New fellow, fond of steamengines

[Jesper1958]

Hello, everyone!
My namne is Jesper Rundstrom. I am new to steamengines. Like steamengines, but prefer them in ships of some kind. I made an impuls purchase of a Wilesco D70, African Queen, but after some more research I discovered that the installed steamplant is very toy-ish. Now I want to make it more autentic. I saw  a 1-cylinder Graham machine, also sold by a swiss fellow, Kramer. However, I dont get any response from these guys, neither Graham himself or Kramer. Does anyone know if these are still active?
I saw an beautiful piece called Anton also, for other project. I try to contact this french company, but also no response. Does someone how to get hand on that one, Anton Cristal? Even if not suitable for paddlesteamer.

Otherwise, a swedish dealer claim that Stuart V-10 or D10 is the smallest non-oscillating machines on the market with good quality. Any comment?

I need to purchase, I don not make them myself, I am afraid.

Best regards
Jesper

[derekwarner_decoy]

Welcome to PD's Jesper 

The Swiss Kramer WEB site certainly advertise the Anton Exclusive range of engines, however this morning after reading your post I can open the WEB site but not view any product...possibly they are have WEB issues

You certainly could e-mail Anton directly in France...I found the Kramer site offered better translations & views of the Anton product than the original manufacturer....also interestingly I found the exchange rate from AUD$ to Swiss CHF [Swiss Franc] offered a cheaper alternative to AUD$ to EURO [from Anton]

I have no experience with the Anton product, but many French marine steam groups display many models installed with Anton product & running well

As you plan to progress with the Africa Queen, another WEB site called Model Mayhem offers many threads & postings on the same Africa Queen......each example uses a twin cylinder engine......from memory one example uses the Anton Cristal

Please confirm the scale or overall length of your vessel hull

Single cylinder steaam engines can be problematic in marine applications as dependent on the configuration could be single rotation and non self starting....so it is important you understand these points prior to an new engine purchase

Having said this I am not suggesting you should not post here on PD's 

Many members of PD's are also members of Mayhem............and post on both sites 

So please keep us informed with your thoughts & directions........digital photographs are always welcome ..........Derek
 

[kiwimodeller]

Hi Jesper, welcome to Paddleducks. I have a River Queen which is a little larger than your African Queen and the single cylinder Graham Industries engine pushes that along really well. The only drawback to a single cylinder engine is that it will not always start by itself if it stops or if you reverse it. It does not cause me any problems. Robert Graham will probably answer your email eventually but sometimes he can be a little slow at that. You could also change to one of the small twin cylinder oscillating engines such as a Graupner, an SVS or a Miniature Steam Clyde engine but you would probably need to change the boiler too so perhaps you might consider leaving the Africa Queen as she is and building up another boat with a more sophisticsated engine. You can buy ready to run engines and boilers mounted on a plate to make the job easier from companies such as Cornwall Model Boats or Howes Models in Britain. Keep the discussion going and browse all the websites and I am sure you will get some good ideas. Cheers, Ian.

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's....Jesper...the Swiss Kramer WEB site is up & running again this evening & still offering the ANTON product

Keep us posted with your progress...................Derek

[mogogear]

Welcome Jesper-- -- been busy steaming at the ponds this summer!!

Good to have you