Technical

A couple of years back I acquired a “new” Mallard from eBay. It took a little while to get going when I first tested it but it did eventually work, albeit it took quite a few clicks to get going. I don’t run it as often as I should and the last time I ran it was about 7 months ago, when I had the impression that it lacked the power it originally had i.e. it didn’t feel as fast at top speed on the rolling road. In fact I had the impression it was losing power slightly on each successive run.

I got it out again to test today (on the rolling road) and it steamed up fine and the wheels started turning without any issue. However it did seem noticeably to lack the power it once had. It operated at a moderate speed for a few minutes and then ran out of steam and ceased operating earlier than usual.

I steamed it up again immediately after but this time it just never reached the point where it gave the tell-tale signal that it was ready to go. I tried a few more times but no joy.

I noticed that there was a bit of water leakage, largely right at the front of the loco on each side.

Anyone any idea what might be the problem? The fact that it appears to have slowly decreased in power on each run, and that there is some water leakage, makes me think perhaps that something has been slowly shaking itself loose until it’s now got to the point where it can’t build up enough pressure to operate at all.

Unfortunately, I‘m not technically minded and am not sure where to begin troubleshooting or even how to open up the loco (or what I would even be looking for if I did!). Really hope it’s fixable.

I should say I also have a Flying Scotsman, which (after a service by the live steam club‘s own technical guru) steams up fine and operates with noticeably more power than the Mallard was reaching before it stopped working.

Grateful for any suggestions. If I have to send it in for a service/repair again then I will but it would be good if there were something I could try myself first.