Tac not sure why you did that, they may be your opinions, and differ from other's opinions, however they could also be useful to somebody considering this train and wanting a fully rounded discussion. From the POV left it could seem like a good buy (and it might be) but there is no opposition!!
Opposition to a Steam Loco can be quite subjective, many early Roundhose offerings were not of any specific Prototype, in fact few of the Larger Suppiers offerings were. So one mans meat was another ones Poison as it were. I personally found that Merlin Products had a good design and ran pretty well, but there were many doubters mostly by those that did not have them. This is where discussion becomes somewhat blurred. It is one thing to be of the subjective opinion that a Loco is not worth buying because of Price or that it does not look like anything real, however real criticism from a buyer of running qualities would be very valid. However with a Kit Built Loco the quality could very much be related to the Care and Knowledge used in Constructing said Kit. that price difference between the Regner and the one that Tac mentioned could be the difference between owning and not owning a perfectly acceptable Logging Locomotive.
Hear, hear. Rule 8 and all that. Tac's criticism was quite valid, but as I said in post #11, what people want and what they can afford can be quite different things
This is a model of the first Heisler ever built. And it is 1:20.3, and Jason is on vacation thru 11/11, so you might want to wait and see what he has to contribute.
This is a model of the first Heisler ever built. And it is 1:20.3, and Jason is on vacation thru 11/11, so you might want to wait and see what he has to contribute.
From Jason's announcement:
"This model is the very first Heisler locomotive built and its start was by sheer luck. Mr. Addington, of Little Washington, North Carolina sent an order request for a small 10 ton locomotive that can handle rough mountain tramway service and a 1 in 10 grade and 95' radius. This request was sent to by accident Dunkirk Engineering instead of Brooks Locomotives in Dunkirk NY. Both companies happened to be owned by Mr. Edward Nichols, the President of the Brooks Locomotive Works.
As Dunkirk Engineering specialized in hydraulic and special machinery they were not looking to enter into locomotive production. But the request had passed by the desk of the mechanical superintendent. He was a young man, Mr. Charles L. Heisler, who had recently completed his engineering training at Cornell University, where he had won distinction by his original investigation, and who had made a special study of the locomotive.
The engine specs were so small that Mr. Heisler was very tempted to recommend that they accept this order as he saw it as a way to present a entirely new locomotive design to the field. As no other company had responded to the request of Mr. Addington they accepted the build with a provision of a 30 day extension to the initial 60 day request. He agreed and from there on Mr Heisler spent the next 30 days 12-15 hours a day designing and the study of the evolution of the motors and truck and came up with many different options. They were eliminated by the need to build easily and quickly and must be built in 60 days.
The first model was built and delivered in 70 days from initial acceptance to Mr Addington and had proved to be a very capable and reliable locomotive. It started to be more well known in the lumbering industry where requests for more were coming in. The future of the design was being set when unfortunately Mr. Nichols President/owner of Brooks Locomotives suddenly passed away. All seemed to be going away but then the heirs of the late president graciously handed over all their interests in the patent to the inventor. With this in 1893 Mr. Heisler spoke to George Burnham, president of Baldwin Locomotives. He was so intrigued by the design he spoke it over with his technicians and decided that while they can not build it in their main shops he had an independent shop in Erie PA that can be used for production for the time being but this was the official start of what was later known as Heisler Locomotive Works in Erie, Pennsylvania"
The TTD announcement clearly states the loco is a "joint project", and when I emailed Graham in the UK he had not been told of the announcement. Maybe only sold in the USA?
Mr. gardenrailways.co.uk.
I'm not sure about the "natural discussion". From the tone of some posts, you'd think folk were being forced to buy one! Aren't we supposed to be encouraging manufacturers, not heaping criticism on their [as yet unseen] products?
