Garden Railway Forum

Is there a recognised method of replacing/fitting new wheels on a Mamod SL1.

Do the wheels pull off the axles?

Replacing the wheels mean taking half the loco apart. The wheels are fixed onto the axles so don't try pulling them off. below is a method of doing it on a standard loco.

Remove the steam dome (and cover if fitted) and take the spring, washer and O ring from the steam pipe.

Undo the bolts under the smokebox and the two under the front of the cab

Remove the rear buffers

CAREFULLY lift the body from the frames making sure not to pull on the steam and exhaust pipes, they will just slide out but may need a little help.

Turn the wheels so the piston rod on one side is all the way out and lift the big end off the crank pin, repeat on other side

Unbolt the rear drag beam and the chassis spacer

Unbolt the reversing block from the frames

Squeeze the frames together

At this point you can remove the wheel set by pushing the axle bearing out of the frames and take the wheels out the slot. Putting the engine back together is a reverse of the instructions, you may need to put new O rings in the reverser block and under the steam dome if they are old to make it steam tight once more. This is my way to do it, I've done this job so often it only takes me about 10 mins to strip the loco, put new wheels in and have it back in one piece !

Very interesting tutorial, my question is : is the process the same for a MSS loco?

Thanks for those instructions DLRdan I will dismantle and replace wheels over the weekend as I want to steam next weekend.

Gamma, the instructions are exactly the same for the MSS engine, the only difference is the brass steam dome cover won't be there.