'William' arrives
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:10 pm
After a few days of personal research in the internet , i decided to take the plunge and buy my first Mamod 0 gauge. This recent ebay acquisition arrived today. It arrived brand new in box with all its accessories.
Even though this is supposed to be the original William version (not William II ) it seems to have a few differences with the ones i have read about on the internet. What first caught my eye was the hole in the roof to allow for filling the gas tank without having to remove it from the loco, the first William locos did not have this this so maybe Mamod listened to people complaining and made some improvements.
Anyway, a quick blow with the air compressor and it seems to run fine, self starting as all. I do not want to get my hopes high yet as i hear these can be problem ridden if one is not lucky . The ultimate test will be with live steam.
These are the improvements/modifications i plan for it.
- First i will remove the seeming large MAMOD plaques on both sides of the loco and the one on the front of the boiler that really gives it a toy look. I may put some kind of smokebox door their instead.
- Turn a new safety valve on my lathe that releases at a slightly higher pressure of maybe 25 PSI.
- Change the gas tank tube from plastic to copper pipes.
- Paint the wheels and slide valve engines on both sides black .
Other possible improvements:
- I may install piping to carry the exhaust to the chimney to create a 'smoke' effect , at the moment it just exhausts under the train
-I may redo the whole regulator valve complex so that it goes into the cab of the train and not on the top of the boiler, possible also add a pressure gauge.
-Finally i may work on the oil lubricator to improve its capacity.
Enough fantasy, there are the pics , the engine will be run on rolling roads this evening and a real track test hopefully on Sunday.
Even though this is supposed to be the original William version (not William II ) it seems to have a few differences with the ones i have read about on the internet. What first caught my eye was the hole in the roof to allow for filling the gas tank without having to remove it from the loco, the first William locos did not have this this so maybe Mamod listened to people complaining and made some improvements.
Anyway, a quick blow with the air compressor and it seems to run fine, self starting as all. I do not want to get my hopes high yet as i hear these can be problem ridden if one is not lucky . The ultimate test will be with live steam.
These are the improvements/modifications i plan for it.
- First i will remove the seeming large MAMOD plaques on both sides of the loco and the one on the front of the boiler that really gives it a toy look. I may put some kind of smokebox door their instead.
- Turn a new safety valve on my lathe that releases at a slightly higher pressure of maybe 25 PSI.
- Change the gas tank tube from plastic to copper pipes.
- Paint the wheels and slide valve engines on both sides black .
Other possible improvements:
- I may install piping to carry the exhaust to the chimney to create a 'smoke' effect , at the moment it just exhausts under the train
-I may redo the whole regulator valve complex so that it goes into the cab of the train and not on the top of the boiler, possible also add a pressure gauge.
-Finally i may work on the oil lubricator to improve its capacity.
Enough fantasy, there are the pics , the engine will be run on rolling roads this evening and a real track test hopefully on Sunday.