Melted Merlin

 

There was a casualty of Gardeners' World - My Merlin Mayflower. 

 

Normally, a very reliable locomotive, I fired it up to put on a show while the judges did their thing. It had run well earlier in the day, but now it was backfiring, there was burning happening in the cab, around the area of the burner. I turned the gas out, and tried again. After a couple of goes, all seemed well, and steam was quickly raised. 

 

Off we went, and about 10 feet from the corner the judges were occupying, the loco stopped. I sprinted around to it, and the cab was full of fire again. 

 

Trying not to make a fuss, I turned the gas off, a bit of a toasty job, and whipped the loco back to the yard, where I left it to cool. 

 

Back at home, I can see that the electronics are not in the best shape. The cover has melted off the receiver, and all the servo wires are crispier than is ideal. It looks like some time will need to be spent replacing a lot of this, although there is some life in them, maybe I can save the receiver. 

 

Of course, I'll need to investigate the cause of the backfire too. A chat with my steam loco guru beckons when I'm back home. 

 

While I'm at it, the O-rings in the cylinders have been asking for attention on cold days for a long while. Perhaps a more comprehensive service is called for. 

 

All this will need to be marked down to being part of the "fun" of operating a miniature live steam loco.