# Great New Book Now Available



## mayhugh1 (Jun 17, 2017)

I recently received a newly published book "A Climax Class A Live Steam Locomotive" by Ed Hume. It describes the step-by-step construction of a Gauge 1 circa 1910 locomotive which is a hybrid of a Shay style upright with a Climax drivetrain.  The level of construction detail is remarkable with over 350 color photos and more than 650 drawings within its some 260 pages. 
This book is somewhat reminiscent of those authored by Kozo Hiraoka and published by the Village Press. Unlike Kozo's coal burning locomotives, this one uses a clean burning dual jet butane burner. The complexity of the build described in this book would probably not make it suitable for a beginner's first project, even though one just might be tempted by all the hand-holding provided by the excellent step-by-step documentation. Imperial dimensions are used, and the engine's 1" size will make scaling to other gauges relatively painless.
The book is written from the novel perspective of a university professor teaching the locomotive's construction to a group of students in fictional classrooms of the Live Steam University. Its unique presentation and laid-back writing style takes the edge off what could have been a dry technical cookbook. 
A live steam locomotive isn't yet on my to-do list, but each time I pick up the book with the intention of casually paging through it, my interest is inevitably captured by some interesting banter between the professor and his students or by a new construction or work-holding technique being described. For example, the book contains the best treatise on skew bevel gear construction that I've come across. I found the sheetmetal and boiler making techniques especially interesting since I've had little experience with those in my own IC engine builds. 
This book will be at home on either the living room coffee table or the workshop book shelf. It's now available directly from the author's website http://model-shop.net as well as Amazon. The author's website includes a download area so a perspective builder can obtain many of the engine's constructional files.  ***** Terry


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## kuhncw (Jun 17, 2017)

Terry,

Thanks for posting this.  It sounds like an interesting book.

Chuck


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## edhume3 (Jun 23, 2017)

Terry,

Thank you so much for this thoughtful review.  There were years of effort that went into making the book, and it means a lot to see some recognition and appreciation, especially coming from such an accomplished craftsman.

There was an uptick in orders after your post and the book went to #30 on Amazon for the Metal Work category.  You guys who bought the book - what do think?  Can you recommend it to your fellow hobbyists?  With all the color photographs the book is expensive to produce, but I still think color was the right choice.

Best Regards,
Ed Hume


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