Roundhouse Billy Kit

[Keith S]

I suspect the lubricator pipework will need tweaking again particularly if I manage to get one of the one legged BusyBodies clip on Roundhouse driver figures.

Mine's called Arfur....................... because there's only half of him!

Ha! Is joke!!

[mikewakefielduk@btinterne]

The cast reverser on your loco is so much better than the later pressed steel affair.

[Chris Cairns]

Wow!

Just been advised by Joep Janssen that due to a cancellation my Riverdale Elke boiler kit will be ready for collection at the Peterborough show (was pencilled in for delivery in Jan 2016).

So that is excellent news, although there goes my Garden Railway budget for the rest of the year!

Been otherwise busy getting a loco ready for our 16mm Group's 1st running day this Sunday, plus preparing locos and trying to complete rolling stock kits for running at Peterborough next month.

So the only progress I've made with this kit is to paint up the reverser stand & lever for fitting - still looking into getting access to a regulated air supply for running-in the chassis and fine tuning the valve settings.

Sent an e-mail enquiry about a Busy Bodies Roundhouse driver figure but no reply so far.

Chris Cairns

[Big Jim]

That is good news Chris.

You will get it much sooner and save on postage, bargain!

[Chris Cairns]

So although this kit has taken a back seat recently, it featured top of my shopping list at Peterborough: -

1. Roundhouse George Tender with both gauge wheelsets.
2. Tender white metal axleboxes/springs to use as detailing on the Billy chassis (thanks to Keith S for that idea).
3. Billy smokebox with door not soldered on (for a functioning smokebox door on the Riverdale Elke).
4. Unpainted cylinder covers.
5. Painted buffer beam overlays.
6. Busybodies Roundhouse lubricator driver figure.

plus of course the Riverdale Elke boiler kit and a 10 kgs box of coal!

With so much going on I'm not going to be set up for spray painting yet, so I decided to adjust the lubricator pipework again (the driver figure confirmed it needed to be moved slightly, then looked into running the chassis on air.

The only bicycle pump I have has a built in tyre nozzle so is not suitable, but by putting a piece of silicon tubing over the end of the superheater pipe and using the adaptor for airbeds, etc. I managed to run the chassis using short pumping action on my foot pump. This went OK, so I decided to finish off the boiler & gas fittings to run the loco under live steam.

The first run on blocks had a slight leak from the boiler blanking plug, which just needed nipping up, otherwise it ran OK. After a couple of runs on blocks I continued with running in on my rolling road, which has allowed adjustment of the glands, safety valve setting and fine tuning the valve timing. Seems to be running well now but it will be some weeks yet before we have a running day on a suitable level-ish garden railway.

Our 16mm NGM Group has a couple of shows this & next month so I'll be able to run this Billy for visitors using my rolling road on the demonstration table.

Chris Cairns

[mikewakefielduk@btinterne]

Glad you've got your kit built Billy running Chris. I must say mine is now running extremely well and is fast becoming one of my favoured locos to take along to a steam up.

Mike Wakefield

[Keith S]

Are you going to convert the locomotive to coal right away, or are you going to run it for a while with the gas boiler? I only ask because I'm looking forward to progress photos of the coal conversion.

Riverdale will not ship to Canada, and I have half a mind to make my own coal boiler. I have lots of copper pipe lying about and I believe it's within my abilities to make a simple boiler... maybe a dry-backed one, they seem to be OK in this scale.[/i]

[MDLR]

Riverdale will not ship to Canada,

........................ so could it be shipped via someone in England, or are there problems with Canadian customs?

[Keith S]

I'm not sure, Bryan... It says on their website they won't ship to Canada or U.S.A. "for insurance reasons". Whatever that may be, I can't imagine, Roundhouse are more than willing to ship boilers.

I'm sure having someone in England send it along would work fine... someday when Mrs. Keith isn't looking and I can actually part with the money for a boiler without hearing about it for the rest of my life!

Currently I don't have a railway and have to content myself with making my one and only engine chuff back and forth along a 15 foot track in the basement. No way would I get away with this behaviour if the engine was burning coal!!!

So you see there are several issues. I just like to blame it on Riverdale

[TonyW]

... are there problems with Canadian customs?

Almost certainly caused by Public Liability issues, which can get very "legal" in Canada and the USA. I've heard of other small manufacturers that won't supply to those countries for this reason.

[Keith S]

Canada is usually not the problem. Our legal system is more like the U.K. in that regard. It's probably the U.S.A. that has has ruined it for everyone else.

[TonyW]

Canada is usually not the problem. Our legal system is more like the U.K. in that regard. It's probably the U.S.A. that has has ruined it for everyone else.

Ah yes, sorry, I should not have included Canada in my earlier reply.

[Chris Cairns]

The cast reverser on your loco is so much better than the later pressed steel affair.

Hi Mike,

Although it looks better than the current version I wonder if it was withdrawn operationally due to my current experience. This is some feedback through the weigh shaft, lifting arms and the reverser rod. On my loco this was causing the reverser lever arm to be knocked out of its forward position and going back one notch. I've now worked out the final positions for fully forward, neutral & fully reverse and filled out the notches on the brass quadrant accordingly. Whilst it now stays in place running fully forward there is still a noticeable rattle from the reversing lever arm. We have a similar rattle in one position of the combined reverser/cutoff fitted to the Andrew Barclay pug that I drive but that is held in place by the lock (which I fully check is engaged each time I move the lever, as the reverser/cutoff inadvertently moving position was a contributory factor in a fatal accident during shunting at the NYMR).

Glad you've got your kit built Billy running Chris.

Compared to my burner woes with my Accucraft's & Regner's sometimes it is nice to see that Roundhouse have got their gas tank design sorted out so it lights up very easily despite a full tank of gas, although has a very distinctive 'bang' when it pops back to the burner (one to watch out for when demonstrating to the public at shows).

Are you going to convert the locomotive to coal right away, or are you going to run it for a while with the gas boiler? I only ask because I'm looking forward to progress photos of the coal conversion.

Hi Keith,

The plan is to run it manually without the bodywork initially (spray painting is not one of my best skills), then finish the painting and add the bodywork. A Radio Controlled version would come next, and unfortunately for yourself the coal firing conversion is still some way off (I received my boiler kit some 9 months early as the previous customer had been made redundant and had to cancel their order). I'll send you a PM regarding the Riverdale documentation. Like yourself I do not have a Garden Railway (still to build the garden first!) and our 16mm Group members layouts are varied so not all are conducive to manual running (my Ragleth was slipping up the gradients last Sunday in the heavy rain) so it may be some time before I gain enough manual experience before going over to Radio Control, although I do have the option to run it on our Industrial Railway Group's indoor 45mm layout.

It is not Riverdale's fault that they cannot ship to North America. They are at the mercy of their insurance company(s) who group Canada with USA for the required Product Liability Insurance, which can just be too expensive for small businesses. A similar problem is now facing small traders on eBay selling products to USA.

the delays with the home security checks coupled with the use of the default procedure instead of simple communication means I can no longer afford to sell to the USA.

I've posted a video of Riverdale's coal firing demonstration in the Videos section - http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about9694.html

Chris Cairns

[Keith S]

Well, I'm looking forward to your conversion, when it happens. I too hate spray painting. My problem is mostly that I cannot resist trying to touch the parts when they are not quite dry. I don't know why I consistently fail to learn that lesson... but when I painted my "Billy" I had to re-do the boiler wrapper twice, for that very reason. I had to resort to sealing the painted bits in a box and setting my wife to guarding the box for a week.

It's unfortunate that Riverdale's insurance company fails to make the distinction between Canada and the U.S.A. We are separate countries with separate laws. We do not have the same ridiculous legal system as the U.S.A. and we do not have "homeland security" or whatever they call it. It should be the same as posting something to Ireland! Maybe it has something to do with the shipping method. If you use U.P.S., it has to come through the U.S.A. How frustrating.

[big-ted]

Keith, how close to the USA border are you? Is it an option to have your boiler shipped to the US and then physically travel down to collect it? I often do this from Vancouver...

[Keith S]

Oh dear, I've hijacked Chris's thread about his "Billy"!

Ted, they won't ship to anywhere in North America. It gets my goat to the extent that I am complaining about it here even though I have not even ordered a boiler. Also I think I'm closer to the North Pole than I am the border!

Let's get back to talking about Chris's "Billy" build!  :shock: