder as we all know. You will find that the boxed train sets are O gauge units and the Kit is available in O or 1 gauge. My Mamod came as a Gauge O engine. I then purchased the re-gaugeing kit and changed it to Gauge 1. There you have it Salty Chief. The fishing lesson is over. Clark See you at Diamondhead.
Re: Mamod engines
In a message dated 00-12-10 12:52:57 EST, you write: Well Salty I'm going to answer your question by showing you how to fish and by this example actually feed you fish. Actually I have a catalog with the prices for Mamod steam products as well as other steam engines. What I was asking for was opinions of the list members as to what they thought might be a fair dollar amount to offer my nephew and if they thought one would be worth owning. I can't find peoples opinions with a search engine. Through your efforts and others on the list I am learning more and more all the time about using the browsers. I will give http://www.google.com/ a try as the AOL search engine always gives me far more sites than I really want to look at. It always takes me considerable effort to weed out all the sites that I do not want. I will print out your reply and file it away for future reference. Thank you for your ecucational efforts toward training this old goat. Salty
Re: Mamod engines
In a message dated 12/10/00 1:45:57 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: What I was asking for was opinions of the list members as to what they thought might be a fair dollar amount to offer my ... I can't find peoples opinions with a search engine. FWIW here is my 2 ยข worth... If I was looking for a project -- I would be willing to pay about $100 for an unimproved Mamod as you described and still in potential working order (not boiled dry, though that was near to impossible with the pellets). My second steam engine was a Mamod which had been converted, Americanized and greatly improved by an exceptional modeler in Colorado to be an 0-6-0 with an alcohol burner. This engine ran right smartly and pulled a small train. It got lots of good looks and compliments at my first big meeting in California (NSS). OTOH, even if you only pay $100 for a "project" -- by the time you get all of the upgrades and details (not including specialty items) you could have bought a "Jane," a nice running little engine but still with some inherent weaknesses. Still again, add another $100 or so and you can buy a very good, high quality used engine from a Roundhouse person who is selling off to buy even bigger toys like a SR24 or Aster. Of course if money is no object you can throw $20,000 at trying to buy (most are hard to find even at that price) some really high end locomotives. So we are back to the time vis-a-vis money equation. Some people just want to run engines while others want to overcome the myriad challenges encounter in locomotives engineered inexpensively for the "beginner market." Some folks want to build (from raw material, or kits or castings...) others want to fix. Any engine is "worth" what the buyer and seller agree on at that particular time. So, I restate MY OPINION ONLY -- if I was looking for a project (fill in the blank with your own definition) I would pay as much as $100 for the potential of a Mamod. As an "old salt" you know the value of free advise and the value of free opinions. Jim Crabb Seabrook (Houston), Texas
Re: Mamod engines
Salty, I guess I'm lucky I bought my first Mamod before Al Gore invented the Internet. I would have probably been talked out of it and missed out on a lot of fun. I now own three of the wiggly little darlins in various state of running disrepair. Jim Crabb has given you some good advice. Get rid of the pellets and get an Alcohol Burner. Supher Springs can fix you up with a burner and a lot of other goodies to make a Mamod come alive. (Usual disclamer) $100 sounds like a fair price For a Mamod today. If you do pick up the Mamod, let me know and I would be happy to give you some ideas from my experience to make a good runner without costing an arm and a leg. They are lots of fun and they do build character. Charlie
Re: Mamod engines
Peter Jones did a long series of articles in SitG several years back entitled "Kissing Frogs", on the subject of taking stock Mamods and making them good runners. He gave instructions on clearing up all of their know weak spots. You can look them all up in the SitG index, then see if back issues are available from SitG. Index: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass/steam/sitgindx.htm regards, -vance- Vance Bass Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Small-scale live steam resources: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass
Re: Mamod engines
Vance Does it make sense to set up a series of "rooms" on a server, one for Ruby, one for Mamods etc. Where individual improvements can be archived? Point being a new owner or potential owner could then access the site and "learn." This would reduce repeating requests while providing a library that develops from actual use. I have been collecting Ruby messages for the past year and have been edited by selection for my interests. They would be available to anyone. Your Ruby page is a fine example of what could be expanded with the danger of becoming a major project. If an owner of a Mikado for example would monitor this arena and then provide it for server archive, the same for a Mamod etc. The site mgr would have the right to edit, by selection any submittal otherwise the messages, assuming no derogatory language would be left intact with author etch. Am I stirring the pot? Mike\ --- VR Bass [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Peter Jones did a long series of articles in SitG several years back entitled "Kissing Frogs", on the subject of taking stock Mamods and making them good runners. He gave instructions on clearing up all of their know weak spots. You can look them all up in the SitG index, then see if back issues are available from SitG. Index: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass/steam/sitgindx.htm regards, -vance- Vance Bass Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Small-scale live steam resources: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/
