At Mikes last running day I decided to strip the cylinders down and fit the new cylinder overhaul kit Russell had purchased, though not too bad it was obvious that most af the O-rings and other bits had seen better days. Once refited the loco was given a test steam and very stiffly decided she wanted to work, we oppend the lubricator lid to find an grainy green/yellow type fluid inside. This was flushed out and things started to improve. The loco joined in for the end of the open day and ran in a triple header of Jacks (see http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about3989.html for a picture).
After the running day it was decided that due to the loco taking a very long time to make steam and needing a very high flame to keep it there it needed a boiler washout, so it came home with me. At first I filled the boiler with white vinigar and left it for 24 hours, this came out looking like washing up liquid it was that green. The next night a weak solution of kettle descaler was poured into the boiler and gently heated untill it started to bubble, left to cool down and repeated. What came out was:
As you can see, its still some-what green but with lots of little brown flakes in it, the descaler was a very light pink colour before it went in. I repeated the descaler trick and it came out almost the same colour as it went in, so the boiler was given a good wah-out with fresh water. What a difference it has made, she now makes steam almost as quick as Ffion Bach and is a regular performer on the CMEC 16mm friday night runs whilst on running in duties and hasnt given one bit of trouble. Shes had a few other minor bits of work carried out whilst Im looking after her such as the gas jet being replaced, water top-up valve overhauled and the burner system stripped down and cleaned (the burner flue was full of muck but the burner itslef was quite clean). Its fantastic to see an old engine running so well again.
