I bought this engine within the past month. It was shipped quickly and received within a week
It is well made and generally a nice engine. Runs smoothly and has good torque.
I removed the speed reducer. I did not think it was very effective.
Some points to note:
+ there is a lot of loose play in the valve gear shunt. I fixed this by inserting two 2mm washers (total of 8) on the shunts (see picture below). This removed the loose play and reduced the valve gear chatter/ vibration.
+ the valve gear, the slider, the shunts and I think the piston connecting rods are made from soft cast brass. It bends easily. It would be nice if spares are available (but made with harder material) as the soft brass will wear out with regular use (especially if not oiled frequently with heavy steam oil when running).
+ I replaced the lubricator (nothing wrong with the original lubricator).
+ I painted the engine (see pictures). The engine looked too 'brassy' and made it look cheap (especially the cast brass valve gear).
+ Comparing this engine to the Kacio LS2, the Kacio is better quality but almost 2x the price (I bought this engine from another vendor).