Restoration of 5" gauge 0,6,0 tank loco

[Dan4th]

I am certain you will work through all of this stuff
and have a good result

GO DOUGS GO!!!!!!!!!!

(...Isn't it always the little niggly bits ?...)

Danf.

[Dougs]

I am certain you will work through all of this stuff
and have a good result

GO DOUGS GO!!!!!!!!!!

(...Isn't it always the little niggly bits ?...)

Danf.

You are not wrong dan4th however I am coming to the realisation that the title of this thread may be wrong it is not so much a restoration as a re-tasking two things are becoming clear first that It never has/ would run properly and that it still has a very long way to go to be a running engine. Persistence is the key and I have lots of that to spare, so I have a very positive outlook.
I was talking today about the chimney restriction ( necessary to run properly) and there are a lot of mods required on most engines to get them to run well unfortunately the drawings are very rarely updated to show these mods
So far my new job list is
New fire grate
New ash pan grate attachment
New blow down valve old one fixed
Re jigging the whole valve manifold to make the valves face the driver
New chimney blower fan to draw the fire
New pressure gauge
Re seal the cylinders and valves
Remake the snifting valve manifold
Repair one of the cylinder exhaust unions
Check safety valves and make adjuster
There are prob. A few more too
Happy days ahead

[34053]

............................and in your spare time ??!! Well, that lot will certainly keep you busy, Dougs. I'm certain that you will see it through to the (bitter?) end. Look forward to seeing your ongoing progress/reports.

PW

[Dan4th]

snifting valve manifold

I MUST know what the heck this is !

Please elucidate, Mister Dougs.....

Danclueless4th

[Dougs]

Not making it up honest
A snifting valve is fitted to the steam supply to the cylinders and it's actually a very basic a non return valve to stop the cylinders going in to a vacuum when the steam is switched off and you are still rolling allowing it to freewheel so to speak. I hope that makes sense.

[Dan4th]

Oh, Yeah

Thank you, Dougs

Danf.

[Dougs]

Two modifications done
1st now was the fire grate it's way too cluttered
The new one on the left has way more air gaps

This should help with starting it up I am also buying a "steam raising fan" basically a hoover you stick in the chimney to get the boiler fire roaring
2nd issue is the safety valves for the steam test
The valves are supposed to open when the boiler gets to working pressure
As seen in this photo from Sunday after the boiler test

They then should not allow the pressure to go above 10% unfortunately it went to 20% so I decided to do two things
One strip down the two valves

And make a tool to strip the valves and adjust them


The valve stripped down for cleaning

All cleaned up and ready to go

TBC

[Dan4th]

Happy to see that all fingers (at least
on the Left Hand...) are still attached
and relatively unscathed

How's the right ones doing??????

Danf.

[Dougs]

Happy to see that all fingers (at least
on the Left Hand...) are still attached
and relatively unscathed

How's the right ones doing??????

Danf.

Not so good due to a grinding machine conveyor shaving my fingers at work but that's a different story

[34053]

Thank you for your 'safety valves' Update, Dougs. I never cease to be impressed by your engineering skills: eg. making the special tool to adjust these valves. I am also pleased to see that these skills are still being used. My working background was in 'Engineering' and I am trying to impress upon my young grandsons how important this is. We need Engineers!! Don't worry about getting your hands dirty. (Plus, we desperately need engineering skills in the Heritage Railway preservation movement, to take over from us old 'uns!).

PW

[Dougs]

A bit of a do
Things have got a bit complex I decided to fix the persistent issues with the loco running, now the valves have had an overhaul I decided to set them up then move on to find leaks which are to be fair nothing other than lost energy.
Airline fitted to setup safety valves

I found a pretty reasonable leak on the left cylinder
So started to strip down to get a better chance to find the leak


Tank removed

Running board removed

Soapy water to find the leaks

Leaks a plenty

Boiler, smokebox both off and valve cover removed

The leaky part the valve guide bolts and valve stem both broke into the bolt holes

All sealed up and cleaned

Just got to put it all back together now
......again!

[Dougs]

And back together
Once I had put all the bits back together I decided to do a steam test to check the leak fix and to test my new starting system,
I ordered a steam raising fan it fits in the chimney and draws the fire

I fitted a handle as I thought it would get to hot to pick up, good call as it turns out!

And my power supply an old 12v jigsaw re-tasked to be a 12@7 volt power supply

Worked like a charm got the fire going very effectively and on the steam blower in no time

50 psi and climbing rapidly

All in all a very good productive day the steam pressure stayed at working pressure and it ran very well indeed

[Dan4th]

Toot! Toot!

All very nice

But will Butchy Pass Muster????????

She's sure lookin' SWEET, though

Good on you, Dougs!

Danf.

[Aceyone]

Great stuff !

[34053]

Brilliant, Dougs! I just love the improvisation with the Jigsaw for the 12 volt supply

Looks as though 'she' (sorry, 'Butch') is running quite sweetly now. Well done.

PW

[Dougs]

A little while back I described how I found some leaks on the boiler prior to the hydraulic test and I had some issues with the regulator (accelerator) due to the actuating rod falling out well after firing it up at the weekend it fell out again but it went right back in, this got me to thinking what if this happens on the track and won't go back in I will have a runaway on my hands, not wanting to reinact a cheesy 70's disaster move I set about a fix,
The rod in question doing exactly what I should not be able to do

The regulator bar seen in the photo has a collar that sits just behind the brass bush in the photo it should be pinned to the bar when it's all together to stop the bar coming forward looks like the pin was forgotten we are all sorted now and I am taking the opportunity to clean and service the regulator while it's in bits


All cleaned up nicely

These to bad boys are getting remade from cap screws not very authentic but no one will ever see them (except everyone that reads this) and i need them to be reliable

[34053]

Thank you Dougs. I'm pleased that you got the Regulator sorted. Otherwise, that could have been a bit worrying!

PW

[Dougs]

Rain, what a pain in the AR53 the last hurdle to me running my loco on a track is passing the steam safety test and the day it's supposed to be done it rains, ALOT!!!!!!
So I resigned myself to some workshop time, as the loco's are very heavy ( butch 58kg & speedy 78kg+) it's just not safe to be lifting and carrying them around so I wanted something I can manoeuvre the trains without generating a rupture in something important that I will miss
I made a trolly

Now I can get my trains loaded in the back of my car without lifting them

I have also given the cab roof a quick respray so it now looks a lot better

This is what it looked like before

[Dan4th]

Nicely Done !

Now all you need is TWO
of 'em

Smart move, though

Danf.

[Dougs]

Nicely Done !

Now all you need is TWO
of 'em

Smart move, though

Danf.

Luckily Dan4th I have it covered the trolly is for moving both of them I made it big enough to move speedy which is considerably larger once in the workshop they can be winched off the trolly onto either storage or work bench.

[34053]

What a great idea! The trolly will save such a lot of hassle for you Dougs.

PW

[Dougs]

And finally;
SHE HAS PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!
Went down to the club with the hope that I could get the final steam test done, luckily there was someone available
So once the test was complete it was on to the track for a test run, this unfortunately uncovered a small issue that I will have to address later on the spring assembly it interferes with the track I will update on this when I fix it, it ment that the test run would have to be very restrained as I didn't want to rub on the track too much or worse bend something on the train.
So all loaded up on the track

Didn't get too far as I had left a valve shut so I filled the boiler with cold water

Then got the boiler steaming again and had another run and yes before anyone tells me off I did forget to blow the whistle sorry it was a little fraught being my very first driving session EVER!

Not too bad for my second attempt I think
I am one very happy boy just have a very small modification to do and that's that, a fully running loco!
Then home and unload on the trolly

[Dan4th]

That vid Made My DAY

And no toot is okay.....

You Brits have a word for
how you must be feeling,
and I believe it's CHUFFED

Danf.

[34053]

Congratulations Dougs! All that hard work you have put into getting 'Butch' up and running; ''goes like a good 'un''!!!

PW

[Dougs]

That vid Made My DAY

And no toot is okay.....

You Brits have a word for
how you must be feeling,
and I believe it's CHUFFED

Danf.

Very fitting dan4th
She does go very well indeed PW
surprised me how smooth and effortless it all is and as an engineer I would say if it feels right it probably is right I am very impressed with my great grandad's work