Can any one help please

I have a friend who is now retired and wants a Loco like a simplex 060 in 5".

Does any one know of a decent Tank engine for sale in good condition please.

Would prefer one with ce boiler cert and must have hydrolic cert as he has never had a loco before.

Would love a super Simplex or a simplex but is open for a good Loco.

Hope some one can help him

Ron

There is this one **LINK** £3250.00

Bob

There is a super simplex on eBay at the moment. It doesn't seem to come up in searches for "simplex" but it is there. The seller is in Weston super Mare. I have seen this loco. It is heavy, well built and superbly equipped. The seller is in a sort if Manor House, and has a few locos on at any time. If you are not too far away he is worth a visit. I have no connection to him except that I visited him to look at a loco recently. Good luck

.

John,

I guess this is the one

MichaelG.

Well amazed how wonderful it is to be a model engineer.

The help from fellow members is amazing.

You ask for help and get it.

I asked for help finding a Simplex and you all helped us find a Lovely Super Simplex.

A really great Loco for my friend he is amazed.

It needed re painting and a deep clean late into last night early start today and its nearly finished.

It now looks amazing just have Transfers to put on after cutting paintwork back but already Gleaming ready to steam Sunday

Thank you all

Ron

It has a lovely CE Boiler back head it really nice it is all blanked of ready for hydrolic test Sunday but recent new boiler in 2007

Their are so many thing's like oiling system water system we know nothing about. It has an axle Pump and a hand pump. Hoping the Guy's at our club can spread some light on them.

Cripes! That's quick work....

Neil

Hi Neil yes we both stuck at it till 12.30 in the morning and 6 am next morning with two of us rubbing down etch priming and using two pack paint soon got the 3 coats on.

This morning had a lie in but my mate was here 7 am in my workshop polishing all the Brass fittings and pipes has they all had been painted so had to scrape the paint of.

We have just managed to cut the paint back with some g10 it has come up so well looks like a new Loco.

I was so pleased that members sent us to see it it looked dreadful as been neglected and not steamed for 6 years

Smoke Box was still full Had to give tubes a good brushing out then Carb cleaner so get the rest out so should steam up a little better next time.

We steamed the Loco whilst we where their to check if she was ok took ages to get steam up not surprised after cleaning.

I am sure it will now give him many years of happiness and good running i just hope it goes through the Tests ok in the morning but as it's had a new Boiler can't see their being a problem as long as Regulator does not leak on Hydraulic test.

Thank you for the Encouragement Neil

Well we took the Simplex to our Club Sunday happy to say it passed the hydraulic test and steam test ok.

We ran it on the Track but problems steaming boiler guy said its because of oil and crap inside the boiler.

He suggested using epson salts and getting up to 60 psi and blowing down a couple of times.

is this a common problem when a loco has been standing for 6 years.

We also need to clean the Injector same problem i expect.

The only other problem was the Hand pump not working the Axle pump and steam pump worked well though.

The Loco seems to have loads of grunt motion works worked well.

Think it will take a few weeks to get it all sorted but can see a lot of fun fettling and steaming in the future.

Thank you all again for your help finding it and info.

Ron

There is often a number of items here: **LINK**

Good morning Ron,

To free up the hand pump, pour a kettle of boiling water over it, generally it'll wake the ball up and free it off it's seat. As to the problem of oil, if it's oil inside the boiler then that is a more difficult issue, the injector is easy, take it off and pop into a sauce pan of boiling hot water with a table spoon of washing powder in it, boil it for a while and it'll remove any oil residues. A friend acquired a loco and it had oil in the boiler; no doubt from the hydrostatic lubricator system when the loco had cooled down and that took several wash outs with boiling water / washing powder solution before it was clean enough.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob yes this has the hydrostatic Lubricator so that's where the oil came from.

We are going to strip the pump and give it a good clean make sure all it good.

We have put the injector in Citric acid for a couple of hours before checking it over properly.

We had thought of using truck wash solution in the boiler leaving for an hour before giving it a good wash out to remove the oil has anyone tried this as it really breaks down oil and grime.

Thanks you for your suggestions

Ron

Hello Ron,

I've remembered common soda in a hot water solution was used in my friends loco, don't use anything that contains volatiles etc.

The hydrostatic lubricators can be a bit of a nuisance if you forget to turn off the steam feed at the end of a running session; ideally some form of "snifting " valve incorporated into the steam feed may be useful if only to break the vacuum when the boiler cools.

Regards,

Bob