It works! Very slowly!

I got the prototype running over the weekend, using a combination of Meccano and dodgy soldering. It's clear that the current power plant isn't going to cut the mustard. The boiler and engine combo don't have enough puff.

It's not surprising as the model weighs in at 3.5 Kg. I've ordered a marine engine plant from Regner, which is much more powerful. It runs at 45 psi, rather than the 15psi of the Mamod/Wilesco combination. The Regner is a flue boiler, with firetubes running through the centre of the boiler, wheras the Mamod's not much more than a tube with flames under it. Hopefully the combination of Germanic power and Japanese precision engineering will see me right.

Still, it proved a point, now to build something with a bit of poke.