Awakening a 21 year old!
No, it's not your son or daughter! I have bought an unused R2485 Flying Scotsman set, it's the one without the track and controllers. It's labelled 48/05, so everything is stuck solid. Wheels, pistons, electric motor. So I first removed the Walschaerts valve gear from each side enabling me to undo the gland nuts to remove the pistons. Everything needed a clean, I removed the o-rings from the pistons and after a massage with some steam oil I decided I would re-use them as they had not gone hard. re-assembly then followed. Next was the wheels, so removing one side only in turn, so as not to get confused with the quartering, I removed the opposite wheel with its axle giving it a good clean and oiling. On final assembly this showed everything was moving as it should, wheels and pistons. The motor and gearbox only required a slight oiling on the gears and spindles and this brought the motor to life. So, finally to steaming up on a rolling road, and off she went, awake after 21 years in stowage. The old oil had degenerated into a green mould on a lot of the threads which was very sticky and had to be cleaned off. The small screws in the timing adjuster were tightened up all the way, the timing wasn't bad but I think it could be improved. Now the tutorial for timing suggests the screws be set half way, which makes sense, so I am surprised Hornby did what they did, however that was then There is something else, in the operators manual is a picture of the loco showing how to remove the chimney to oil up. Now the picture shows two chimneys, and the second one looks like a double chimney, so was Hornby considering this option? I wish they had as I am getting one cast in brass for my current project depicting FS with this chimney and German style smoke deflectors - more on that in the Projects pages. It's a nice feeling getting something working after so long in hibernation.
