16mm NGM Member to Member Sales Stand Bargain Upgraded SL1

A very popular starting point for Live Steam. With their low cost comes a number of problems which can be discussed here
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Chris Cairns
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16mm NGM Member to Member Sales Stand Bargain Upgraded SL1

Post by Chris Cairns » 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?

Image

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

Image

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.

Image

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).

Image

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!

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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.

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Post by Lner fan Sam » Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:21 pm

That is a excellent loco Chris and it was great to meet you after all this time. :D
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Post by Dannypenguin » Mon Apr 14, 2014 5:28 pm

Wild guess - £75? :) Nice loco btw...
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Post by Chris Cairns » Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:46 pm

Lner fan Sam wrote:it was great to meet you after all this time
Likewise Sam it was good to meet up with yourself and the others on the Rhydypenderhyn layout.

I trust you get your oil stained sight glass easily sorted out. With the purchase of this 45mm SL1 there is no rush now to re-gauge my 2nd IP Jane back to 45mm. That one has a completely blocked sight glass tube, and unlike your RWM boiler there is no handy screw plug on the top of the sight glass fittings so I'm reluctant to fix it for now as it is easy to break the glass tubing and I'm not sure I have any spare at present.
Dannypenguin wrote:Wild guess - £75?
Actually very close. I've just priced up the bits at today's prices (not including the brass screws & nuts) and it comes to a staggering £120 plus!

Chris Cairns.

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Post by PeachBottom » Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:46 pm

I know what you paid for it, but that's only because I worked the booking in desk and spotted it, but then decided I wanted the fun of building my own Mamod instead....though at one point I admit we had about 5 things under our booking in desk that TommyDodd or I had claimed as our own......LOL
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Post by kandnwlr » Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:52 pm

PeachBottom:99461 wrote:I know what you paid for it, but that's only because I worked the booking in desk and spotted it, but then decided I wanted the fun of building my own Mamod instead....though at one point I admit we had about 5 things under our booking in desk that TommyDodd or I had claimed as our own......LOL
Just as well, as I only got to Peterboro at 12.00 and found the "breakfast buffet" of the M2M had been stormed and stripped bare. All my cash had to be spent elsewhere :| :cry: Next year. And congrats on the 16mm committee job :D

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Post by Chris Cairns » Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:07 pm

PeachBottom wrote:though at one point I admit we had about 5 things under our booking in desk that TommyDodd or I had claimed as our own
Only right as you were doing a great volunteering task.

Whose's was the other table in the M2M sales area? They had an impressive stock of very well priced industrial rolling stock & bits and pieces but as they had only been provided with one table it was a bit of a jostling match getting at them and I watched a big hand descend onto several slate & tipper wagons before I could get anywhere near them. Not a complaint as I still came away with this impressive haul for £28:50 although I missed the fact that the little wooden pot belly stove & chimney I'd picked up had not made it into my final haul.

Image

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Post by PeachBottom » Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:04 pm

That must have been the table for the Merioneth society...we had nothing to do with it, so I have no idea what was on that table!
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"Peachbottom was reading over my shoulder and has gone a funny colour, and is also in the kitchen where the Very Sharp Objects live" ~TommyDodd

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Post by TommyDodd » Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:14 pm

PeachBottom:99502 wrote:That must have been the table for the Merioneth society...we had nothing to do with it, so I have no idea what was on that table!
I believe it was a special arrangement to dispose of the assets of a deceased member- therefore kept separate from the main M2M operation and accounts because unlike M2M no commission is charged for this service. It's the last benefit of membership, making sure relatives don't get ripped off by dodgy dealers and house-clearance people taking expensive locos "off their hands for a couple of quid".
Well, now we know the buffer-stops work! (Heard at 2013 "Longest Day" solstice steamup)

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Post by kandnwlr » Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:17 pm

TommyDodd:99505 wrote:
PeachBottom:99502 wrote:That must have been the table for the Merioneth society...we had nothing to do with it, so I have no idea what was on that table!
I believe it was a special arrangement to dispose of the assets of a deceased member- therefore kept separate from the main M2M operation and accounts because unlike M2M no commission is charged for this service. It's the last benefit of membership, making sure relatives don't get ripped off by dodgy dealers and house-clearance people taking expensive locos "off their hands for a couple of quid".
And exactly what I would expect from an Association like our own.

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Post by Chris Cairns » Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:21 pm

TommyDodd wrote:I believe it was a special arrangement to dispose of the assets of a deceased member
That is great to hear and I'm glad I made a small contribution to this excellent service.

Chris Cairns.

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Post by Dr. Bond of the DVLR » Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:35 pm

I am afraid I may have nabbed more than my fair share of stuff from that stand - I am now sorted for window frames (for life I hope)
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Post by jay1976 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:13 am

I to saw that stand and got a few small items for myself..
I was almost tempted to buy the 3 big big hoppers for £20 I saw bu had to resisit as i only had limited money with me and i had a excited 3 year old who i knew would like something for himself,which he did get later on..
and hoppers will be around for sometime as well..

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Post by Chris Cairns » Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:40 am

jay1976 wrote:and hoppers will be around for sometime as well..
But look at the prices that other traders (Swanage Models [?] for one) are now commanding for the Big Big Tippers. At least Peter Binnie's prices have been fairly constant for the past few years although I did discuss the anomaly of our escalating Royal Mail prices with him (your £1:49 item including airmail postage from China still gets delivered from Heathrow/Gatwick/etc. to your home by Royal Mail, yet sending a package the other way round is significantly more than £1:49!). So he may have to raise his postal prices to cover the actual costs incurred.

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Post by Big Al » Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:43 am

jay 1976 wrote: and hoppers will be around for sometime as well..

I hope I will be...............[/quote]
Allen Hopper - early retirement can't beat it !

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Post by jay1976 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:29 pm

I did look at them binnie hoppers at Peterborough as well and had seen them on a web page but actually touching items for quality as well as size is much better.. I will proberbly end up buying a few of them later in the year as well and i heard someone talking on there about adding a bit of concreate mix with sand to ge a nice weigh inside them..

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Post by Chris Cairns » Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:38 am

Couple of ways to weigh down the Binnie Tippers for better running.

Fit replacement steel wheels - available from the likes of RWM Steam but depends on your budget.

Add weights to the longitudinal bracing girder - I epoxy in small fishing line weights like this - http://trains.laurell.nu/kits/binnie-02.html

And as you have already posted put a load inside the tipper bucket. I've decided to run mine with a load of sand but was surprised how much sand you need to mix with a watered down PVA solution to get a nice removable load - need to get some more sand to complete my loads.

Chris Cairns.

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