# Reger locos



## [email protected] (Jun 4, 2019)

Has anyone any good or bad comments about Reger locos. There is a new Heisler being offered. Thanks::confused


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## bigsteam (Mar 6, 2008)

I think you mean Regner not Reger.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

There will be some who will always whine about the brass boiler. Those guys need to get a grip. I've seen many Bing locomotives with brass boilers running over more than 100 years old. Your mileage may vary.

I used to be the proprietor of the Train Department for a short while when it was exclusively *REGNER*. I have seen three boilers go bad. They were killed by running them out of water with the burner still going like mad, then squirting some water into the feed valve. I've seen Aster boilers fail under the same circumstances. Again, your mileage may vary.


P.S. they use a specific formulation of brass (of which I cannot remember off the top of my head) and not just some random brass off of the scrap heap. They know what they are doing.


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## [email protected] (Jun 4, 2019)

You are right Big stream. I did mean Regner. It sounds like they have been around for a while now and Seadawg agrees that they are well made then.


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## Steve Ciambrone (Feb 25, 2014)

I have five Regner engines they all run very well, excellent craftmanship and quality.


Steve


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## [email protected] (Jun 4, 2019)

Thanks Steve. I am relatively new to live steam so it is nice to hear back from those with more experience.


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

*German livesteam manufacturers*

Regner is perhaps the most well known German manufacturer of live steam locomotives outside Germany, using 45mm track gauge. But there are others, of which I list a few. The primary filosofie in design, is that "models should work and run". Detailing etc is nice, but secondary to operational dependability and solid construction. They will all make sure your model runs well.


WYKO A producer of larger locomotives in 1:32 with pricing comparable to Aster, but in my view better construction and running characteristics. Will deliver RTR or kits in stages according to agreement. Will also modify models, or build coal boilers to order. He speaks English.
https://www.wyko-echtdampf.de/


Herrmann Echdampf He has a very god webshop that you should check out. He now also offers a steamdriven feedwater pump - but gives no list price! :-I He only delivers locomotives that have actually been testrun, and so he says are very suitable for beginners. He has got much acclaim for this Mallet https://www.echtdampfwelt.de/echtdampflok-seg-mallet.html 

He also offers an 1:13 locomotive.
I'm very curious about his steam regulator. It seems to be designed in a new way. The screw operates indirectly on an internal valve. (Rubber ball???) It opens fully with 90 degree turn, and always closes completetely. I want to take one apart! ;-D (I would be very surprised if he doesn't speak English - it's a generation thing.)


Regner you know of http://www.regner-dampftechnik.com/


A Swiss manufacturer Dampfateliers "Am Kilometer 103,455" offers a model both 1:21 and 1:13.3 scale as well. He will also fix up or modify locomotives.
https://echtdampfmodelle.ch/produkte1/schinznacher-baumschulbahn-lukas


DMR Reppingen His "website" is a disaster unfortunately. I guess he gets all the business he wants anyway ;-D He also offers coal fired engines, and a nice locomotive in 1:13,3 for 45mm gauge. Kits or ready to run. I've bought parts from him, of which a lot weren't listed, which maybee explains his website., His service was more than excellent. He will fix up or modify any locomotive. If he communicates in English, I do not know. I have a feeling not.


I have to mention Dieter Knupfer. He produces extremely fine screws and nuts. Like cupola M1 nuts! https://knupfer.info/shop/index.php...-hut-spezial/modell-hutmuttern/205-ms-10.html I just couldn't help myself buying 25 of the irresistable gems. I've only used two so far, but I sometimes just pick them out of storage, and look at them with almost teary eyes. I know I'm nuts, but I'm sure there are other nutters out there who can understand me. ;-D

For fastening some parts on models, these "semi fake" screws are nice. https://knupfer.info/shop/index.php/deutsch/imitate-und-spezialschrauben/micro-stehbolzen.html I don't know the English term for "Stehbolzen". In Swedish I wouId call them "pin-bolts". Only these have fixed nuts to them. In live steam, Dieter is into 5" and tracksystem.


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## [email protected] (Jun 4, 2019)

Thanks Pauli for the info. I would feel very confident about ordering one of these Heisler locos now. 
Brian


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes Brian, I think it is probably one of the most dependable sources / manufacturer there is. The only competing manufacturer to this German cluster, is Roundhouse in England.

Anything else, leaves some chance of tinkering, or finicky operation. Although Accucraft is ok - but not quite as solid in operation an quality, in my experience. (I love their "Daylight though...  )


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## Gerald (Apr 8, 2013)

*Regner Heisler*

Hi Brian, 

In another forum is currently being discussed violently about Regner and Accucraft heislers, now you can read it yourself. I do not comment on that.

https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/new-regner-live-steam-heisler.313877/

At the most as far as spare parts of both companies are concerned...



> They were killed by running them out of water with the burner still going like mad, then squirting some water into the feed valve


Unfortunately that happened to me already, for little money, about 200.00 USD, Regner has delivered me a spare boiler within a few days.

Whether Accucraft that with his, as a unique model built Heisler can also ???

The Regner Heisler builds on its Easyline models, not very detailed, but as long as the company exists, almost all spare parts are available at any time.

If you do not have two left hands, you can do some details and practical changes yourself.

For example, rebuild the smoke chamber, very practical to observe the gas burner, I once made with my Konrad

https://www.schienendampf.com/34487225nx30160/tuning-f35/open-rauchkammer-door-fuer-konrad-willie--und-amp-co-t2189.html

Please be indulgent with my english, the translation program can not do any better.

Greetings from Austria
Gerald


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> But there are others, of which I list a few.


What about Ralph Reppingen? I've had some dealings with him.
http://www.reppingen.de/


Or does all that german that I don't understand mean he has retired?


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

I would not worry about the Regner company being around for ever. 1) There will always be a buyer for the Regner company and brand 2) more importainly, there is a cluster of companies supporting the same category and system dof technology.

The Germans have developed an industry standard regarding key components. using either M5x0,5mm or M6x0,75 mm thread for fittings.(Both non usual metric standard, but suitable for live steam standard. But tools are availabe. Like I could buy them in any tool company.) And the rest will in the worst case, be manufactured on order - at a very reasonable cost. Even pistons are only made in a few dimensions. Evyrone competing about the best design.

The reason is actually culturally explained, ;-D The Swedish are the same as the Germans. It seems we are more "Germanic" than the English. Their (non) thread "standard" mess, is francly revolting to my "Germanic" soul. What ever whent wrong with the English?1? Where did they loose vthe Germanic sense of order and logic? And you suffer from this English confusion.

Metric threads; The French sort of joined metric threads - because they invented the metric system. Europen history is very much intertwined. You americans inherited the ideas for your constitution - but English threads. Whateaver whent wrong?!? Admittedly, there is a prioryty of matters. But still annoying.

We, as confident Germanic people, love industry standards. Like when we invented "Bluetooth" standard radio communication, or 3/4G telephony. They are all Swedish standards, globally negotiated. Because standards in the long run, makes a market grow. And then you make sure to compete... (Bluetooth is the name of a Danish Viking king 911-986 AD. He had a dead blue front tooth. :-D These kings always rather often received surprisingly descriptive names. Like the Swedish king called "the stuttering an limping"!!!!! Aparantly the kings knew, and still did not behead people... If in that position, I fear I would be kind of inclined to do something terrible... On the other hand you have the Norwegian king "Harald hårfagre" = "Harald with the beatiful hair".

There will be spare parts for German live steam models from a silly number of sources beyond a lifetime. Which is sadly not true for an expensive Aster model. :-(


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

Pete, I did mention Reppingen. He has not retired! He excellent. But has anything but something a usabable website.:-(

Do you know if he speaks English acceptably? Because he is really a solid "purveior" of live steam and nice detailing parts.


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## Werner Jeggli (Jan 3, 2008)

Pauli,

Objection! Both M5 x 0.5 and M6 x 0.75 are regular metric fine threads !

Werner


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## fsts2k (Jan 13, 2009)

Pauli said:


> Herrmann Echdampf He has a very god webshop that you should check out. He now also offers a steamdriven feedwater pump - but gives no list price! :-I He only delivers locomotives that have actually been testrun, and so he says are very suitable for beginners. He has got much acclaim for this Mallet https://www.echtdampfwelt.de/echtdampflok-seg-mallet.html
> .


This is stunning.. I may need to figure out how to order one. What I find interesting is how similar it looks to the LGB model. I may be coveting it because it was THE engine that got me excited about trains and G scale, I dreamed about this since I was 5... 

Wonder, does this mean it looked like LGB because that was easy to model or because that is really what the prototype looked like? As I matured in the hobby I found my view of LGB as great runners but not so great in realism.

Kevin


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Pauli said:


> Pete, I did mention Reppingen. He has not retired! He excellent. But has anything but something a usabable website.:-(
> 
> Do you know if he speaks English acceptably? Because he is really a solid "purveior" of live steam and nice detailing parts.


Sorry, Pauli - yes you did mention him.

I can confirm his English is terrible. We bought some parts from him many moons ago, and between Babelfish and my school german we managed. (Took him forever to ship, as I ordered several Ruckschlagventil from him which he had to make, I suspect!)

A recent order was much easier. I think he has admin support who does speak English.

The website used to be much better. I wonder why he simplified it.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> He also offers an 1:13 locomotive.


That's the feldbahn (field-railway) loco that LGB makes in 1:22.5 - electric. This must be much bigger.

https://www.echtdampfwelt.de/echtdampflok-feldbahn-o-k.html

Cute little beast and only $1765 pre VAT for export. Tempting


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

@ Kevin The SEG mallet has a beloved prototype. https://www.google.com/search?q=seg...gIECQ&cshid=1573101531444126&biw=1229&bih=578

The model running


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## Pauli (Jan 3, 2008)

@Pete Compare Reppingen and Herrmans 1:13 locomotives. I think Reppingen charges almost nothing extra for coal firing. (I may remember wrongly.)


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## RobMW (Aug 7, 2011)

I have run a Regner Lumberjack for several years now and love it. I would recommend buying the kit as you get to know your engine intimately and are not scared to pull it apart and fix it when required. 
As others have said, its not the most detailed loco but its a great runner and handles the tight curves (1200mm) on my Bush Tramway with ease. Its also very power full and will climb steep grades and haul plenty of wagons. 
I have only boiled the boiler dry once, when I was distracted by guests, but I quickly turned off the burner and it didnt sustain any damage. The gears are a little lightweight and I have had to replace them all. Parts were delivered fairly quickly to downunder. I made new axles as that was cheaper than buying genuine.
I saw the Train Department email last week and I would love to run a Heisler, but the price kills that idea for me. Ahh well.
Vid's are on my YT channel. I cant post links so search for Addledoo Bush Tramway or copy and paste the tiny URLs below.

Cheers
RobMW

Brisbane, Australia. [ GMT/UTC + 10:00h ]
Garden Railway : goo.gl/ZoXUZw
Stationary Steam Restorations: goo.gl/UxLE7U


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## GusS (Sep 15, 2015)

One thing you should check out is that the two Regner loco's I have had to be modified. They use a different type of gas fill valve, and also the goodall water valve had to be silver soldered in place. Jason at The Train Department performed the work for me before delivery at a fair price. If you do go with the Regner check with Jason to see if this is an issue with their new loco.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

I am between the Heisler and a Accucraft Mich Cal Shay #2 that I have a line on that is very lightly used. Need something to pull my LGB disconnect cars, so a smaller model looks better with those disconnect cars. Cant do anything till we get our new contract bonus here at FCA or I sell my Pearse Earl and matching consist of rolling stock. Mike the Aspie


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Im a big fan of the Regner locos. I currently have the Lumberjack, Class A Climax, Konrad, Otto and order the Heisler. All run very well, are easy to maintain, run slow and handle grades well. Lots of kitbash potential as well. I used Jay from the Train Department for all my Regner stuff. Its also easier getting parts for a Regner then it is for an Accucraft. The Regner has a different gas valve but its real easy to change out with a Ronson s type valve. That can be ordered from the train department.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

I haven't changed any of my fill valves. It is a different type and it is not self venting like the ronson type. Just gotta open the fuel regulator when filling and listen / watch for liquid fuel at the burner and it's full!


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## Captain Dan (Feb 7, 2008)

Hi all,


Was looking at this thread. 

At Diamondhead I made the plunge and bought a Regner Heisler. I have just had time since I got home to run the engine. It runs well. The speed is very controllable and appropriate for a geared loco.


As far as I can tell, there is no exact prototype. That being said, the loco follows the 14 ton small Heislers except that the boiler is a little big. Overall, it "looks" the part. I am happy with it.


I also bought the Ronson fueling adaptor from The Train Department. Just makes life easier. The diamond stack is an option. I also immediately put 'safety chains' on the coupler pins. 



I got almost 30 minutes from the gas tank. The engine has a Goodall valve, which is needed. (Usual 4mm-5/32" hose required on spray bottle.)
One different feature-the Goodall valve is on the water gauge glass. But, the water gauge glass is 6mm and it appears to work.


As far as the brass boiler, I plan on draining the boiler whenever the loco will be unused for more than a few days. BTW, the boiler certificate notes that the brass is "Cu Zn 37" All you metallurgists, enjoy 



Happy that I bought the loco. My first Regner. Did not need to "fix" the loco to get it to run well!


Dan


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## Captain Dan (Feb 7, 2008)

BTW, just looked up the brass CU Zn 37, One "typical use" is 

'radiator cores and tanks.'


I'm thinking that this boiler will last longer than me.


Dan


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## rbednarik (Jan 2, 2008)

Captain Dan said:


> BTW, just looked up the brass CU Zn 37, One "typical use" is
> 
> 'radiator cores and tanks.'
> 
> ...





Dan,

It will indeed likely outlast the owners with that metal choice. Brass radiator cores and end tanks use distilled water as their cooling medium (with anti-freeze Glycol added in most cases) and the same exposure goes for some automobile freeze (welch) plugs made from the same brass. 

Most of the failures of these radiators comes from external means or some other foreign particulate plugging up the radiator core and causing a pressure blow out of the tank seam or core braze joint...which is usually caused by those who think filling up the radiator with tap water is ok. 

Distilled water in a brass boiler of this composition should not be as dire as others make it out to be. Of course, this is assuming that the distilled water is not really deionized water in disguise. That will cause issues with zinc leaching out of the metal. However I would expect the boiler fittings to be the first to start to fail in that case as the brass fittings are usually not made from the same high grade of metal. 

As an aside, the lower the 37 corresponds to the % of Zn in the metal, the lower the Zn number, the higher the copper content...so the better resistance to dezincification of the metal.


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## seadawg (Jan 2, 2008)

Captain Dan said:


> BTW, just looked up the brass CU Zn 37, One "typical use" is
> 
> 'radiator cores and tanks.'
> 
> ...


Yeah, I'm not too hung up on the brass boilers. There are plenty of 100+ year old live steam locos out there still running.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> As far as I can tell, there is no exact prototype. That being said, the loco follows the 14 ton small Heislers except that the boiler is a little big. Overall, it "looks" the part. I am happy with it.


It is a model of the first Heisler ever built. See 
https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/new-regner-live-steam-heisler.313877/


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

Like Pete said it's based off the very first Heisler built. Overall it is fairly close to the original Heisler with the exception of the cylinders. The prototype did not use oscillating cylinders but to me, it adds a little more interest. 
I found the speed is perfect and will run at 1 bar even when the temps are in the 20's Fahrenheit. I like how they added the Regner filler valve (Goodale) above the sight glass. First Regner that came with one. I like the look of the engine with the diamond stack vs the straight.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

A fiend brought one to a steamup and I noticed that the speed you see on videos is actually as fast as it will go. It also seemed light on power. It looks like it is about 6 to 1 gear ratio for the little cylinders to pull a load. 

The only way to fill the boiler is through the goodall valve mounted on top of the sight glass.

It does not perform as well as the Accucraft but is cheaper and still a fun little loco to run


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## snowshoe (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> A fiend brought one to a steamup and I noticed that the speed you see on videos is actually as fast as it will go. It also seemed light on power. It looks like it is about 6 to 1 gear ratio for the little cylinders to pull a load.
> 
> The only way to fill the boiler is through the goodall valve mounted on top of the sight glass.
> 
> It does not perform as well as the Accucraft but is cheaper and still a fun little loco to run


You can fill the boiler up using the safety under the dome, like most of the other Regners. I had mine pulling three log cars, with real logs and a small boxcar with no problem in 27-degree weather. I would imagine it will pull more especially in warmer temps.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

Bill, you might notice that the difference in both size and weight have a huge impact on tractive effort being the WSL is a 37ton locomotive.


The Regner is a 10mm bore vs the Accucraft WSL is a 5/8" bore. A difference of 1/4" is quite huge in ability to pull.


If you want to compare things equally its a match up to the Catatonk Heisler built by Mike Chaney. Both models were 14t and both are the same size physically.


As to filling, every Regner is filled and drained through the safety valve. You always want to drain the boiler after the run and I leave the safety out so the boiler is dry during storage.


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## bille1906 (May 2, 2009)

Thanks Shawn & Jay
I wasn't trying to be critical just letting potential buyers know of the differences I saw between the two. 
For the money, the Regner seems to be a good deal.

Also, this was the maiden run so it may run better after it is broken in.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> this was the maiden run so it may run better after it is broken in.


All Regners seem to work better as they are broken in. My 2 are nice a free-running now.


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## Kovacjr (Jan 2, 2008)

bille1906 said:


> Thanks Shawn & Jay
> I wasn't trying to be critical just letting potential buyers know of the differences I saw between the two.
> For the money, the Regner seems to be a good deal.
> 
> Also, this was the maiden run so it may run better after it is broken in.





Even better Regner will get me repair parts for locos that could be 30+ years old!


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