My a-3 pictures

[nightsky02]

I want to say thanks to the members who answered my questions regarding building this locomotive. Especially to Ed Hume, proprieter of this site.
I started building the A3 as only a static display, I didnt believe it could perform as Kozo claimed. After seeing John Hudaks A3 on YouTUBE, I got motivated and made this a functional machine.
I`m new to model engineering, but I built a RGG Gatling Gun 2 years ago with sucess.
I live in Michigan, and I dont believe there is a 3.5 inch guage track in this state, so my A3 may never truly be tested.
I`ve never met another model engineer, so I rely on this forum for help and advice. I`ve been working in Iraq as a machinist, but I`m home now(laid off), so I have plenty of time to complete this project.
I included a link to my photos, as Ed Hume suggested. I dont know how to build a website, nor do I have the patience (LOL) I`m not to good at this internet thing, but heres my best effort!
www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=253879533/a=152683655_152683655/t_=152683655

[nightsky02]

I posted the URL to my photos, for some reason it requires a password. Password is ronibe. Can someone logon to it and make it where no password is needed? Thankyou! Security isnt a n issue for me, they are just pics.

[Ed Hume]

Ron,

These discussion groups were started by the Discover Live Steam website. Harlock and I were made administrators just to help out - we are not the owners or proprietors - just helpers. Harlock has done more than I to improve the site. You are welcome for getting help - it makes the board interesting and we all learn from the experiences of others.

Many of the guys are using www.flickr.com to host their photos - that is one of the few sites where the viewer does not need to login. Also, by using ALL SIZES button, you can get the URL of an image and use that to post photos directly. The other flickr members can leave comments on your photos and use the Contacts feature to quickly see when you have posted. Using flickr requires a yahoo login but that is no big deal since many of the guys have one from joining the yahoo group for Kozo builders. There are also other yahoo groups for shays, Allen locomotives, narrow gauge, you name it! So I would suggest you get a yahoo account, and then use that to get setup with flickr.

Regards,
Ed

[pkastagehand]

Wecome to the group. Just curious; what part of MI are you in? I'm in SW MI, not too far from Grand Rapids. Always looking for others to visit and share notes, show work, swap tips and tricks...

The nearest 3-1/2" gauge tracks I know of for sure are near Joliet IL (Illinois Live Steamers)which for me is about 2-1/2 to 3 hours maybe.

Looks like you did a steel boiler with rolled in copper tubes, is that right? Have you finished it yet? I was thinking of doing steel since it is cheaper and I am better at TIG welding than I am at silver soldering. But I worried that the wet legs around the fire box would get to small or I would have to reduce the size of the fire box.

Paul

[Harlock]

Nov 14, 2008 2:23:49 GMT -5 nightsky02 said:

I want to say thanks to the members who answered my questions regarding building this locomotive. Especially to Ed Hume, proprieter of this site.
I started building the A3 as only a static display, I didnt believe it could perform as Kozo claimed. After seeing John Hudaks A3 on YouTUBE, I got motivated and made this a functional machine.
I`m new to model engineering, but I built a RGG Gatling Gun 2 years ago with sucess.
I live in Michigan, and I dont believe there is a 3.5 inch guage track in this state, so my A3 may never truly be tested.
I`ve never met another model engineer, so I rely on this forum for help and advice. I`ve been working in Iraq as a machinist, but I`m home now(laid off), so I have plenty of time to complete this project.
I included a link to my photos, as Ed Hume suggested. I dont know how to build a website, nor do I have the patience (LOL) I`m not to good at this internet thing, but heres my best effort!
www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=253879533/a=152683655_152683655/t_=152683655

3.5" gauge is small enough that you could build a set of panel tracks to run it on without a lot of difficulty, or if you have a house with a backyard, a semi-permanent track. The A3 is designed for sharp curves and switches working in train yards.

You'd be surprised at the amount of power a small steam engine can output - the physics of scale are in favor of scaling down steam engines - that's why they can pull a train load of full sized adults. The A3 should be able to pull 2 - 3 adults on level track.

There's a big difference between the lightweight ready-to-run live steam trains for Gauge 1 from the likes of Aster, etc. and these very heavy weight seriously boilered-and-cylindered engines of Kozos and other live steam engines 3.5" gauge and above. Kozo's engine is much more true to form inside and out to a real steam locomotive.

There aren't many people in the world who you can say this about, but I would generally believe anything Kozo says by default until proven otherwise. He has the industrial-mechanical background to support it.

Regarding the photo gallery - yea snapfish is not the best place for an online gallery - that place is more geared towards print making.

Besides flickr, which ed mentions as a good option, I also have a gallery I run myself for the Discover Live Steam forums.

So far Gordon French and I use it.

www.mojaveserver.info/gallery/

People don't have to use a password or sign up to view it. You only need a password to upload images. It's a nice, clean installation without any advertising.

If you want a login for uploading, let me know and I'll email it to you. It's easy to use through either the web or a piece of software that allows you to upload lots of images at once.

--Mike