Great! I would love to see it someday.
Thanks for sharing😊😊
Trev

Trev,
Sadly, I was not able to be there on the days it arrived or departed.
However, it was on display and one could walk right up to it and around it. There was also a stairway and platform so one could look into the cab.
Its massive size, and intricate machinery were mind blowing. The crew was busy doing routine maintenance and lubrication, so we were able to witness the orchestration required to keep this bit of history in operation.
Dave

Hi Dave,
Isn't it incredible. I believe it had about 7000 HP the boilers used to run at about 300psi😮😮. Were you able to see it in action?
Trev

Trev,
I was able to see Big Boy up close and in person when it visited St. Paul, MN last summer.
What an amazing machine it is!
I'm certainly no expert on steam power, but Big Boy has to be one of the prime examples.
Dave

Thank you Rick,
Will check it out.
I need all the help I can get😮😮
Trev

Many Thanks Gary!
Will Check it out!!
Trev

Hi Trev There is a shop in Australia (Miniature Steam Models) I have one of their steam plants find it runs very well. Prices are competitive.
Rick

Hi Trev, check out Chiltern Model Steam here in the U/K, and only a little bit more expensive than the TVR1A, and a very nice looking engine. Regards, Gary

Hi Colin,
Without Graham I am looking at 600.00. US To 900.00 US, without the boiler.
I would like to make my own but I would have to buy a milling Machine and Lathe to accomplish
that. Woe is Me😭😭😭😭😭 Ha Ha Ha.
Time for another G&T😮😮
In all seriousness does anyone have a recommendation for Steam power for the Mt Washington?
Best Trev

Maybe someone else will produce a realistically priced model.
Cheers Colin

Thanks for the info Colin With Graham going down that takes a great little steam engine off the market.
Rick

Hi Colin,
Thanks for the update.
I am disappointed😭😭
Their engine would have been perfect!
Thanks,
Trev

Gary, sorry to say Graham Industries. Has stopped doing steam engines.
Cheers Colin.

Hi Colin, and that is one incredible bargain you bought there at £45.00, there definitely seems to be a lot more bargains in your neck of the woods compared with up here in the North East. Good Hunting, Regards, Gary.

Hi Trev, if you haven't managed to find it yet you are looking for Graham Industries, (Gage,) and cheaper for you to buy as right on your doorstep in the US of A. Good hunting. Regards, Gary.

Colin I think you now know how the oiler works so just source some steam oil possibly from a friend at you local steam socy. You don't need much so I am sure they will spare you a small quantity. Mine is thick and gooey.

Gary, the oiler on my engine is just a cylinder with a cap on top and a drain on the bottom, steam inlet and outlet near the top. Marty said it's a displacement oiler.
I am learning a bit with each new post.
Cheers Colin.

Thanks Marty, that's another item I learned about today, very interesting.
Cheers Colin.

Gary,
Thank you for that info.
I did go on their web Site. Looks promising for my Mt Washington.
Trev

Gary, not all of us can afford the luxury of buying new, I scout around the charity shops and second hand outlets as well as my local auctions of which we have 4 within a 20 minute drive.
My T2R came from local charity shop at a cost of £45. It was within my budget, and I thought it would help me learn a bit more about the workings of small steam engines, even if it didn't work I would be able to get it working, luckily it worked.
Each step I take on my path to having a steam powered boat is helping me learn.
Cheers Colin.

Hi Gary,
Thank you for that great explanation !
Trev

Something to think about, with regard to the very expensive Saito T2 engine, for the same amount of money you can buy THREE TVR1ABBs at £250 each, again a 1/2" bore twin-cylinder slide valve engine which has ball-raced bearings on the crank-shaft. This comes as a kit of parts with instructions, and on building this you appreciate exactly how it works and gain a very good understanding of slide valve engines. This includes sorting out the valve timing. These engines are very good value for money and operate nicely at pressures between 20 - 30 PSI. Regards, Gary.

This kind of oilier is usually referred to as a "displacement" oilier. As the steam passes through the oilier, a bit of it will condense back to water and sink to the bottom of the oilier. The oil being lighter than water gets pushed up and floes to the engine. Thus the oil is displaced. At the end of the run you drain the water out the bottom and refill the oil at the top.

Hi Colin,

Lovely story, congratulations on the successful rescue.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi Colin, try and position the lubricator as near as possible to the engine, actually attached to the engine is probably best. Does yours have a needle-type valve on the lubricator to control the amount of oil you deliver to the engine? So basically you are feeding pressurised steam through a lubricator full of steam oil, the steam carries the oil vapour into the engine for the necessary lubrication of the cylinders and pistons. A good lubricator should have a tap type screw on the bottom, so as you can drain off the water and keep the oil, as of course oil floats on water. A good run will completely empty the lubricator and replace the oil with water. When buying your steam oil go for thick and heavy as this tends to last longer. Let me know how you get on and any questions just ask away. That is a great little engine you have there, Saito make beautiful engines, but incredibly expensive. Regards, Gary.

Hi Colin,
It actually drips in with the steam as the steam goes thru it in the correct ratio.
Sort of like the venturi effect, but not exactly.
Trev

Hi Trev, yes I realise that it delivers the oil to the cylinders, but I would like to understand how it actually does it.
Cheers Colin.

I would make sure you lubricated all moving parts at every use.
The full size steam engines usually had oilers at all moving parts.

Hi Colin,
If I may chime in. the oiler delivers oil in the correct ratio to the cylinders.
Which is important due to the lack of lubrication provided by the steam.
Trev

One more question Gary, can you explain how the oiler works, in the instructions to the newer versions it just says to fill with steam oil before running.
Sorry for my ignorance, cheers Colin.

Gary, I agree with you on all counts, apparently the T2R was introduced in 1969 until about 1977 details are a bit vague, hopefully if Saito get back to me I will be able to know more.
It was introduced to fill the reversible engine market and was, as you say very expensive, around £600 in 1972. Current models are around £800.
If anyone else can throw in some more information, then please do.
Cheers Colin.

Hi Colin, I can maybe shed a little bit of light on the Saito scene, yours is definitely quite an early one as quite simply it is a piston valve model, which is what the twin started off as followed by yours which I believe is a T2R. Then Saito changed the piston valve into the slide valve and it has remained that way ever since. One thing that does stick in my mind is the fact there were incredibly expensive. Regards, Gary.

So right you are Colin animals help us to cope with life. Wonderful you were able to rescue your pets. Pets keep us company give us unconditional love. My profile shows my two dogs I'm holding Indy and Nancy is holding Sasha. No mater how our day goes there tails wag and they want to keep us company.
Rick

Peter, I think that people need animals to help them through the bad times, and sick or injured creatures can't help themselves so they need us even more.
Roxy is happy even though she has bits missing, and our dog Patch was rescued 7 years ago at 8 weeks old from an abandoned litter, he had no fur except for his black eye patch, hence the name, it took nearly 9 months to get him back to normal with 2 baths a day and rubbed with aloe Vera.
At 12 months we entail in a rescue dog show. He won best terrier, best male dog, and came 3rd in the sausage eating contest against 2 rottweilers .
It took nearly 3 months for him to get used to Roxy wandering around the house.
Now he washes her if she sits near him.
Let's keep the world together, we are all gods creatures.
Cheers Colin.

Back to this delightful little engine, after further delving on the net, I have now found pictures of another 2 types, and I believe that the 1 I have is a T2R as the original T2 didn't have reversing gear.
So now I know what it is but can't find any information about it. I've tried to contact Saito, but not getting any response from them.
Does anyone have any details about this particular model that you could share with me.
Hopefully Colin.

Hi Colin,
What a great story!
I love the picture of Roxy with your Jack Russell.
Thanks for sharing.
Trev

Good to hear it is operational, Colin. Should give you a nice steam boat propulsion unit. Good luck with you research into the actual type. I suggest you make enquiries on some steam engine sites and perhaps Mayhem as there will be people who have greater knowledge of the Saito engines who will be able to identify the particular model.
Dave

Great story Colin. I am not in your league but when my wife died in 2012, I immediately adopted two cats, sisters, that were one year old and had been mistreated. They were very nervous for years but they are now with me in Hungary enjoying the nice weather, except a little cold now. Four weeks ago my wife and I adopted two abused puppies from the local pound. They had been thrown from a car into the road but fortunately were quickly recovered. We have two sisters. One had a head injury and was blind. I am glad to say that she fully recovered and her sight is now back to normal. They are eating everything, furniture, doors, me… To bring back on topic, I plan to teach them to make RC boats in the future.😬

Well done Colin I enjoyed reading this post.
Rick

Trev, my little friend is Roxy, she is a 7 year old Bearded Dragon that we rescued 4 years ago, she had been left without food or heat and light for about 4 months, my son went to buy a vivarium for his own Dragon and was told to dispose of the dead animal in it.
It turned out that she wasn't dead but very weak, so my wife and I decided to try and help it.
She had lost the end of her tail, the lower half of one rear leg, 2 toes off a front foot.
When we took her to the vet 2 days later she weighed only 97 grams, she should have been about 3 to 4 hundred. After the vet had exrayed her it was found she had a digestive blockage from eating the plastic foliage in the vivarium. But the vet thought she wouldn't cope with the operation to remove the blockage and advised it should be put down as chance of living wasn't good.
We have rescued many animals over the last 50 years and decided to try.
I built a vivarium the next day and started with the slow process of nursing her back to full health.
A month later we went back to the vet, who was amazed at the progress, now weighing in at 203 grams, she was exrayed again and it showed that the blockage was gone.
Now 4 years on she is healthy, active and weighs 760 grams.
The vets waived the bill as they knew that we had rescued her and successfully got her healthy again.
She often sits sunbathing with my Jack Russell Terrier.
Cheers Colin

Colin,
I have to ask. What is the name of your pal on your shoulder?

Thankyou Colin,
I am a Newbie when it comes to Steam.
Although I love it.
6000 RPM😮😮 I am impressed.
What a Incredible Find😁😁😁😁
I don't think Saito makes a double action engine anymore.
Now they want over $800. US for a single action.

Yes Trev, it is a double acting steam engine, listed as suitable for a 1 to 1.3 metre model boat.
Cheers Colin.

Thanks Dave, I did try with an airline set at 12psi and it ran smoothly in both directions.
Looking at the exploded drawings of the 3 possible types I have downloaded from the Saito website it is definitely not the T2GR, as the oiler is smaller and the flywheel is on the opposite end. So that leaves the DR or DR-L.
I will keep delving deeper, as I'm intrigued by the mystery.
Cheers Colin.

Do you think it is double acting? I say so because of the 2 drains on each cylinder.

Excellent Buy😁😁

Hi Colin
This appears to be a nice early version from Saito. I suspect the different types were possibly designed to attach to different boiler types and pressures so may not be that different from each other. I suggest you check that the flywheel can be rotated freely in both directions and if so connect a compressor with around 10-20 psi to the input pipe ( trial and error as to which pipe but will not cause any harm) and flick the flywheel to see if the engine runs - moving the lever should reverse the direction. Oil any bearings or oil cups first. If you don't have a compressor then blow into some tubing attached to the input. All my steam engines will turn over with a good blow. Having looked at the website I suspect you may have to write to Saito to identify the exact model of T2 you have. If it runs ok you will have a nice steam engine for your model.

Help required guys, this little stem engine doesn't have any markings that I can find.
How do I find out which version I have, there are a few listed,
T2dr,. T2dr-L, T2GR etc. As far as I can tell they are all visually the same. I've downloaded the details of these but can't find any differences.
Anyone know how to find out.
Cheers Colin.

Trevor, normally I agree, I paid £45. At local charity shop.
Cheers Colin.

Colin,
Ebay has variable pitch prop sold by dtjsteam listed as "P3 Variable Pitch Propeller for Steam Boat Live Steam" for 152.00 US. Saito engines are great but expensive.
Trev