The Arrival

The Videos

First an introduction to the loco and changing the wheels to 32mm gauge

Then steaming up for the first time and running on the Summerlands Light Railway

And then fitting a Summerlands Chuffer and demonstration it - for a better sound and a MUCH cleaner loco:

The Safety Valve

While carrying out a steam test, I discovered that the safety was blowing off a bit high, so I needed to work out how to adjust it. It is a scale representation of the Salter valves, so unlike any of the normal Accucraft ones. Well it turns out that the centre 'pillar' is the safety adjustment. It is just necessary to loosen the nut on the top of the arm and turn the safety valve body to adjust. Needless to say, not much adjustment was needed and I would not recommend doing this unless you know what you are doing! When mine was adjusted (less than a turn anti-clockwise) I tightened the nut and the job was done.

Removing the Loco Body

This is not simple, so you need to think very carefully! The body is held on with six 2mm hex head bolts, so a nut spinner is essential. There should be one provided with the loco.

Two bolts hold the flange at the back of the cab. If the loco is already fitted with radio control, you may need to move stuff to get at these. The are two brackets, one either side, behind the valve gear. It is possible to get a spinner on the bolt into the chassis frame by moving the wheels until the valve rod is in the best position. The final two bolts are easy - one either side under the tank.

So having removed all of the above - would the body come off? No! It is necessary to remove the safety valve arm as this projects through the cab front. Remember that the centre is the adjustment (see above) so try not to disturb this.

Next you have to deal with the blower pipe. Already you will be able to ease the body up, but it is held by the blower pipe which has a threaded rod just pushed through a hole into the smokebox. I thanked heaven there was no nut on it as with the insulation in the smokebox, this would have been a total pain! It was, however, too long and at such an angle that it would not lift clear. In the end, I eased it out as far as I could and cut it with side-cutters leaving a 3-4mm stub. This seems drastic but is fine.

Now you find that the gap between the tanks is narrower than the widest point of the boiler. The tanks have to be gently sprung apart to be eased over it. There may be paint loss - but this will be hidden when the body is replaced. I was lucky!

Looking at the underside of the body, you can just see the holes for the bolts at the back of the cab, at the back of the tanks and atso the brackets at the front of the tanks.

And here is the loco with the body removed. The dummy firebox is loose and just lifts off so take care not to drop it. One of the pillars on the safety valve dropped out as it is held in place by the top lever.