16mm NGM Member to Member Sales Stand Bargain Upgraded SL1
Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 2:42 pm
A very popular stand at the 16mm NGM National Garden Railway Show is the Member to Member Sales Stand. I just missed the 09:00 shuttle bus so by the time the 09:45 had arrived the venue was already open and the crowds had gathered at the M2M stand.
It was a much better laid out stand compared to last year and the locomotives section was already 2 to 3 people deep when I arrived so difficult to see all that was on offer. After an R/C Locomotion Railcar & trailer transaction was completed I saw an incomplete & tired looking RS1 set, and a much modified 45mm SL1 at an unbelievable bargain price.
I picked it up, gave it a good looking over to confirm it was sound and had potential (the label said it was a good runner) and some of those strange Bank of England notes were quickly handed over.
So what did I get for my money?
Difficult to date it completely but it has the earlier riveted boiler back plate, the earlier flush sided smoke box casting, but although the steam dome nut is fitted with a gasket the boiler insert is the later flared design which allows the nut to be sealed with an 'O' ring.
So the upgrades/additions: -
Centre Buffer Couplings.
MSS Reverser Valve Sleeve
MSS 45mm Cylinder Port Face Plates
Dead Leg Lubricator
Water Top Up Valve
In Cab Regulator
Adjustable High Pressure Safety Valve
3 Wick Meths Burner with vented bung and modified chassis spacer
Obviously been a riveted constructed SL1 the rivets around the cab have been replaced with brass screws & nuts. The wheels have been re-punched and whilst they are secure and in quartering they are the characteristic off-centre drilled mazak wheels. 2 very large headed pozidrive screws have been used to hold the side tanks, boiler & smoke box casting together, and although there is a noticeable kink in the lubricator pipe it does still work OK. Probably been stored in a damp shed/garage at some point before modification as the paintwork is very bubbled with some areas already lifted although no major corrosion.
Picked up another driver figure from Jons. I was tempted to just oil it up, put in some meths & water and fire it up, but knew that a little preparation would be beneficial. Although the wheels are definitely wobbly and the bearings are free to move in the chassis frames they were lubricated up and run very free. Cylinder back plate faces are not too badly scored so as I did not want to fully disassemble them they were just lubricated with 220 steam oil. The reverser valve pivot bolt has been modified with a slot cut into the head and what looked like a nut appears to be a piece of hex rod which has been drilled out and used as a spacer to compress the spring (usual mod applied here is to mount a 2nd spring on this pivot bolt).
The sight glass plastic has obviously leaked/failed before as there is tell tale staining/rusting around the bottom of the brass back plate and new rivets have been fitted. This lead me to believe it had been used with poor quality tap water, and removing the boiler fittings confirmed this with a lot of white & brown scaling. All the boiler fittings were descaled, cleaned up and the fibre washers oiled up. A water/vinegar mix was heated up in the boiler using one wick of the burner, and at the end of this flush out I decided to raise full steam with all the fittings replaced - was not quite quick enough to put the burner out in time so ended up with a fountain of water/vinegar coming out vertically from the safety valve!
The boiler flush out did the trick with a lot of dark scaling being removed. After lots of flushing out with clean water, it was oiled up, boiler filled with heated water and burner topped up with meths. Steam pressure was raised quickly (burner performance is impressive and safety valve needs adjusting higher), and after clearing out the condensate the cylinders/wheels burst into action. The cab regulator is a very fine needle and allows very good control.
The fittings all appear to be made from the same brass which had slightly tarnished, and the fact that the regulator housing is not painted plus that style of lever used, leads me to conclude that most if not all of the modifications have come from PPS Steam Models (it is not an IP Eng safety valve, and Dream Steam use a wheel on their regulators).
So a very satisfactory result and as I do not have any 45mm track I look forward to running it on the 45mm indoor layout in the visitors centre at the Scottish Industrial Railway Centre (run by the ARPG at Dunaskin) when I get a convenient break from my footplate duties.
I asked several Mamodologists at Peterborough what they would pay for this modified SL1 and all their prices were significantly above what I paid. Unfortunately several of them are members here so the answer will leak out very quickly - to those that do not know can you guess how much I paid for this locomotive?
Chris Cairns.
It was a much better laid out stand compared to last year and the locomotives section was already 2 to 3 people deep when I arrived so difficult to see all that was on offer. After an R/C Locomotion Railcar & trailer transaction was completed I saw an incomplete & tired looking RS1 set, and a much modified 45mm SL1 at an unbelievable bargain price.
I picked it up, gave it a good looking over to confirm it was sound and had potential (the label said it was a good runner) and some of those strange Bank of England notes were quickly handed over.
So what did I get for my money?
Difficult to date it completely but it has the earlier riveted boiler back plate, the earlier flush sided smoke box casting, but although the steam dome nut is fitted with a gasket the boiler insert is the later flared design which allows the nut to be sealed with an 'O' ring.
So the upgrades/additions: -
Centre Buffer Couplings.
MSS Reverser Valve Sleeve
MSS 45mm Cylinder Port Face Plates
Dead Leg Lubricator
Water Top Up Valve
In Cab Regulator
Adjustable High Pressure Safety Valve
3 Wick Meths Burner with vented bung and modified chassis spacer
Obviously been a riveted constructed SL1 the rivets around the cab have been replaced with brass screws & nuts. The wheels have been re-punched and whilst they are secure and in quartering they are the characteristic off-centre drilled mazak wheels. 2 very large headed pozidrive screws have been used to hold the side tanks, boiler & smoke box casting together, and although there is a noticeable kink in the lubricator pipe it does still work OK. Probably been stored in a damp shed/garage at some point before modification as the paintwork is very bubbled with some areas already lifted although no major corrosion.
Picked up another driver figure from Jons. I was tempted to just oil it up, put in some meths & water and fire it up, but knew that a little preparation would be beneficial. Although the wheels are definitely wobbly and the bearings are free to move in the chassis frames they were lubricated up and run very free. Cylinder back plate faces are not too badly scored so as I did not want to fully disassemble them they were just lubricated with 220 steam oil. The reverser valve pivot bolt has been modified with a slot cut into the head and what looked like a nut appears to be a piece of hex rod which has been drilled out and used as a spacer to compress the spring (usual mod applied here is to mount a 2nd spring on this pivot bolt).
The sight glass plastic has obviously leaked/failed before as there is tell tale staining/rusting around the bottom of the brass back plate and new rivets have been fitted. This lead me to believe it had been used with poor quality tap water, and removing the boiler fittings confirmed this with a lot of white & brown scaling. All the boiler fittings were descaled, cleaned up and the fibre washers oiled up. A water/vinegar mix was heated up in the boiler using one wick of the burner, and at the end of this flush out I decided to raise full steam with all the fittings replaced - was not quite quick enough to put the burner out in time so ended up with a fountain of water/vinegar coming out vertically from the safety valve!
The boiler flush out did the trick with a lot of dark scaling being removed. After lots of flushing out with clean water, it was oiled up, boiler filled with heated water and burner topped up with meths. Steam pressure was raised quickly (burner performance is impressive and safety valve needs adjusting higher), and after clearing out the condensate the cylinders/wheels burst into action. The cab regulator is a very fine needle and allows very good control.
The fittings all appear to be made from the same brass which had slightly tarnished, and the fact that the regulator housing is not painted plus that style of lever used, leads me to conclude that most if not all of the modifications have come from PPS Steam Models (it is not an IP Eng safety valve, and Dream Steam use a wheel on their regulators).
So a very satisfactory result and as I do not have any 45mm track I look forward to running it on the 45mm indoor layout in the visitors centre at the Scottish Industrial Railway Centre (run by the ARPG at Dunaskin) when I get a convenient break from my footplate duties.
I asked several Mamodologists at Peterborough what they would pay for this modified SL1 and all their prices were significantly above what I paid. Unfortunately several of them are members here so the answer will leak out very quickly - to those that do not know can you guess how much I paid for this locomotive?
Chris Cairns.
Nice loco btw...
Next year. And congrats on the 16mm committee job 