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Who has received their Kingscale GWR 48XX/14XX?

Started by John Candy, Jun 10 2015 23:57

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hornbeam

Never considered replacing the gas valve handle, will give it a go. Not having access to a lathe I will look if any one the packet ones fot.

Rob_B

Another day and some more jobs done. Removed the brake assembly to sort out rear hanger. Both this engine and the first (failed) one had the same problem, very weird. See pic...the right hand side was bent down thanks to a stub of brass on the side of the bracket. Filed said stub off and used the tapped hole provided.
Whilst brake gear was off, I removed the lubricator tank to gain better access to the bolts on cranks and eccentrics. Removed two inside eccentric straps so that I could check tightness of eccentrics on shaft, nice and tight...been keen to check this after the first loco failed on this matter. Sad to note that the inside running surface of the straps looked rubbish, hardly precision machining, ho hum.
Also made a dummy coal load for the bunker, glue setting now, pic tomorrow.

Rob_B

Tried out my dummy coal load, doesn't look too bad..

Rob_B

Turned my attention to the hand feed pump today. Took the cab/side tank assembly off and the first thing that struck me was how small the gas tank is. I'm surprised the charge lasts 20-30 minutes, by my calcs it's 51cc. Plenty of room for a bigger tank....must investigate this  ;)
Anyway resited pump further to the right, shortened links to handle, temporarily fitted the cab and according to my measurements volume of water pumped per stroke up by a third, that's better!
Also took the opportunity to reseat the check valves on hand and axle-driven pumps. Flashed the job up and pleased with the results, bypass valve open about 3/4 of a turn to maintain water level.
The fibre sealing washers on the pipe connections are beginning to irritate me....

Rob_B

Today I have been mostly in the smokebox. Not shovelling ash/soot but sorting out a blockage. The loco performance seemed to have tailed off lately so decided to investigate...
The superheater (is it that effective?) had some carbonised oil inside the pipe end which connects to the rectangular header, likewise the header itself was well gummed up. All this despite using "proper" steam oil. If this is going to be a regular headache I think I'll make a straight connection and remove the superheater altogether, avoiding the oil being cooked inside the pipe.
It might be worth mentioning that I found the union nuts barely holding, just half a turn of thread in one case. Problem is due to the recess in the female part not being deep enough, easily rectified - if you have a lathe that is.
Managed (with extreme difficulty) to change the securing screws (phillips...grrr!)  for the axle-driven pump. Yep, they were loose...
Changed the bent bits of brass wire for buffers/drawhook for proper steel splitpins.
The rebuild continues... ::)

John Baguley

It's bad practice to feed the cylinder oil in before the superheater but I don't suppose there's much you can do about it without a major replumb of the lubricator. I think you are always going to get the problem of the oil carbonising inside.

John
Member of North West Leicestershire SME
Secretary National 2½" Gauge Association

Rob_B

You're absolutely right John, wonder if anyone else has had similar problems? As I'm slowly rebuilding the darn thing, I'm already thinking of lubrication mods. The oil tank is an awful long way from the smokebox, isn't it? Gave it a run just now, think there's a blockage in the fine pipe from tank to steam header. Blast.

Rob_B

Hang on a minute...rechecked the plumbing in the smokebox. The oil is fed into the header next to the return from the superheater, so the carbonisation took place at the header itself (the superheater blockage was in the first few mm from the header - there's a dog-leg bend which doesn't help either!)
Definitely need more studying...

AshleyW

rob - you should set up a mod service !!! all very interesting, i'm sure you'd have plenty of takers for all your sensible improvements so far. ash

unklian


Yes very interesting stuff Rob, keep up the good work and posting it here. Hopefully I will be able to follow your tips on my own 14xx .
Thank you  Ian

hornbeam

Hi Rob,

What distance did you move the pump over and what length did you remove off the arm?

Thanks

Rob_B

Thanks for the positive comments guys, I need all the encouragement I can get! I'm doing this not to collect Brownie points but hopefully to help others, especially with things other owners might only notice when yet another screw comes loose!
Hornbeam, I moved pump across by the pitch of the mounting bolts. Use spacer block under pump, clamp with one bolt/nut and drill through to footplate for new (second) hole 2mm diam. Links were shortened by 5mm. The pump should give max stroke with supplied brass extension handle. You should be able to bend copper pipe from top of pump enough to clear cab bulkhead, though I cut my bulkhead back a bit instead.
Today I cleared the blockage twit oil tank and smokebox and modified the header to include a needle valve, it'll take a while to fine tune but I have spent too much time cleaning due to oil everywhere  :(

Rob_B

Somebody mentioned a leaking whistle....so did mine. The valve is a captive type (for safety) so have to dismantle it completely to clean. The valve has a Teflon face, mine had a minute bit of brass stuck to it, OK since.

AshleyW

pump- just to check, when you say pump arms or links, you mean the two parallel brass bars from handle to body?

Rob_B

Hi Ash,
Yep, got it in one, the two brass bar thingummies
Rob