Tuesday 2 April 2013

Achilles Report No29: Nearly There...

Hi everyone. Today I was working on my loco again, trying to get her back in fettle ready for her return to the track on Saturday. I fitted the new, manual drain cocks today - as the old, automatic ones were starting to become a little bit useless. The new ones are brass and have the typical handles for opening and closing them at 90 degree intervals...
I don't plan to link up the drain cocks, instead using them manually when on shed and when cold, whilst also giving them a blast through on steam for the first 1/2 a lap during each run. Once the condensate has cleared then the drain cocks will be shut until we dispose. Some 5" gauge loco's don't have any drain cocks at all and so I'm not worried about not having them linked up. Other jobs today included tightening all of the bolts up that were not so already, as well as checking that all the valve gear moves as it should. I also replaced the running boards and began cleaning the brass and paintwork...
Finally, I replaced the chimney, brass dome cover and cab/bunker. By the time I had finished, the loco was ready to go and will be in steam on Saturday at RPMR, all being well.
"Ready For The Track"
Lets hope all goes well with her on Saturday. I'm quite looking forward to it. Cheers guys. Sam.

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