Re: Oops!

Ed,

The running gear came to jack already running on air. The boiler (copper w/ a combustion chamber), super-heaters (stainless-Steel) and throttle (possibly a ball valve) were built in England and out of his hands.

The tender is almost 100% Jack, and the 90% of what you SEE of the engine is Jack.

And really, there's nothing wrong with a ball valve PROPERLY installed. It's my least favourite throttle, but I've known some to last decades in service. Most people take the hobby approach, go down to the local hardware store, get one off the shelf and stick it in the Smokebox which is an enviroment akin to hades!

Something I am curious about is wether the throttle is upstream or downstream of the superheaters.