# Heisler in Live Steam?



## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

I was driving to a hotel near to Snoqualmine in Washington State when I stumbled across a rather sad collection of rusting locomotives. Amongst these was a 2-6-6-2 Mallet, a 3 cylinder Shay and a Heisler. I'd never seen a Heisler before except in photographs and my immediate thought was did anyone ever do one of these in gauge 1 live steam?

I took a bad photo with my cellphone camera....


----------



## chooch (Jan 2, 2008)

Catatonk made a Heisler some years back.  Nice little locomotive.  Wish Someone would start producing one again.  Here is a link to a page with the Catatonk engines.

http://www.steamup.com/sitgonline/tradeshow/catatonk/catatonk.html


----------



## wetrail (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim  Hadden at Poison Creek locomotive works builds a Heisler , and a steam powered crane as well

Jerry


----------



## casey wilmunder (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi

i have been trying to find a company for a couple of years that builds heislers when i called catatonk last year
he said the small climax's were the last run of locs and the shay could maybe be bought through arglye
can u add a link to the forum about jim hadden i have been trying to find a person who builds live steam
cranes.

sincerly

Casey Wilmunder

my spelling is not the greatest


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

You can add punctuation to that...

tac
www.ovgrs.org


----------



## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

Tac,

I'll second that, and add capitalization, which very few use anymore.


----------



## chama (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By wetrail on 03/21/2008 11:27 PM
Jim  Hadden at Poison Creek locomotive works builds a Heisler , and a steam powered crane as well

Jerry

I don't think Jim visits this forum.  I know him well enough to say that this should read "Jim  Hadden at Poison Creek locomotive works bu*ilt* Heisler*s* , and steam powered *ditchers* (OX) as well"

Unless things have changed dramatically since his steamup last year, he isn't taking orders for either item, nor any custom work.


----------



## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Scott is correct. Jim “made” six Heislers, they were all sold. He is making 6 ditchers but they are all sold. He decides to make something he wants and makes 6, selling 5 and keeping 1. The people who bought his last offering have first right of refusal of one of the 5. As one of the “chosen few” I can say no one turns down what’s offered and that’s without knowing the price until it’s finished or the delivery date.


----------



## casey wilmunder (Jan 2, 2008)

i have a 3 foot gauge heisler in my shop that i could build models of
but the only thing that has stoped me is a set of heisler loss wax wheels
i know one person that has been building  a heisler for 18 years and has not even 
to the boiler yet but it is not live steam its elec the one thing interesting he
has built all of his only castings,wheel,detail parts never using a part from a 
nother company but he built it to true 1:20:3,1:20:3 scale on 2 in gauge track.

sincerly

Csey wilmunder

i know my spelling is not the greatest
either is my explaining i will have pics
soon of the heisler/porter and all my 
other 3 foot gauge loco,still working
on the mason bogies an crickets an
all my other projects and just got two new
ones.


----------



## Ed Hume (Jan 3, 2008)

Hey zephyra,

What do you think? 










This photo is from the collection on flickr - 
http://flickr.com/photos/edhume3/sets/72157600962292344/ for general interest photos
http://flickr.com/photos/edhume3/sets/72157600966340093/ for construction photos

Barry Cott also caught the Heisler running with the BigBoys in a video on youtube-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlebQjdA14s
Steaming at Steve's December 27th 2007


----------



## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks fantastic - I'm jealous! Way beyond my skills and, more importantly, patience. Let me know if you ever get bored and would like to find a new owner/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif


----------



## artgibson (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey, Ed
Don't you have ur Heisler up for sale.


----------



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Ed - was that patterned after Kozo's book?


----------



## Ed Hume (Jan 3, 2008)

Art,

No, the Heisler is not for sale.  Maybe you are thinking about the Aster Shay I recently sold, or the Roundhouse Forney that I am willing to sell.

Dwight,

Yes, the Heisler is basically Kozo Hiraoka's design, scaled down, with narrow gauge trucks (external crank disks),  a few more tweaks for the size change, and my own butane burner design.  I wrote an article on the construction which was the July/August 2007 cover story of Live Steam & Outdoor Railroading.
Kozo's books are a very valuable resource for anyone who wants to learn how to scratchbuild.  He provides clear, well-illustrated instructions for basic machining, silver soldering, bending, filing, heat treating, ..., you name it.  Kozo himself had a very modest set of tools, and a small workshop.  

Best Regards,
Ed


----------



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Ed. I thought it looked familiar.  I've been pouring over Kozo's Heisler book... trying to decide if I want to tackle the 3/4" scale version. hehehe I also just ordered his Shay and Climax books. You're right!! His Heisler book is amazing!! Everything one needs to know to successfully pull it off except the commitment.  

One photo page shows a guy's loco in which the loco itself is 3/4" scale, but with the wheels gauged to 4-3/4" - a terrific idea if you ask me... the advantages and portability of a 3/4" scale loco combined with the better ride-on stability of the wider track.


----------

