Steam loco, how do I put it back together?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I installed a decoder in my new Mantua 0-6-0T and in the process dropped the valve gear off both sides of the loco. It is the same as several lower cost steamers. It is a Laird type with the crosshead supported by a stamped metal guide. There is two small knobs at the rear of this guide and one knob at the front to go into the cylinder casting. One side isn’t too hard but to get both sides at once is very frustrating.

Is there a preferred sequence to get this back together?

2

try putting the lead side on first and rotate the wheels about 45 degrees so the cylinder end of the rod is held in place. the you can install theother side without having to holdthe other one.

3

The problem is not so much the pistons as those stamped metal guides. When the cylinder assembly is fully in placeon he frame, those guides are BARELY engaged in their respective locations. If the cylinder casting is moved, even slightly, to insert a guide, the other one falls out.[banghead]

4

If these are the same as the ones from the 60’s, I’ve put several of them together, with and without full Walscherts valve gear. Without valve gear, there’s two pieces on each side to go into the cylinder casting, the front of the crosshead guide and the piston rod. With full valve gear you have a third part, the valve rod. Start with whichever side has the rods the farthest forward. Lift the cylinder casting off the frame and insert the valve rod, piston rod, and crosshead guide into their slots in the cylinder casting. Slide the casting as far back on the rods as it will go and repeat on the other side. Now you’re going to feel like a one-armed paper hanger. The back of the crosshead guide has to engage the protrusion from the frame and catch between the two tabs on the end. You also have to keep the front of the crosshead guide in the cylinder casting. Then carefully slide the cylinder casting into place on the frame.

The next time you need to take this, or any other Mantua/Tyco steam locomotive apart, have a 4-40 nut handy. To remove the boiler casting, remove the necessary screws, (the one at the front of the boiler through the cylinder casting last) turn the loco right side up, lift the boiler casting off, and reinsert the screw through the cylinder casting and secure it with the nut. This will prevent the unintended “disassembly.”

If you need the assembly instructions: