service manual

[freelander]

anybody know of a general service manual for model steam locos, thinking about servicing my locos not just oiling and checking nuts for tightness but maybe stripping down and rebuilding.

regards freelander

[ferrysteam]

If it doesn't need stripping don't strip it....

[Keith S]

Tag Gorton wrote a book about servicing live steam engines. I'm too lazy to look up the title for you but I found out about it using Google so there you go. If it's a roundhouse engine you can download the instructions for one of the kit-built engines and that will tell you all you need to know about timing valves and whatnot. Otherwise, they are all pretty simple machines and probably go back together much the way they came apart: with screws, mostly. Don't dear around with the valve gear unless you have a clear understanding of how it works, however. Bad timing will ruin your engine unless you know how to correct it. Again, however, not very difficult to figure out.

Good luck.