This was 'Vixen's first proper duty on the Llechfan after the purchase in July. The 'blues and twos' Locomotion coaches had been purchased at Llanfair by Steve and Kes. Within a week Steve had repaired the lighting in the Guards and also tweaked and repaired the Locomotion bogies so that they did not derail. He also replaced the Andel tongue and chopper couplings for simple dumb-buffer and hooks. tHEN RAN quite nicely now, to be fair.
Other locos were present
Some Vistas from Llechfan...
Dr Steve's Mamod Surgery was open for prebooked appointments. Firstly saw a young lad's grandmother bring down his custom blue upgraded loco for servicing and running in. After some time on the bench, fire was raised and a brave few laps were made before it was sent home with a prescription of needs running in.
While 'Blue' was pottering up and down the main yard, Vixen was taking charge and having no nonsense with the troublesome Coaches
Some thoughts here - they ran quite well and have that rather realistic rail-humming sound to them. However, they are heavy and their pointed roofs don't quite match my engines so selling them on to fund their replacements was the best thing. No regrets there - I raised the capital for the replacements, Steve got to add to his immense Locomotion collection and they rather suit the more free and relaxed ethos of the Llechfan Garden Railway.
Next up for the surgery was my industrial upgraded Mamod, STARSTRIDER. After three years of battling on, and each time reassembled a new fault arising, i had finally pressed the 'nuclear option' and enlisted Steve's help.The gas burner was cleaned out as a precaution, and the deadleg lubricator was examined. It turned out that the inside section had only a thin o-ring which was letting steam blow by back into the engine and extinguishing the fire. With three new orings fitted, the engine was reassembled....and ran! It finally ran, properly, without accident or jinx after so long - in steam for a year and more, but properly turning wheels in anger for the first time in over ten years according to its work history.
RUNNING VIDEO - CLICK TO VIEW -->
Steve brought out his Accucraft GVT Tram for a running in session. It ran rather quite well!
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George England
Vixen's Victory-the last run of the season on Llechfan and a final farewell to the Locomotion Coaches...
But what replaced the 'Summer Coaches' at the Works? That's another story...
