# New member and mason bogie



## Bender (Apr 16, 2013)

Hello folks! 
I' m from France and relativly new on the hobby ! I've found your forum and since I think This is a first class one because There is a lots of good men and advises!.. 
My interest is on the american steam locomotives from the end of the 19 century to the early years of the 20 th; I already have bachmann 440 , porter, and LGB forney and I Will have a mason bogie ( live steam) from accucraft soon.. 
As to This day not built a definitive layout ( mine Will be on the garden) I have some questions regarding That and the live steam... 
First, I have read That mason bogie is not the first loco to start With but sorry I love it and cannot resiSt to have one !...so is There some live steamers here to give advises to me about This loco? ( do and do not ? ) 
What Will be the best curves for That locomotive ? 
Thanks in anticipation, 
Yves


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Welcome aboard Yves.









There are a fair number of individuals here that have Accucraft Mason Bogies, however, I would suggest that you make a posting to the *Live Steam Forum* and ask your questions. You will likely get a much better response to your questions.









As a new member, you might want to check out the FAQ[/b][/b] (always available from the *Resources* section of the main blue menu bar at the top of every page). The answers to a number of questions as to how the site works and how to do stuff can be found here.

You may also wish to familiarize yourself with the Forum Rules and Guidelines[/b][/b], also always available as a sticky thread at the top of the *Public Forum*.

It shouldn't be long until you get answers to your questions.

Again, welcome to the forums!!


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## zubi (May 14, 2009)

Yves, welcome to live steam! Congratulations with your first love steamer!! Mason Bogie is somewhat more demanding than most Accucraft locomotives. Especially the version equipped with axle pump is tricky. But this is a beautiful engine and a great choice as a first locomotive, you will soon learn to operate it. Before we give you any advices, please let us know which version you have and if you prepared all the supplies required: steam oil, butane and soft tap water. Best wishes from Tokyo, Zubi


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By zubi on 18 Apr 2013 05:33 AM 
...and if you prepared all the supplies required: steam oil, butane and soft tap water.

This argument has been raised before and I have no wish to start it up again, but I would NOT use tap water in any of my live steamers. I, and most here, use only STEAM DISTILLED water. These locomotives are way too expensive not to. Why take chances when STEAM DISTILLED water is so cheap? Especially if you're a beginner and this is your first live steamer, play it safe until you've learned enough to make your own judgment. 
And welcome to MLS!!!


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

Dwight, 

Distilled water is cheap in the U.S. Not so much in other parts of the world. Ask Tac what it costs in Britain. I do not know what the cost is in France. I would still use it, just not sure it is "so cheap." 

I have one of the bogies with the axle pump. It is no harder to operate than the others if you do not use the pump. It does however require more maintenance due to the reversing system on it.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Rich - whatever the cost, compared to the price I'm sure he paid for the Mason, it's cheap!


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## Don Howard (Jan 2, 2008)

Bender, 
Bienvenu(welcome) 

Je suis un amateur des chemins de fer a crémaillere. I love cog railways(rack in the UK) 
Also, the mason bogie. 

Distilled water use and purchase here in the US, and in Belgium. 
I use the distilled water for both live steam and for a sleep apnea humidifier. 

Here in the US we can go to Walmart and buy a gallon(a little less than 4 liters) of distilled water for less than $1.00. 
Grocery stores cost a little more at about $1.40. 

I bought some demineralized water in Belgium in 2006 to use and was not happy. 
In 2008 I bought some "sterile" water at the pharmacy to use instead. 

I looked at amazon.fr for "eau distillée" and the first thing that came up was a 1 liter bottle from Hornby in the UK at 10€. 

Before you use "eau démineralisee" read these: 
http://www.une-eau-pure.com/purification-de-leau/difference-eau-distillee-et-eau-demineralisee.html 
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eau_distillée 

A google.fr search for "eau distillée" was interesting: http://www.google.fr/search?q=l'eau+distillée&hl=fr&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 
Google shopping found: http://www.google.fr/aclk?sa=L&ai=C...umpiece=10616&rct=j&q=l'eau distillée&cad=rja 

The store where you bought the mason bogie should be able to supply distilled water as well as the correct steam oil. 

If there is anything you don't understand in the English language responses I'll be glad to help translate into French. 
(Je peut traduire les responses ici si on a besoin) 

Don Howard 
Webmaster: vgrs.us


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## zubi (May 14, 2009)

Soft tap water is actually safer to use on miniature boilers than distilled water. Best wishes, Zubi


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah Zubi, as I said, I've read all the arguments, both pro and con, here before, and I have no wish to beat that dead horse again, preferring to allow it to RIP. hehehe


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## Bender (Apr 16, 2013)

In first thanks a lot for all the advises !...sorry for the answer delay but I just discovert the post today and I think I have to search how This forum is working!... 
Zubi , I'm waiting for the accucraft Green San Juan one as I read here it is the one older than the tenmiles... 
No I have nothing to start With!...let me know what is the better water for it as it seems That There is some differents sources!... 
Yes Don if you can translate the water problem I Will be happy! 
Steve sorry if I have post at the wrong place! 
Can you let me know how to see if I have some reply? 
Thanks again to all of you I have read all the post here regarding the mason bogie it is wonderfull!!..


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Bender on 02 May 2013 12:35 AM 
{snip...}[/i] Steve sorry if I have post at the wrong place! {snip...}[/i]
Yves

No apology needed, it is not that you posted your reply in the wrong forum. It is just the fact that people tend to only look at the postings in the particular forum that covers their interests, and not so much at the postings in other forums. As a result, when looking to get the greatest response to your inquires on live-steam questions or comments, it is best to post in the Live Steam Forum where the most people interested in live-steam look.










{snip...}[/i] Can you let me know how to see if I have some reply? {snip...}[/i] Currently the software has a problem with sorting and listing the posted topics in their correct chronological order on any of the forum pages, which makes finding a particular topic rather difficult.

In the upper portion of the MLS web page there is the *Forum Toolbar* (see following image).










[*]Two pages where the sort order has remained in chronological order are the two highlighted in the above image (i.e. _Not Read_ & _Active Topics_). [*]The *Active Topics* page lists all topics that are _new_ or existing topics _that have new content_ posted since your last visit to MLS. Note, the scope (i.e. date range) of the topics listed on the page can be controlled using the drop-down list box located just below the right end of the _Forum Toolbar_.
[*]The *Not Read* page lists all topics currently present on the MLS web site that you have not viewed.
[/list][*]In both cases, the first time you use either of these two pages there will be a great many topics listed (e.g. multiple pages of topics). What I would suggest, is the first time you use either page. [*]In the case of the *Active Topics* page, use the scope control to limit the number of topics listed.
[*]In the case of the *Not Read* page, use the







button located at the bottom-left of page to clear all listed topics, then the next time you visit the number of topics listed will not be so great.[/list][/list][/list][/list]


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## Bender (Apr 16, 2013)

ok thanks Steve!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

You can buy an electric steam distiller for 100-150 bucks. Makes a gallon at a time for pennies. 

Greg


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## Bender (Apr 16, 2013)

Hi Greg! 
I have thought the same things of you and start to see That for distilled water!... 
Thanks anyway!


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

Unless distilled water goes above $1.00 per gallon it is cheaper for me to buy it at the grocery store than to run my electric distiller. This is based on the ACTUAL current draw not on the RATED current draw. (My distiller draws 40% more power than the advertised draw.) 
Larry


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## Bender (Apr 16, 2013)

Ok thanks Larry This is something to keep in mind!...


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