Ok so it's not exactly scale, but it was my first and only venture into live steam. I had this loco as a kit in 1989 for christmas when I was in my teens. It ran, ok ish for about a year but then suffered slipping wheel's on one axle. This was about the time that Mamod stopped trading as far as I recall & I couldnt find spares anywhere. It eventually got placed on a short stretch of track amongst my 00 guage garden railway. I think it last was in steam (but not moving around 1994). Anyway I moved out from the parents house about then & the 00 garden line got abandoned along with the mamod. Nature overtook the line's & swallowed up the mamod along with it. Forward wind to last week & my mother rings me to tell me she's found my old steam engine whilst gardening, do I still want it? I think about cosmetically restoring it, but then look on the internet & find loads of places selling new parts for these loco's, a new plan to steam it again emerges.
However the poor loco has suffered quite bad from all it's years outside, but hey I like a challenge.
I picked it up today & it isn't pretty.........................
RUST!
More RUST!
Yep, RUST!
You get the idea by now.
The cab bulkhead is shot through with rust.
But the wheels still turn & the frame is sound with nothing but some surface rust.
The strip down starts, everything came apart really easy which I wasn't expecting.
SCRAP!
But all this plus the boiler, frame is servicable.
Boiler looks perfect.
Frame's fine.
Brass rubs up with some elbow grease. I can see the scrawl I made on it 19years ago. It states that it's loco #1 & the date 25/12/89......ahhh bless!
Steam chest rebuilt, the "O" rings in it looked as good as new.
So I need to get ordering some new body parts & a wheelset for starters....However I think I may go a bit further than just cosmetically restored now....
Wales & Borders(BR) V3.1 status.
Re-released for RW. Hopefully some of you will get it to work this time.
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