If you have been following my previous posts, you will know that the boiler and gas tank are both sound. A friend from my local model engineering society encouraged me to try lighting the loco to see if it will run.
One loco that I own is lit by applying a flame to the chimney. The flame blows back into the burner flue. Another is lit by opening the smokebox door and poking a lighter in there. The Shay’s smokebox door doesn’t open. However lighting the chimney didn’t have the intended consequences.
I asked online, and another Shay owner tells me that the loco is lit from under the smokebox. There is a small hole. I tried this, and get a nice blue flame around the base of the smokebox. Again not really what we want.
Apparently the fix is to add a sleeve to the burner air intake (like on a Bunsen burner). That involves removing the gas tank, which involves removing the Osmotor, which involves removing the lubricator. To make this easier, I intend to take the opportunity to put a union joint in the gas pipe to make it easier to remove the jet without doing a full strip-down-and-rebuild. Another job for another day.
Justin – 15 July 2022