Duchess class broken valve gear

[Deem]

Hello everyone

I have been advised to ask this question in this section so my question is,

I have,

Duchess of Sutherland

Service sheet I used to look for the parts is SS 223e

One side of valve gear is broken and according to service sheet part number is X8942, which is not available.

I try to look for alternative and closest I can think (I could be wrong) is X7515. Which may fit or won't fit hence the question, will this fit or some other equivalent or compatible which I can use.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

[RDS]

Thanks Deem

If you could re-post your pictures here, we can approve them and keep everything together.

[mjb1961]

What is the R number of the D O S ,when you say broken ,is it actually broken or just bent ,remember other Duchess class locos built in the same period would share the same valve gear, could you give us a photo to see exactly what is the problem.

[Deem]

Hornby X7515 pictures from couple of suppliers. Please see below

[Deem]

Done it RDS.

Thanks for your message MJ.

I have uploaded the pictures so should be available soon.

I don't have the R number for this particular model because the box came with the loco is not the correct box for this loco.

I thoroughly checked the service sheet ss 223e, which is the correct one for this particular model, but service sheet ss 223e covers quite a few models so one of them R number must be mine.

Regards

[RDS]

(GoingSpare posted this reply before the topic was moved to here)

The two sets of valvegear may look much the same, but you need to consider whether a) the length of the connecting rod is the same, and b) the methods of mounting the valvegear to the chassis and the cylinders are the same. X7515 is quite an expensive pack so I would seek advice from the seller before purchasing. Also, the slide bars (crosshead guides) in X7515 are not the same design.

[threelink]

Looking at the photos it seems that the crank on the centre driving wheel is broken. The restricted clearances may make the following impossible but I have successfully repaired a similar defect on a Bachman V1/3 using superglue and a backing piece of very thin plasticard. Mercifully the loadings on the valve gear are not that great and so far the repair has held up well - 5 years or more. Care is needed to avoid gluing up the works completely but it can be done. Good luck in repairng, or finding an approprate replacement.

[Tony57]

Hi Deem

The bottom photo is the correct set you need.

Service sheet 336 also covers duchess class and used the same valve gear as SS 223e

The Peter spares looks like the DoS tender drive version

[Topcat2018]

@DEEM

It appears that the eccentric crank has broken. If you can't find the exact replacement valve gear I can think of three possibilities, which would require some metalworking skill:

1. Align the broken parts together in a lump of modelling clay and solder a strip of thin brass shim or nickel silver strip up the back as reinforcement.
2. Find a crank from a similar set of valve gear.
3. Make a new crank from a piece of nickel silver strip.

In the case of 2 and three you would obviously have to remove and refit the rivets.

[96RAF]

This bit seems to be broken as marked. If you can find or make or mend that bit then happy days.

[Deem]

Thanks - DS, TH, Tony, Topcat and 96RAF for your time and advice.

20 or 30 years ago I could have successfully achieved that but now with eyesight not being great, hands aren't steady what use to be, I find replacing is comparatively (still difficult but manageable by me) easy.

I have metal cement arriving in couple of weeks, I will wait until that arrived and maybe I can attempt with that to see if I can make successful amend with that or not.

As for X7515 is a compatible valve gear, I will keep that in mind and if my attempt isn't successful I can always use X7515.

Regards

[threelink]

@Deem. I take your point about eyesight. Mine is not what it was but I was given a set of magnifying glasses by my son. Wow. What a difference. Makes things so much easier. There seeem to be all sorts available. Mine are basically a frame with inbuilt light and a selection of 6 clip-in lenses of varying degrees of magnification. Fabulous. For reasons I do not understand fingers that normally may not be so nimble adapt to the magnified view and work just fine.

[mjb1961]

@Deem,,,,ive seen many suggestions to repair or make the broken part and even myself at 62 years old and a lifetime of engineering experience would have difficulty in doing such a thing due to eyesight etc, so if I were you I would send it off to be repaired ,maybe hornby,if not them there must be someone on here who knows someone, hope you get it sorted .

[Rana Temporia]

I would look on eBay for a cheap non-runner or badly painted loco with good valve gear. This is a very common loco and you should be able to find one pretty quickly. You can then sell on the bits you don’t need.

[Deem]

Thanks everyone for your time and advice.

I have looked on ebay and there aren't any similar loco for parts or repair, one person is selling same chassis for £49.99 plus postage, I made offer to which was rejected.

I am not going to spend £55.00 for some thing which I may never use apart from Valve Gear.

As for your suggestion TH (threelink) magnifying glasses, I have looked into few types of these and cannot decide until I have decided what type of layout I am going to have in my room, based on layout I will decide to have working area, where I can repair laptops and work on Loco. So either have magnifying glass with built in light mounted on the table or glasses as you have them.

Regards

[ColinB]

Deem, try looking for Coronation valve gear when you do a search, it is the same loco but sometimes people don't realise. Yes, you are dead right they are really hard to come by, I have been down that road with the Royal Scot valve gear. Just keep looking, occasionally they do come up.

[Deem]

Thanks Colin

I just googled your suggestion and I found this part,

Hornby X2186 Coronation right hand valve gear.

Would this be correct? Link for part is

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332585996406

Look forward to hear the answer so I can order these.

Regards

[Deem]

[ColinB]

No, but I found one that will fit X7320 and New Modellers have 6 of them.

[ColinB]

Better still Lendons have them in stock for a cheaper price. They are labelled as Princess but I am 90% sure they will fit (I compared it with the ones fitted to my Duchess loco). I think he has missed out the Coronation in Princess.

[Topcat2018]

@Deem

I would highly recommend one of the magnifying headsets with interchangeable lenses as suggested by Threelink. I used to be very short-sighted and could do close-up work simply by taking off my glasses, but since I had two cataract operations I now have perfect distance vision but have to wear varifocals or reading glasses for close work and a magnifying headset for very close work.

[Rana Temporia]

I also have a similar headset to Threelink and Topcat that I got from one of the model fairs at Bolton and it’s a +1 from me. For close up work it’s invaluable and it makes detail painting easy. Mine is a cheap plastic one (I think it was around £5) but it works great, you just have to move the model to get it perfectly in focus and make sure that you choose the correct lens. Also very good for repairing necklaces and other similar items that end up coming my way to fix.

[Deem]

That's the downside, when you been asked to repair all sort of things, however what I find is, great satisfaction if I can fix something, which I never thought would do or have knowledge to repair and at the same time reward by helping others.

[threelink]

Apart from being lumbered with repair requests, the other downside to magnifying headsets is the realisation that earlier, pre-magnification, jobs are nowhere near so good a you thought they were...

[The son of Triangman]

Hobbyrama in Aus have part X.8942 showing as in stock