Steve,

This can be a very attractive loco. I don’t build in 2.5″ga
but I have several friends who do, and one of them threatens a start on
the Elaine soon. I suppose my comment would be a little off-topic
as it has to do with the boiler. I will build the boiler for this
loco and will use a materials kit supplied by Reeves andfurnished to me by the owner
. I have used many plate sets from the old Reeves in the past and
all have been completely satisfactory, but the plates in this recent
set are very poorly done, particularly the throat sheet which is
unusable as supplied and will need to be completely reformed. If
you buy your boiler out this won’t be of concern, but should you use a
Reeves boiler set I hope you fare better. It appears to me the
plates were made by someone with no understanding of what they are or
how they are to be used as they appear not to have been fully closed
about the forms.

Hello Steve,

I haven’t spoken with my friend in a while . . . his Elaine
project is in backgear, but I’ll post him soon and ask his
impressions. I have a chum in Devon who hangs out with the 2.5″ga
gang and the calibre of work and depth of resources the Society does
and creates for itself is impressive.

Best,

Harry