Steve Kraus wrote:
All this talk about steam engines makes me nostalgic for the one I
had. Mine was heated electrically and I got it back in the mid-1950s.

Sorry but electrically heated seems to defeat the purpose!

Why, when I was a kid we had to go mine the coal ourselves, using our
fingernails to dig!

I'm not sure that going out and buying a little can of sterno is any
worse than running the boiler off of electricity. The electrical
operation certainly sounds more convenient and the kid and his/her
parents might be more likely to fire it up more often.

Tim.