Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Hello folks, thanks for reading my post. My father has what I believe to be a Doll 512/3 that his father acquired sometime in the 50s in a trade. I will attempt to attach some pictures. It's obviously in unrestored condition, but he says he has seen it run and the flywheels and all moving parts turn smoothly. It's missing the smokestack and there appears to be an assembly attached to one of the flywheels that is missing, and we don't know if that's important and/or necessary for safe operation.

Info has been pretty difficult to find, they're obviously out there but we don't know how rare, when specifically it was made, if replacement parts are available, etc. He is not looking to sell it but an approximate value would be nice. Also, we're not looking to do an in depth restoration, but finding the missing parts would be nice, as well as advice on safe operation would be much appreciated. Anything else you could tell me that I have not thought of that is important is also much appreciated.

Thank you for your time and any information you can provide!

It is always difficult to judge the condition of a machine from a picture. As far as I can see from the picture, the only thing missing from the machine, apart from the chimney and the chimney support, is the weight of the weight safety valve. The machine was probably built in the 1920s.

As I said, it is difficult to judge all this from a picture. If you want to put the machine into operation and are not familiar with steam engines, I would advise you to consult a specialist in pressure vessels who will check the boiler and its connections for pressure resistance and tightness. With machines this old, you never know what has happened to the material over the course of many years.