Joined up a while back and have been reading through lots of very informative threads. Always have had an irrational interest in small scale steam. Grew up in a neighborhood where we could hear the whistle on Saturday afternoon from the nearby Joyland Park featuring an Ottaway Steam Locomotive

https://www.greetingsfromsiouxfalls.com/joyland-park

http://www.ottawaysteam.org/

warming up. Loved to get there first and sit right behind the engineer and watch him stoke the firebox and work the valves and then chug around the track. Even looked into buying the train years later when the facility finally closed, but long gone to a collector. Never pursued the interest with lots of conflicting time demands: family, work, and a musical avocation.

Several years ago, as a fully retired grandfather, I began assembling a machine shop, and started out on a couple of Hemingway kits, currently working on their universal pillar tool. I like making tools but have been looking for a new “product” project. Happened across some references to Boulton and Watt’s 18th century beam engines, became fascinated with their workings, and realized there is a whole industry built around stationary engine modeling. Seems a more attainable goal to build a Stuart Major Beam engine than to fantasize about recreating a 12” scale railroad. So that’s going to be my next project.

I’ll have questions I’m sure, and looking forward to communicating with you all

J