> alcohol can be a pain I wonder if that has to be? One knock against alcohol is that its flame isn't as strong in an ambient breeze. Doesn't a JvR Type C boiler (a sort of half pot-boiler, half single-flue with a firebox) address that problem?
Regarding wick adjustment problems, there are some very good looking vaporizing burner designs that have been around for decades. They were designed to overcome the limitations of wick burners, I believe. I'm sure they're more complex to make than a wick burner, but not so much so that it wouldn't be worth the effort -- after all, it's what makes your locomotive go (or not). The blower issue isn't even going to go away, since compressed gas is the only fuel that's self-drafting, but I wouldn't consider this a major limitation. But, in the end, I suspect it's the convenience of gas -- both for the builder and the operator -- that wins out. Hmmm ... now I'm eyeing my gas-fired locos and wondering if they're the equivalent of gas- guzzling SUVs? Oh, the shame! regards, -vance- Vance Bass Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Small-scale live steam resources: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass
