D&RGW L-96

[Schraddel]

Hello,


The other hassles:
- One was caused by the telescoping steam tubes between the front cylinders and the smokebox. These were way too short and tended to disengage from their counterparts at any occasion.
- Some of the crossheads guides were bent and out of straightness, this causing jerky running also.
- Rubber tubes with lost flexibilty
- The gearbox of the front group of drivers was screwed-fixed onto the main frame to prevent tilting, but thus disable the sprung action of the axle.
- Broken, bent and missing parts of handrails on the pilot deck.
- Bent valve gear parts.
- Some loose parts on the shell.




To fix it:

Making torque levers for the gearboxes. These are semi-sealed units and could not really be disassembled.





The gearbox with the torque lever mounted. By the means of the long hole, the angle of the box can be adjusted.
Now this axle has sprung action too.





Elongating the telescopic steam pipes by soldering brass rods of the same diameter onto the ends. This has to be done without ruining the paint completely. After cooling down, the solder joints were filed smooth and even, so that they glide in their counterparts without jamming.





Every evening clean up your workbench. Collect all tiny screws and small parts into a box and close the lid. Put all parts together into a larger box, so that they will stay together.
At least this is a time saving procedure.


Lutz