G.W.R Metro.
Service time !!
Above:-
We can see the old brass strip used to convey electrical power to the motor.
And ...below.... the fitted plunger set.
Above :- the new gearbox has had the location holes elongated to allow for adjustment of the motor
And ensure a correct mesh of the gear to worm.
We can see above the assembly now complete and only a tiny amount of the adjustment was required to mesh nicely together.
Above:- Test running the new assembly
The chassis has been reassembled and is ready to have the wires fitted to the plunger set using the brass etching tags seen in the foreground.
Below :- a couple of scratch built spanners ...
As none suitable can be found on the market
These will be used to good effect on these tiny weeny nuts on the plunger sets .
One side of the chassis plunger set has been wired together... below.
At this point I decided that it was not so good to allow the motor to "sit" on top of the middle plunger set, so it was repositioned facing toward the front, the chassis was modified slightly to allow for the motor to sit snugly in between the chassis members. I have also placed a small piece of foam below the motor to cushion and protect it from hard knocks and vibrations.
Below :-
The whole unit should then sit nicely in the modified body and boiler... below.
I decided to change the wires for softer multi strand wire as the telephone wire I used was a little too stiff and prevented the plungers springs from pushing out the plungers onto the wheels thereby creating loss of power to the motor, a silly mistake that won't be repeated. The wires were then tidied up and a little oil applied to the moving parts :- CAUTION ! DO NOT USE MINERAL OIL ON PLASTIC !! use synthetic oil as mineral oil disintegrates and breaks up the plastic. A little paint needs to be applied to the chassis to finish it off.
A test run below :-
Now the body needs updating, and first of all I needed to resolder the front mudguards and fit some weights to improve traction, then it was time to refit the large grease bulbs on top of the springs as these had come adrift, some repainting and touching up will be necessary.
Above :-
The area around the steam dome needed some work, and there are also a lot of scratches around the body. There are a few small parts which need to be refitted as well.
The loco seems to run quite well at low speeds now the new plunger set is fitted, and with the added weight to improve traction.
And Below :-
The loco is now complete and revitalised for yet another ten years !
Just a quick test run to show how smoothly the loco now operates Below :-
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