So this is my Live Steam Loco No.1, a Mamod SL1.
It was part of a near complete Mamod RS1 set that I purchased at the Members stall at the Merstham Steam Show 1996, together with a Guards Van & Goods Van. I've been back to this venue several times since and the Members Stall has gone all professional and prices raised accordingly. So less likely to get a bargain now.
The loco is in good condition, but suffered from erratic steaming (could have been due to old fuel tablets) and dribbles from the steam regulator/reverser. The log wagon had lost its original logs but these were recently replaced with some I won on ebay, and both this and the open wagon had had the Mamod coupling replaced by copper wire soldered into 2 rings per coupling. These modified couplings have now been replaced by the original Mamod keyring type coupling rings from some other wagons I have, and the later style oval Mamod coupling rings fitted to those instead. 2 of the curves had broken tabs, but my attempt to fix these failed when the zinc alloy melted before the solder. These have now been replaced with 2 curves from my stock of track.
I also purchased a meths vapouriser for this Loco, but it has so far failed to raise sufficient steam to move the loco. Looking at another website online, it looks as if the vapouriser should just hang in the burner tray, so I will need to remove the bottom of the tray at some point, and make the vapouriser a better fit.
I intend to keep this set as near original as possible. There was a oil bottle as well, but this was split and had leaked most of the oil out so I removed it from the set.
Thanks for looking.
Chris Cairns.
