Did all the servicing make a difference? There was only one way to find out. A dryish Thursday evening saw me at the L&WMRS outdoor track with a box full of gas and water.
First out, the Lady Anne. She fired straight up, was soon in steam, and ran very nicely for a few circuits. No worries there, and the batteries didn't fall out of the cab roof.
Next, the Merlin. I lit it up with a bit of fuss, and the model was struggling to raise steam. I could hear the burner, but it was very quiet.
After 10 minutes, I decided all really wasn't well, and wondered if the gas jet was partially blocked. As it happens, access to this is pretty easy. The unit pokes through a hole in the back of the cab, and, with a single banjo bolt undone, lifts the pipe off the unit. This them pulls out, and the jet can be unscrewed from a brass block.
After squirting some WD-40 through the jet, all seemed to be OK, so I reassembled it, and this time the loco lit straight up, with a good, loud burner.
After that, the loco ran perfectly. Plenty of steam, and a nice exhaust.
Finally, Ragleth.
I hadn't spotted that the loco was set to 32mm gauge, but that was quickly changed. Then I lit it up, and a few minutes later, the servos stopped working. Yes, like an idiot, I'd not charged the receiver batteries!
I packed everything up, and then took Ragleth into the railway club, putting it on charge in the workshop. An hour later, suitably refreshed with some tea, custard creams and plenty of chat, I took advantage of the light evening for another go.
This time we lit up, the servos operated, and off the loco went. Sadly, the regulator servo stopped working again, but it turns out, you can drive on the reverser alone. Which is what I did for a few minutes, and the model seemed quite happy. This isn't so odd, the Merlin works the same way.
So, more work to do with Ragleth, but it's usable for now. The others are spot on. Until something else happens, I'm sure...










