I, of coarse, had someplace to go but I could not leave without making my first run.  

Accucraft's directions were pretty straight forward and I was glad I had read the Ruby review in Garden Railways.  They stated in their review that in addition to needing Distilled water and Butane, you also needed to purchase some Steam Oil.  I had purchased Steam Oil from Sulphur Springs the week before.  I also found them to be very helpful.

So I setup a small oval on the garage floor and removed Ruby from the box.  The loco was in good shape and it was great just to look it over and wonder how anyone every figured out steam locomotives in the first place.  

I applied small amounts of steam oil to all the external moving parts and filled the displacement lubricator with the 5ml syringe they supplied.  The boiler requires 80ml of water and this was easy to accomplish with another 50ml syringe they supplied.  The Butane tank was easy to fill and it's just like filling a lighter.  The instructions state that, "When the tank is full, the gas will begin to splutter and much more gas will escape the valve."  Well, the first time I filled it I saw some gas coming out around the nozzle and I thought that it was full.  As soon as the water got hot though I ran out of gas.  So when it says "much more gas will escape", that's what they mean.  When I refilled it and it became full, the gas really started shooting out.

I lit the flame, as suggested, through the smokebox door opening.  It lit easily but trying to determine the right setting for the gas valve was trial and error.  On future runs I was able to light the burner by putting a match to the stack and slowly opening the gas valve (which I read in Steam in the Garden magazine).  This took some getting use to but after a few times you can tell by the sound when it is lit.  

Like a kid with a new toy I could not stop working with the locomotive.  I made 6 runs and burned up about 4 fluid ounces of butane.  I only have enough for one more run so it will be off to the hardware store tomorrow.  Lucky for me I took tomorrow off!

Run #	Steam up time.	Run time.
1	5 Min.	7 Min.
2	6 Min.	8 Min.
3	5 Min.	10 Min.
4	7 Min.	9 Min.
5	5 Min.	14 Min.
6 Pulling one car.	5 Min.	12 Min.

Over all I was really pleased with my purchase and first experience in live steam.  I am really looking forward to running Ruby on my new layout outside when it is finished.  There is only one thing I wish I had done differently.  Butane is a lot cheaper if you buy the larger canisters from camping stores but these canisters require an adaptor to make them fit Ruby.  I had a chance to order an adaptor from Sulphur Springs with my stream oil but I didn't.  I guess ordering an adaptor will be on tomorrows to-do list also.

I recommend Ruby to anyone starting out in live steam as I am.  It definitely adds a new level of interest and fun to the hobby.

If anyone has any questions about my experience I would be happy to share anything I can.

Johnny F