South Coast Railway News
2016 News Update Unfortunately the railway has been very quiet due to work commitments, as the new year has now started and we are now in 2016 I will start running the line again.
Although no running has been done there were three loco restorations that I have done. First was a Lima Crab, with the usual problem of the chassis swelling and forcing the wheels to become very stiff and difficult to rotate. This however was solved with a trusty mini electric drill. I removed all the conrods and wheels and slowly ground down the chassis to a thickness that then allowed the wheels to rotate freely again. Slow job and not too sure if this was the best answer to get this loco to run again but it now runs fine for me. The second arrival was an old Hornby Duke, again not working but cosmetically very good. This needed the motor to be stripped and cleaned of that old killer over oiling and then new brushes and e few connections re-soldering, this now also makes a smart addition to the LMS fleet. The last and by far the worst was another Britannia Class. Stripped of all fittings, smoke deflectors and a tender this loco was in a sorry state. New conrods and a motor service was the first item to be attended to. Hand rails and new smoke deflectors were then fitted and new numbering and naming completed the first stage of getting this loco running again. It took quite a few months to find a tender for Iron Duke but when it arrived the two were a very good match and yet another loco was saved and ready to run again. |
Pictures (top to bottom)13000 Hughes Crab
5541 Duke of Sutherland 70047 Iron Duke |