I have been lent a Roundhouse Lady Anne that has sat for several years as the owner could not get it to steam. Apologies if the following has incorrect steam terminology, as I am new to live steam.
After the usual checks, new steam oil, etc it was fired up but despite coaxing, it would not run.
The pressure gauge seemed to be reading incorrectly, so a new one was borrowed from a friend and fitted and loco was fired again. The safety valve was adjusted to correct blow off but the loco still refused to run. Almost but no.
The loco was placed on blocks and an experienced steam modeler checked cylinder valves etc and the boiler was charged with air and it ran smoothly in both forward and reverse. We then fired it again and tried to run it again on the blocks but no success. Back on air it ran smoothly.

My experienced friends are helping and we are planning on running it for an extended period of time on air on the blocks to see if this runs it in.

Any suggestions? We have run out of the usual swear words. It is so close

Thanks in advance, Lloyd

After much expert assistance, Lady Anne will now run with 120ml of water. So that is some progress but further investigation is required. I will rename 'Lady Anne', 'Dirty Annie'. Still after any suggestions.

Lloyd

Sounds like something is too tight. It's alright on air, but with the hot steam it's expanding and won't move.

Sounds like something is too tight. It's alright on air, but with the hot steam it's expanding and won't move.

Thanks for the suggestion Fireman Dave. I have now managed to get it to run with 120ml of water in the boiler and have run it for half an hour or more (with several water refills, re oiling and a lot of coaxing). It seems to be a lot freer so I will continue to nurse it.

Lloyd

Do those models have piston rings? If so they are most likely to be too long and bind in the cylinder when hot

Do those models have piston rings? If so they are most likely to be too long and bind in the cylinder when hot

Thanks for your interest. I believe it has O rings. Cold, it now rolls smoothly which is an improvement. I have put it in the Too hard basket for now. I have managed to get it too run with half the recommended water in the boiler but water hammer and priming is still a problem. I have friends who can help if I decide to dismantle it and start again.
Lloyd

Water hammer and priming weren't mention before, try distilled water

Sounds like the timing could be out, try the distilled water first (will fix some priming) when filling the boiler always remember to take our enough for an air gap for expanding water and steam (accucraft recommend 30ml - not sure about RH?) I would check that once under steam (if draincocks fitted open them) if you give the timing valves a bit of a push the running improves?
Try searching for Dave Hoffman's troubleshooting Accucraft Timing, he had lots of good steps to be used on all locomotives!

Sounds like the timing could be out, try the distilled water first (will fix some priming) when filling the boiler always remember to take our enough for an air gap for expanding water and steam (accucraft recommend 30ml - not sure about RH?) I would check that once under steam (if draincocks fitted open them) if you give the timing valves a bit of a push the running improves?
Try searching for Dave Hoffman's troubleshooting Accucraft Timing, he had lots of good steps to be used on all locomotives!

Thanks for the suggestions and link. It has improved with a lot of coaxing and cursing and running with very low water. No it doesn't have drain cocks. An expert friend has offered to help me out so I am confident I we will get there

Lloyd