So this is the loco that I fully expected to scrap!
At first glance, this looks bad...
But actually it isn't. In fact, as well as being only damaged on one side, the problem here is being caused by one missing connection pin.
My first attempt was to replace the pin by extracting one from a spare, damaged valve gear set.
To give some idea of how fiddly this job is, the connecting rod and pin are below, bear in mind that this picture was taken using a magnifying glass!
It turned out to be beyond my ability to repair but still it seems a shame to break this up. So another experiment was tried using a piece of wire, passed through the rods, soldered at each end and then cut back. All done using the magnifier. Pretty intricate stuff!
And this is the result!
The old armature looks pretty fried and as I already had a brand new spare (ordered in error for the 0-6-2) I didn't even bother checking it with the test meter. After checking the resistance of the brush tubes and lubricating as normal, I fitted the armature and a neo magnet.
And it seems to run.
A nice, unexpected save. I have a spare GWR body that was removed when I was doing the home-made transfers, so once I've painted the end of the valve gear I'll fit the spare body.
This may well end up being the first of the four to be completed, whereas it was expected to be the only one scrapped.
Result!!!
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