Looking for help on a "hopeless" case

[Scrat]

This loco has been sitting on the shelf for a long time:


It is a spirit fired live steam model.
The burner looks quite big:


She may have had a front bogie at some point.


Testing under compressed air showed no signs of life.
Just moving the valve rod and waiting for the piston rod to move also did not produce any useful results.
The valve gear looks flimsy but is quite robust.


I found that getting this thing to run is beyond my abilities, so I am looking for help.

[Lonsdaler]

I know it's not a Mamod, but there are some quite knowledgeable individuals on the various Mamod forums. It may be worth posting there to see if anyone can offer advice or more? Good luck!

[Scrat]

Already done. They are all hiding from this one.....

[ge_rik]

I'm no expert on live steam, but it sounds to me as if you're going to have to strip it down to track down the fault. I imagine the lack of response is because, at this stage, the problem could be anywhere.

Maybe a bit more info might help. Did the boiler hold its pressure? Could you detect any escaping air? Do the wheels and motion actually move freely by hand? Is there any binding?

Rik
PS - The other issue might be that everyone assumes you're the forum expert on this sort of vintage technology.....

[philipy]

Rik's response is almost exactly what I was thinking but didn't say it because I know that I know nothing!!

[ge_rik]

Be interested to see if you have made any progress with this project. I love seeing how you bring these models back to life.

Rik

[Scrat]

Hi Rik,

unfoprtunately this model is one of the last in the repair queue.
I have a 4" Foden Lorry blocking the workshop, a 5" gauge Sentinel steam shunter in pieces, a 2.5" Scotsman in pieces,....... and this is just the "big" end of the queue.