This article will be something of a departure from my previous ones as I will be focusing on some interesting features of an old model steam engine as opposed to restoring one.  →

A horizontal, double-acting engine purchased on Ebay that was built by Harry James Hoag, Jr. provided an interesting challenge to me in trying to get it running again.  →

I wasn’t aware of any suitable size mill vises that I could purchase so I decided to design and build my own – a mini-mill vise with ¾” wide jaws by about ¼” deep.  →

The engine shown was purchased on eBay in 2009. When it arrived I was delighted to see the detailed machining and was intrigued by the dual rotary valve arrangement where one valve controls the direction of rotation and the other controls steam into the single-acting cylinder.  →

In general there are two classes of toy steam engines: oscillators built of folded and welded sheet metal, and those that are double acting with slide valves and include cast and machined components.  →