Loco servicing

With a bit of public operation in the offing, it was time to catch up on some loco maintenance with the live steam fleet. 

First, replace the battery box in the cab roof of the Lady Anne. The original had distorted over time, and would drop the batteries out, not ideal in the middle of a run!

I've had a replacement box for nearly a year. The old one is bolted into the roof, using holes in the plastic that are also in the new box. I thought this would be a doddle, but it's a fiddly job since the bolts are only just long enough.You can't get at the screw head on one either as it's under the non-sliding cab shutter. Pushing the nut very hard onto it allowed me to just catch the thread. Bolting a flat box under a curved roof isn't ideal, and so replacing this with a battery pack in a side tank, something I have seen done, appeals. 

Next, I planned to swap out the regulator servo in Ragleth. 

 

I'm a dab hand at removing the body, it's only six bolts after all, and could soon see the recalcitrant item. I had another servo, a posh one with metal gears, but when I plugged this into the receiver, it wouldn't turn. Hmmm. So, the old servo, which works, went back in. I think the problem is that it's being affected by the heat, but we'll have another test. 

Finally, the Merlin Mayflower.  

All I needed to do here was regauge the model. Simple job, slacked off the screws, shove the wheels out, and do them up again. There are even dimples in the axles, I didn't expect those, to set the gauge. 

Next stop, the club track.