5" Gauge Collett 3206 Maintainance

The Collett’s current Hydraulic and Steam Test certificate is due for renewal in March, during this time I am taking the opportunity, whilst the boiler is out of the frames, to upgrade some parts.

The boiler has already been lifted out of the frames leaving the motion and wheels exposed and ready for closer inspection. With the cab removed, the fittings on the back-head of the boiler can be removed, cleaned or blanked off as required, ready for the hydraulic test.

One of the jobs that I keep neglecting is the tender. The hand pump, which mounted inside the tank, has never really delivered a descent amount of water to the boiler when required. To overcome this I have acquired a slightly lager bore hand pump which, as is always the way, has slightly different bolt hole positions. To overcome this I have mounted the pump onto a piece of brass with countersunk screws and soft soldered countersunk screws in the opposite direction to bolt the plate to the tender.

The water connections between the tender have always been tricky to hook up. The main reason for this is that the pipes are made from a semi-rigid plastic pipe which is to stiff and in-flexible.

The aim is to replace the plastic pipe with rubber and try to make the connection look a little more authentic directly in between the loco and the tender. On the end of the pipe there will be a standard pipe nut and olive on a short piece of copper pipe. I will then fit the rubber hose to the copper pipe. The piece that will stick out will be wrapped in some thin wire and covered with a piece of black heat shrink. Hopefully looking a little more like the real thing.

Whilst I don't think the rubber pipe will pull off I made some small brass clips to help hold the pipe in place just in case. After a bit of fiddling about here is the finished product and the progress so far on the new pipework.