Pearl Modifications
As a new member of the Maxitrak Club living far from
the "seat of knowledge", I have just completed my 71/4" gauge
Pearl, "Nutmeg" and must apologise to Andy for my frequent
phonecalls. There are no other kindred souls up here in Inverness to whom I
could have turned.
I recently completed a 4 hr running session on Bob
Smith's Comrie Railway, although my normal home track is the Ness Islands,
Inverness, on which I am granted running access. The Comrie outing was very
successful with nothing shaking loose, but due to the damp weather and a rather
to high seating position on my bogie driving wagon, it was impossible to see
through the enveloping cloud of steam; consequently I have since lowered the
wagon body height by some 2" and am devising a clip on chimney deflector
to hopefully cure this problem.
Perhaps it would be of interest to other owners for
me list the additions and alterations that I have incorporated in
"Nutmeg":
An incidental benefit of the by-pass
is that it now serves as an efficient hydraulic brake when closed. The Ness
Islands line terminates at the bottom of a 1 in 50 blind curve at which the
"pay train" loads it's customers, so it is essential to approach with
caution. My usual procedure is to descend the bank with the regulator shut,
blower on and by-pass closed, with a final slip into mid gear to draw up behind
the other train.
I trust these ideas (some from friends) will be of
interest. I have two queries however - answers to Mick Morgan please:
·
Is it worth while lagging the
boiler and
·
Is it worth lagging the steam
pipe
By B M Watt, Kessock
Light Railway
One answer to the above came from Russell Gant of the Willow Wood Railway:
As a Pearl owner, the modifications that you suggest all seem a good idea. Our
Loco. (works number 022 - quite an early model) runs excellently and does have
a lagged steam pipe. Obviously we have never run the loco. with the lagging
removed, but I would say it must have made an improvement to the steaming or
the original owner would have taken it off !
Our boiler is not lagged, so if you try this and the results are good, drop a
line to Russell Gant.
I dont get to run the engine as often as I would like, but I do own NUTMEG and though she is getting a bit long in the tooth now, she still works OK with a few minor touches every now and again, on my home track at the BRADFORD MODEL ENGINEERS CLUB , NORTHCLIFF WOODS IN BRADFORD, WEST YORKS.
Yours, Sean and Nutmeg.