Dave Smith | A Profile In Live Steam | Illinois Live Steamers

We sat down with Dave Smith of the Illinois Live Steamers during the club's 56th Anniversary Meet. In this profile, Dave discusses his background in the live steam hobby, the equipment he enjoys building, the future of the hobby, and more. Climb aboard and enjoy this Profile In Live Steam here on The Steam Channel.
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[@metalmill52]

Great interview, truly enjoyed listening to the wisdom and insight from this gentleman!

[@tomedgar4375]

Smelling the coal burning is part of the experience, managing the coal fire takes more skill and planning than simply turning a dial when more heat is required with a good load and an upcoming grade. The downside is that it takes a lot more time to clean up your engine after running it. Beautiful machine.

[@TheSteamChannel]

Smelling the coal is certainly enjoyable…one of the best parts of a coal burning engine…but this is a hobby and not a personal bits measuring contest to see who is more skilled or the purest operator. Coal is becoming harder to find and if the wrong grade (or a bad batch) is purchased…you might as well throw dirt on the fire. I’ve watched coal burners struggle to even keep a fire going because of a bad batch of coal they purchased (in bulk).
Propane is clean, it keeps the engine clean, and it keeps ash and soot from working its way around/in bearings and bushings which will destroy those surfaces. Another advantage - it’s much easier to let a new hobbyist, friend, or child run a propane fired engine as compared to turning them loose on a coal fired engine. The best advantage - I can buy propane at most any store locally. So if you were at a meet and needed more fuel - it’s a simple drive to the store away. Running out of coal may ground you.
All four of our steam engines will be fired on propane.