Firing up a 5" gauge Polly 1 Steam Locomotive

Great film. Very helpful as I’m starting to fire my 5” gauge Pannier for the first time. Thanks

Great video. Just bought a 5 inch simplex to get back into the hobby.

Great film! Beautiful loco!

Building a polly 1 myself and this was good fun to watch :)

Good work!!! Love your little locomotive.

Nowt wrong with long hair bud, good use of the word “alas” and wearing a flat cap…all in all I’d say a great video and you’ve taught me some good tips for firing up in future!

What coal is being used here?

A steel boiler must never be stored wet per Betz laboratories " Industrial Water Treatment". That is the text for getting a stationary boiler operators license in California. A member of through Riverside live steamers built a Nickle Plate Berkshire with a steel boiler. He finished his engine at the same time I finished mine. He was leaving water in the boiler between run days. His boiler rusted out last year. I don't advocate my way for non steel boilers. I only know what works for me. Best regards as we will not agree.

Good video and very informative. At what pressure do you remove the electric fan?

So best to avoid thurmic shock by blowing down at a low temperature?

Nice vid

What coal and size do you use?

urn do you mean burn

did you build this from the kit? how long did it take and what tools skills are needed?

Looks like Duncan from Thomas and friends. Cute loco nonetheless mate. She seems simple and fun to drive. If you don’t mind my asking mate, how much did she cost and where did you get her? Thanks and please let me know. Thanks

Not being critical, but at 0:17, "Smokebox" is spelt "smkebox". Other than that, this was a cool video.

Nice program. I blow my Fitchburg Northern down as soon as the fire is out because I have a steel boiler. If I don't blow it down hot, the boiler never dries out and rusts.

I understand the scale is different but on the industrial locos I work on it isn’t uncommon to blow the boiler down at 75psi, so isn’t 5-10psi a little weak?

Is this better than using parafin soaked charcoal?

I respectfully disagree about allowing the boiler to cool before blow down. This applies to steel boilers. I knew the now late Eric Thomsen, owner, builder, operator of the Redwood Valley Railway in Tilden Park, Berkely Ca. It was standard practice to shut the oil burner off and blow down. Eric's first engine ran more 5han 30 years before any boiler work was needed. My Friends and I built a 15" gage Shay with a steel boiler and let it cool before blowing down. We suffered one tube failure after another, the same thing happened with the mogul and the four wheeled number one. After all those disasters for me it is essential that the boiler be dry during storage. My comments apply to steel only. My Fitchburg boiler is 8 years old. I have had no problems.