Christmas present project Pearse 0-4-0 Switcher

[artfull dodger]

More progress on the old Pearse Switcher. Got the RC all done with front and rear lights lighted.custom cut vinyl decals made by a friend installed. Still need to repair the broken roof hinge, the rear arm is broken off/missing. I need to make a duplicate of the front arm and solder it to the roof bracket so the roof will stay on while running. I replaced the scale couplers with a LGB one at the rear and a Bachmann one in link pocket on the pilot beam. Both are hooked up to the cut levers and function just like the real ones. Track test and hopefully a video tomorrow while she is off at work. This will be a Christmas gift for her, although I will run it most of the time, now she will have her own engine to run at the steam up's she joins me at. She is a Chessie fan so that is what I lettered the tender for. My friend also cut blue Chessie decals for a yellow caboose I have on hand that will look great with this engine. Mike

 

[artfull dodger]

I tore the engine down to a bare rolling chassis today, straighted the bent frame rails and reassembled the chassis, checking for binds and squareness along the way at several stages. took this pic before refitting the boiler to the chassis. The way the frame was bent, which started halfway between the two axles, threw the timing off as one cylinder was moved toward the rear and the other pulled forward. So while it would run, it was choppy at slow speed. After the steam test a few min ago, she is smooth running, all the way down to the peg on the steam gauge as I let pressure get used up after shutting off the gas. Once she cools down, I will refit the cab and swap out the scale knuckle coupler on the front for a LGB one as that is what all of our rolling stock uses other than the logging cars that are link and pin. Mike
Here is the before pic, you can see how "off" the pilot beam is in relation to the cylinders. The cylinders were "off" just as much in relation to the valve rocker shaft.

Here is after the tear down and repair, pilot deck and cylinders are squared up as they should be.