DRAINCOCKS AGAIN!
I think I've sorted out a solution for the draincocks. The waste of time making 4 draincocks will have to be put down to experience and maybe they will fit the next loco! Having seen the result of a derailment and what it did to the draincocks, I felt I had to change mine. The crash wiped off the draincocks and left the stub thread in the cylinder. I didn't want to fit a bar across the frame, like some have as it is a rather ugly solution. I also wanted to find a solution to the complex levers of Romulus as it is this which is closest to the track.
My solution is fairly self
explanatory from the photo. The bar only has to move about a quarter of an inch to go from open to shut. The
grooves in the bar line up with the inlet and outlet pipes when open. The material I used happened to be at hand
and was a piece of thick-walled 3/8 copper tube. This threaded OK and also reamed out to a 1/4.
The bracket bolts on to the frame and the unit connects to the drains on the cylinder via copper pipes. The bottom
of the well tank isn't flush with the bottom of the frames, so there is just room to drill and tap two holes on the
edge. I've soft soldered short exhaust pipes to direct the steam. I always soft solder these in, and then should
they hit anything,the solder gives before the unit.
The easiest way to replace the draincock and provide a 90 degree bend, is by adapting
an 8mm right angle available cheaply from the plumbers. The whole thing is small and more or less out of sight
under the cylinders where purists are less likely to object to its not being authentic. It's a bit fiddly getting
the pipes to S bend and connect the unit to the elbows.
These two pictures show the finished job. The lever system was added while the cylinders were in place. The only
thing I had to think about was the central pivot, as the pivot bolt goes right through into the well tank, so will
need sealing. I haven't bothered to show the rest, but the lever is moved with a push rod (1/8") mostly hidden under
the angle, with the usual lever system. This is quite rigid enough as there is no load on it. It all seems quite neat,
even if it does look like a gents' toilet.
I went to see the boiler maker again and took a few pics of the finished boiler. He had said mine would be at the
Donnington exhibition, but mine still won't be ready for another 4 weeks. However, there will be 4 'Romulus' boilers
on show and they are very similar to mine. Mine will have a slightly longer smokebox. He will also be showing a
couple of 'Tinkerbell' boilers too.
