Hi Guys,
To prepare for running on air I needed to make a couple of feed pipes. The steam pipes on this loco come out the smokebox side and down to the face next to the chest cover. The hole was drilled 8mm when I made the chests.
I turned and drilled a quick jig to make the flanges.
The 8mm stub locates the chest hole on one end and the flange plate on the other to make sure all holes line up. I turned a couple of brass flanges and drilled to fit. The chest was also drilled using the jig.
The flanges were quickly soldered onto a couple of lengths of 8mm copper tube.
The chests were cleaned and oiled with steam oil. The covers had a blanking plug fitted and were then bolted down with their gaskets. The plugs are to allow the chests to be flooded with steam oil when in storage.
Using some airline fittings 8mm tube is fitted for the air test. I have fitted an air separator in the airline to remove as much moisture as possible. I have a small pressure and flow control in the line so was able to turn it on gently. At 30 pounds it started to move very easily.
Hopefully the above short video is visible. I was amazed when it started first go. Forward is much better than reverse but that can be fixed later when on steam.
Sweet Pea is now off the bench while I fix my Simplex for testing having been delayed by Covid. Next job will be the boiler on Sweet Pea. Hopefully fairly soon as I have all the bits waiting.
We are hoping to go the the Sweet Pea rally at Hereford next Saturday for the first outing of the pandemic. We may see you there.
Cheers
Julian.
