General Discussion

A previous post questioned why the safety valve steam didn't exhaust up through the safety valve holes. 'David & Val' recommended the solution. The holes on the safety valve cap on some A3's do not align with the valve holes on the top of the boiler. In fact, they were way off. Placing a drill through the top and spotting on the cap proved the problem was real. As you can see from the photo, the new holes need to be near to the centre and the other one was right on the edge of the cap (see pointer) and would be hidden by the flexible shroud. So I only used the centre hole drilling it a little larger than the originals. The original holes have been blocked off with 10BA screws, held in by Loctite and cut off. I now have my Flying Scotsman blowing off correctly!! I'll be…

My rectangular layout of two tracks with drive through sidings has R3 & R4 bends. I have found that A4 with valances do not like the R3 bends, they run very well on the outside bends of R4. A4's without valances are ok on the R3 bends and of course the A3's run ok on either.

In my previous post I hinted on a special train for the Flying Scotsman I have modified. Well here it is. The Northern Belle. Enjoy the videos.

What's this you say? Well my new Flying Scotsman that I am building with the deflectors and double chimney doesn't like blowing off through the safety valves atop the boiler. Instead the steam exhausts down and under the cab turning the steam into water. Removing the body and steaming up, the safety valve works fine, but with the body in place, I get the problem. Any Ideas as to what's happening?? I hope to get the double chimney soon and have some special coaches on order for a really nice train. More on that later. Cheers.