# First Live Steam Engine



## PFCdasilva (Apr 3, 2008)

I have been looking into live steam for some time now, and right now the Lutz Hielscher G-scale locomotives seem very interesting to me. What do you all think? 

I liked (from what I saw) 
1. That they were a good price (the army doesn't pay much) 
2. That they were made to be RC 
3. German prototype 
4. More realistic then a Mamod, easier to make RC then the Accucraft line, not as toy like as the Mamod, and not as ordinary as the Accucraft line 

However I was unsure because 
1. They still look kinda toy like 
2. The couplers 
3. Haven't found any reviews on them 

(Realism is not much of a concern, just as long as they look prototypical to a degree) 

Does anyone have any expierence with them? 
Thank you


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is a response from a prior discussion: 
Hi down and under 2foot! 
Yes i do have some ex with Wilesco Lukas,i build 2 of them and let me tell you its frustrating even for an lets say experinced tinkerer ,no power,overstated performance,you are better of with a ruby,or similar engine.I used the Lukas Boiler for my Ruby project ,but only after i resilversoldert the fittings and straighten up the flue.Wilesco claimed the Boiler is silversoldert,yes,partialy(the flue,backhead + boilerfrontplate)all the fittings are softsoldert! 
Be happy,steam awhile 
Manfred


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## PFCdasilva (Apr 3, 2008)

Not the Lucas,


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is another review awhile ago, as one can tell by the price which is much more than in the review: 
Around $300 (now more in the cost of 500 euro), Hielscher begins to offer their real live steam engines. These little four-wheeled engines have true boilers; fired on distilled spirits or alcohol. The company offers them dressed up with an American-style diamond stack, a Welsh narrow-gauge styling, a steam dummy, or a simple German 0-4-0T. US importers sell them for about $385. For about the same price these days, you can pick up a G-scale live steamer from Accucraft. Their simple, low-priced “Ruby” has captured the garden-scale live steam market by storm; and with a variety of accessories on the market, you can make it look like what you want…even a Forney! 

So for the cost about $750 USD one could consider a few of those "ordinary" Accucraft engines that IMHO offer more for the money. Marklin is a bit higher but both are a much better product. 

We do own and enjoy the Stanley steamer!


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## PFCdasilva (Apr 3, 2008)

So would you say that the Lutz Hielscher locomotives are pretty good though still? 
I dont have a lot of time to devote to this hobby sadly, I have other hobbies, and I am in the military and other things that come with the military. 

/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif If I had the means I would have something much... larger


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## HMeinhold (Jan 2, 2008)

The Regner locos (easy line) are also pretty good locos. 
Regards


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Personally, I would be spending my money on one of the Regner models. 

My $0.02./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/whistling.gif 

tac the Griper 
www.ovgrs.org


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Regners sure have a good reputation. Jerry


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## PFCdasilva (Apr 3, 2008)

Regner makes some nice looking stuff, its just that their locomotives are all around 800 dollars a pop from the American dealers. 

In general what do y'all think of Lutz Hielscher?


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## weaverc (Jan 2, 2008)

If you are willing to pay the premium of a low dollar against European currency, then you might consider one of Roundhouse Engineering's locomotives. They always run perfecly right out of the box and they are simple to maintain. 
http://www.roundhouse-eng.com/ 
One small locomotive I recommend you consider is the Billy, an 0-4-0 Tank, which comes either fully assembled (manual or R/C) or is available in a kit. I recommend the kit because you not only save money, but you learn a lot about how a live steamer is assembled, how it works and how to keep it in adjustment. A picture of my Billy with a William tender, R/C, working headlights,a whistle and other modifications, is shown below.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Good idea Carl. He could buy the chassis kit, then buy the other kits as he has the money. Plus, would know how to work on it also. Jerry


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## Dave -- Use Coal (Feb 19, 2008)

I agree. You cannot go wrong with an Roundhouse as your first engine. 

The saying "Nothing runs like a Roundhouse." has been around for a long time. The Roundhouse engines are good runners and fun to opereate. If you want to put one together yourself, you can get the necessary bits and pieces from Roundhouse. 

Either way I suggest you spend a couple of hours studing all the information on the Roundhous web site. 

Dave


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