Lady Anne restored to full health

 

When I failed to persuade my Roundhouse Lady Anne to light at a meeting, I decided it was time to look at the renovations the bargain loco needed properly. 

I'm willing to admit that I know little about tiny steam trains. More than some, but less than others. One of those other being my freind John Campbell. A metal basher and loco builder from the Black Country. 

So, I had a chat and he agreed to assess the loco and tell me what I needed to do. I passed to the model over to one of his mates at Llanfair show, for delivery to John. "I bet he won't be able to stop himself taking it apart." I was told with a laugh. 

He wasn't wrong. A couple of days later, I had a call, and then a series of photos showing the model in bits. 

The good news is that it's not in terrible shape. The non-working pressure gauge was traced to a bunged up pie running to it. A dip in the pickeling solution cured this. There was some weepy pipework, cured with a bit of silver solder. 

And the bolts holding down the back end of the boiler have been replaced. I had planned to do as much of the work myself as possible, but John described drilling out bolts in the boiler as "squeeky bum time", and it was a job that required a better pillar drill than I own - so I was happy to let him do this!

The loco came back to me at the L&WMRS reopening, but it took me a week to find time to get it out on the track. 

As you can see, it steams well. Really well. John tells me there is wear, but nothing to worry about. The loco is 25 years old, but has plenty of life in it for the time being. 

Of course, things didn't run quite smoothly. On the track, it wouldn't light. I could get a POP when holding a flame over the chimney, but no burner sound. I diagnosed a blocked jet, and working on the nothing ventured, nothing gained principle, decided to take a look. 

Undoing the pipe from valve to burner, I worked out that the valve was working, so extracted the jet, and blasted gas through it. Reassembling it with the jet poking upwards, I could now hear gas flow, so put it all back together properly, and it worked!

I know this is a fairly simple job, but I'm well pleased with myself for doing it. All that chatting to people like John and I'm learning a little.

First time on the track

 

Now I have a carrying box, the Roundhouse loco is much easier to move around without risking damage, so it's off to the L&WMRS outdoor track for a proper run. 

Loco box

 

My Dad's had a little production line running recently, turning out boxes for both boats and trains. Quite a lot of our garden railway stock now has a proper wooden home now, which will keep it clean in the garage, and make it easier to move. 

Of course, while he was at it, he made something for the Roundhouse loco. 

The boxes are pretty simple, aided by being able to buy the plywood ready-cut from the ever-excellent  Torry's Hardware. He simply takes a cutting list along, and the next day, picks up the peices. A little sanding and glue later, we have a box.

Sliding perspex fronts are an upgrade on the plywood ones we used to used. It's handy to be able to see what's inside, and the boxes now double as display cases, well, we're quite pleased with what's inside!

Cleaning up the boiler

Lady Anne's boilder was letting here down. Matt, and slightly greasy, it contrasts with the high-gloss paintwork on the rest of the loco. 

With the body off, I had a go with some Turtle Was "Safe cut" paint restorer. It's T-cut in a different bottle, basically, a very mild abrasive. 

Starting in a spot that would be hidden by the side tanks, I started polishing, and after a few minutes, the paint started to look better. After half an hour, I was pleased with the result. OK, not perfect, but a much better match for the tanks. 

How long will this last once the loco is fired up? No idea, but at least I know how to clean it up again. 

Curing the wobbly boiler, for now

 

The biggest worry with the Lady Anne, was the wobbly boiler. Everything worked fine, but the boiler shouldn't move when you prod the dome. 

With the boiler off, I spent a lot of time trying to work out how the thing was supposed to be attached. After downloading the instructions for the kit version of the loco, and reading this online build, I think the answer is that the two screws going through the Boiler Mounting Foot should screw into some threaded fittings in the boiler. 

Mine didn't. In fact the screws that were fitted, were too short to extend beyond the back of the foot. 

Pondering how I fix this, I wondered about putting some packing behind the foot to effectivly clamp it between the foot and smokebox. Experiments with card seemed to show this would work, and intiailly, my plan was to replace this with shim brass. 

With another nights sleep on the problem, an even simpler solution came to me - slightly longer bolts. Digging through my collection, I found a couple that could be shortened to stick out the back of the foot by around 3mm. Not much, but enough to lock the boiler in place. For the moment anyway. 

Needless to say, I worried that I'd damaged the boiler, so indulged in a little steam-up in the sunshine. 

All was fine, and it gave me a chance to set up the radio control system to put the controls on the right transmitter sticks. 

So, that's my solution. For now. Not ideal, but better than wobbling. 

What I think has happened, is that when the loco was dropped on the floor, bending the chimney slightly, is that the bolts through the Boiler Mounting Foot have sheared off. My bet is that thier remains are still in the back of the boiler. To get those out means dismantling the model, then drilling and tapping the holes to remove the old bolts. That's a lot of work, with no guarantee of success. I could end up having to replace the boiler itself - £552 from Roundhouse right now. 

Long term of course, this is the right course of action, and maybe I'll have another look in the winter. First, I need to replace the pressure gauge, and a few other bits. At least the smokebox has the right number of bolts holding it down now, which will help a little.

New radio in

 

The old radio reciever was firmly stuck to a plate inside the tank with (I think) a sticky pad. This sucummed to my screwdriver and the old unit lifted away. Cleverly, the aerial wire runs up the wiring loom and clips to a terminal inside the roof, so this can act as an aerial. 

My new Radiolink unit won't use this, hopefully the 2.4ghz system won't need it. It's a bit smaller than the old reciever, and with a bit of prodding will fit in its space without the sticky pad. I'm wondering about adding some insulating balsa wood on the plate to reduce the amount of heat getting to the electronics. 

Wiring wasn't hard once I remembered that the battery connection doesn't have to go to the bottom set of terminals. Working out which wire goes where is still trial and error, but doesn't take long, and now I have a controller that isn't falling apart, and is the same one used for the other steam locos.

Body off

Any work on the Roundhouse loco needed to start with removing the body. I was sure the radio reciever was in one of the tanks, and it should also allow me to investigate the wobbly boiler issue. 

Using a newly made cradle (See August's Garden Rail) I flipped the loco upside down, and undid any screws I thought might be holding it in place. They all released easily enough, apart from the two at the back of the cab, which were fiddly, but doable. 

It was very greasy under there, so the first job was down at the sink with some turps and loads of kitched roll to remove the slime from all the places it was hidden. All steam locos will get like this, but as I'm going to be poking and prodding around, let's make it as pleasent as possible.

 

Roundhouse loco - First steaming

With the sun out, it's time to see if the latest addition to my fleet works. After loading it up with fuel, oil and water, I placed it on a couple of bricks to give it a go.

 

As promised, it steams really freely. The safety valve lifted within five minutes (roughly) and on the track, it runs perfectly.I am a happy boy!

OK, there is work to do:

• The transmitter is falling apart, but it was always going to be replaced by a 2.4ghz unit. 
• The pressure gauge doesn't work. I'll have a poke, but will probably just replace it. We won't pass a boiler test unless I can get this sorted!
• A couple of the grub screws in the wheels are out, and won't go back. 
• A new O-ring is required for the lubricator. 
• New safety valve covere required! (I have the dome cover). 
• The boiler wobbles. Hopefully this is just a loose bolt. 
• The boiler needs a good degrease and clean on the outside. 
• The cylinder covers look tatty. Not sure if I should repaint or just replace. 

Time to head to the Roundhouse website and place an order...

The cheap way into Roundhouse ownership

 

This is my new toy. A Roundhouse Lady Anne. Bought at Llangollen garden railway show last Saturday. 

I'd normally say I hadn't planned to buy this, but in truth, there was an inkling. Right at the end of Ally Pally show, I spotted that Footplate had a green one on the stand, for very modest money. I asked what was wrong with it, and the answer came that it was a bit scruffy, but otherwise OK. 

Now, if I'd seen that loco at the start of the show, there would have been a lot of pondering. A Roundhouse loco was a hole in my collection. I've toured the factory and seen the quality of the work. But there was no way I could justify the outlay to myself. Even the kits (which I'd stilll love to build) end up north of a grand by the time you buy all the bits. Excellent value for money, but still a big chunk of cash. 

Anyway, having seen Footplate at a couple of shows since, and the stand being devoid of loco, I assumed I'd missed my chance. Not to worry I thought. 

But at the garden railway show, the green loco was back. And joined by a black one. Each for £600. I asked, and was assured the loco had steamed. It felt OK when I turned the wheels, and was pleasently oily in the right places. I took a deep breath and handed over my credit card. This may be a bargain, but it's still not something I'd planned or saved for. 

Back home, a chance posting on Facebook about the Paul Perryman estate sale allowed me to start digging into the models history. From the serial number, Roundhouse told me it was built in 1999 by Harry. I have now comunicated with the first owner, who sold it to Paul. I also know it has been run with 40-50 wagons on the back relatively recently. 

Now this might be a bargain, but there is work to do. The boiler moves slightly. It's greasy and dull. The loco was once red, but repainted black after falling off a table and becoming scratched. This also explains the very slight lean of the chimney - not something I spotted until it was pointed out. 

The first job is to steam the model. From that I'll get an idea of the work required. Being Roundhouse, all the bits are available, and the model can be taken apart using hand tools if required. 

Assuming it's as good as suggested, then after 25 years, this thing was excellent value for money. It's not like it's never been used after all. 

Anyway, the adventure starts here. I'm looking forward to this one. Quite chuffed with my new purchase.