# Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY



## billbag (Oct 28, 2008)

I have sniffed around this long enough, now I feel the need to move on. My 1st recent purchase some Accucraftt 2 axle flat cars [8] to do a small layout in my back yard -300' or so. 
 
Have some LBG & Aristocraft cars from X-mas tree sets, consider everything but the LBG 2-4-0 engine junk. 
After geeting these Accucraft cars.
 
I understand steam & servos/RC, don't understand the electronics to convert myLBG to RC.
 
Thus I want to go to one of the subject engines, for my prime mover on the Native Texan & Western. ???WHICH WOULD YOU BUY???.
 
 Sammy appears to be about a50% premium, and is built in England, they brought you the Jaguar [F.O.R.D.] Fix or repair dailey.
 
This will not be my last question
 
Thanks
 
Bill Bagley
 
[email protected]


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## chooch (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY*

Bill, 
Why don't you ask this question in the "Live Steam" forum? I would think that if you are asking questions about live steamers, that would be the best place to ask. Just a suggestion.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY*

Moved from the Beginners Forum


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## scottemcdonald (Jan 11, 2008)

*RE: Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY*

Bill, 

I have owned both, and based on your question as a very new person to Live Steam, I would recommend the Roundhouse Sammy. Its just my opinion, so I'm sure there may be others who feel the opposite, but let me give you my personal reason why. 

Accucraft Ruby - It can be a great running locomotive and I enjoy mine very much. But I'm not a novice and I had to do some things to it, fresh out of the box to make it a 'great' running locomotive. Many of those items have been chronicled here on this forum. Each one out of the box may run a little different from another, and depending on its own little quirks, there are a number of things that 'may' (not always) have to be accomplished to make it the great little runner that it can be. So based on that alone, I would say that it could very possibly turn a newcomer off to live team if they are not willing to work with it. 

Roundhouse Sammy - Mine, out of the box, ran perfect every time, never a moments hesitation and I've never heard of anyone having a problem with any Roundhouse product fresh out of the box. I could turn the gas down very low, to the point where you really thought that it wasn't even burining once steam was up, and I could get a 30 minute run pulling a small consist (about six) of short flat cars or small LGB wine barrels. Its a very rugged little loco, and I gave mine up to get a person into the live steam hobby as I knew it would be the perfect beginner loco. 

Price, yes there is a difference between the two, and depending on your budget and time and willingness to be able to learn the ins and outs of live steam, will probably be your deciding factor. Before making the decision, read the Ruby related articles under the "Informative Threads" section of this forum to see if you would be willing or able to follow through on some of the suggestions should you need to. 

Good luck, and whatever your decision is, you will always find a lot of helpful people here at the Live Steam Fourms to help you. 

Scott


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY*

I have engines from both manufacturers, and I agree completely with Scott. You might want to hold off on spending anything on the LGB, since once you get into live steam, you may not want to go back to electric. 

Larry


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY*

Bill, 
Scott tells it like it is. A Sammy is the best choice for a beginer. You will be very satisfied. The Ruby is a good engine but takes a lot of fussing and tweeking to get it to perform at optimum, whereas the Sammy, like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going and going..... 
Noel


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

Now is a good time to buy a Roundhouse engine. The pound is down quite a bit against the dollar.

There has long been the saying "nothing runs like a Roundhouse."

Given my ten year or so experiance, my choice is very much in favor of the Roundhouse engine.


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## Tenn Steam (Jan 3, 2008)

The first live steamer I ever saw was a Ruby out of the box. I opened the box, read the instructions and ran the Ruby. Is it a great engine? No. Did it work to make me enjoy live steam? Yes. I built a kit Ruby and again followed instructions, including reversed admission, etc. It ran even better than the factory built. 
Would I buy another? No I already have several. Would I buy a Roundhouse? Probably. Astor builds expensive engines, but I would never recommend a new live steamer to spend the money, before discovering if live steam is the route to go with railroading. 
My two cents worth, probably not worth that with the present economy

Bob


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Every Roundhouse locomotive is tested on air during and after the final assemby by Mr Loxley and his team. I'm not certain if the basic locos are then tested again in steam, but I know that every locomotive that I have ever seen has been so tested. If it doesn't run to the satisfaction of the tester, it is then sent back to the assembly shop to be rebuilt, but in truth, I have never actually heard of that happening, nor has anybody I know here who has any Roundhouse mode.

Accucraft, on the other hand, may test their locos on air, but more than that I can't tell, and I have three of them, from the top-of-the-line Garratt to the two-cylinder Shay. There was nothing at all to suggest that any of them had been tested on anything except air.

Over here you can go visit the Roundhouse factory in historic Doncaster, and see them being made - or just look on the website for yourself.

I have not the faintest notion what the Accucraft factory looks like.

Sadly, Roundhouse make nothing that even faintly attracts me, now that they have ceased production of the excellent little Forney.

tac
www.ovgrs.org


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## JoelB (Jan 3, 2008)

*RE: Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY*

Bill, 

If you're new to live steam, or this engine might be your one and only, IMHO the extra that you'd pay for the Roundhouse engine is worth it. The Accucraft engines can be great value for money -- I've had three of them -- but their quality control is extremely uneven. As you can tell from all the previous replies, quality control is one of Roundhouse's hallmarks. Thus the extra money spent (even taking into account shipping from the UK, which is expensive) really is worth it when considering how much potential frustration and rework you'd be avoiding. 

The only caveat with a Roundhouse basic series engine is that they're all slip eccentric, i.e. you have to push the engine a couple of inches forward or back to change direction. This may or may not be a big deal for you; keep in mind that small-scale live steamers (the engines, not their owners) are generally not doing a lot of switching/shunting, they tend to be set up with a string of cars and left to run. 

Hope this helps you with your decision.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

*RE: Accucraft "Ruby" VS Roundhouse SAMMY*

Depending your budget I would go for a Roundhouse. Even a slip eccentric is no big deal I own one myself. If you can afford a Roundhouse though I'd compare more of the larger Accucraft ones than the Ruby though. The 2cyl Shay and Mogul have always been bulletproof. They are re-releasing the Mogul a 3rd run with a sightglass and new paint schemes, probally will see around Jan or so. Used Mogule from the 1st run have seems to run smoother but that can also be from it being broken in. I have a 1st gen Mogul and it is a great loco with tremendous pulling power for its size. Also the new USRA 060 in 1:29 I think was one of their smoothest running loco's i've seen run out of the box. They are around 999.00


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## Paul Norton (Jan 8, 2008)

There is a Roundhouse Sammy in the Items For Sale section of our club web site for CDN$500.










Here is the link.

http://ovgrs.editme.com/Buy

The price is in Canadian dollars which means a discount for American buyers.


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## Steamer91 (Oct 13, 2011)

Well, I personally never have owned a Roundhouse engine, but I've heard good things about them, and the "Basic" line (which includes Millie, Bertie, and Sammy) I've heard nothing but praise about.

When I got into live steam, my budget was decidedly limited, $500, so I basically a choice between a Ruby and an MSS side-tank, so Ruby ended up winning on the grounds that it was designed to be a practical garden railroad locomotive, and it was an American-style design, so I ended up getting a kit for $420 when all was said and done (I think Rubies are going in the neighborhood of $500+ now). 

I did have difficulties building it and getting it to run, but that was mainly the fault of me and not the engine itself, the biggest thing in my mind was getting the engine timed correctly and then re-timing it again to use inside admission on the valves. In the end, I learned a lot, way more than I would've learned just taking a finished engine out from a box, and to this day my Ruby is a good performer and is still running on the original cylinders, never bothered getting the bigger upgrade ones as she already pulls a good load up and down the grades of my garden RR.

Put simply, buy what you can afford and what suits what you want to do. If you want to save a few bucks and a willing to tinker and learn something, get a Ruby. If you want to spend a bit more and have an engine which is tuned and ready out of the box (and you don't mind having to give a push to set the direction of travel with slip eccentrics), get a Sammy.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow this was brought back from thebdead. A 2008 thread.


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