Bredhurst Church Old Track New Track	GRAMPS’S GARDEN RAILWAY 3 The New Track Too
I finally bought a new engine. This is the all new Mamod engine. At around £200 ($300) it has to be rubbish, surely. Well, I tried it straight out the box on a rolling road and it seemed OK so I gave it a run and it seemed happy to move so I put on a few carrriages and then some more and then some weights to try to slow it down. In the end I had 8kg of load, half of which came from Bachmann plastic wheeled stock which is a real drag so to speak (300 grammes to pull slowly according to my luggage scale). Finally I added my old Mamod/ as a "light engine" with its cylinders disconnected. And the result was the little Mamod spun its wheels trying to get going. As always with these oscillating engines, use lots of oil for the best performance. In fact, you can do a neat trick by turning the engine upside down and dropping oil into the exhaust part whilst turning the wheels. The only problem I've had was I over-tightened the pressure valve and damaged the Viton sealing washer. I simply replaced it with an O ring and all was well. Apart from that I have no complaints at all. She looks and runs a treat. This engine is superb. Congratulations Mamod.
Maddie, the New Controller, has made some Duplo coaches. These are simply Duplo blocks with IP Engineering wheels and couplings. The couplings hook up to LGB or older Bachmann stock. The wheels are spaced by washers but that’s all you have to do. A great way of allowing the younger modellers to be creative without using any dangerous machinery. And compared to a weathered truck, the bricks are easier to find amongst the undergrowth after a derailment!
		The bird box has finally got some guests
Diesel takes a trip
		And this is what the passengers see
Toby is very popular on YouTube
		An enthusiast’s view of the railway (enthusiasts hang out the windows and try to film the engine working hard…..)
Polly the Parrot in all her glory flies along the track
		The MSS steamer has been repaired thanks to the people at Dream Steam. I had melted the solder in the boiler by forgetting to fill it with water – it was, to put it mildly, a difficult job to fix it. And along the way I lost a couple of parts and bent another. But the Dream Steam team found all the bits for me and we were back in action.
And the driver takes her out for a run, or a totter at least… If you’ve ever wondered how to make an old Mamod steam train work (or how to make an MSS steam train work) it’s really very simple: oil! Here’s how to do it: · Get yourself an ink jet cartridge syringe (try e-bay) Fill the syringe with a thick oil (almost anything will do; I use an old bottle of EP90 gearbox oil.) · Make sure the there is no pressure in the boiler (release the safety valve to be sure). · Carefully remove the steam dome. If the loco is at all warm do this with a thick cloth. · Now move the reverse lever to the forward position. Insert the syringe in the steam pipe that is under the dome and inject a small amount of oil whilst pushing the engine forwards. You will need to experiment a bit to get the amount right – too much and you’ll have the smoke box full of oil. · Now reassemble the dome, fill with water and fire up. Set it running and sit back and watch as the little Mamod flies round the track for lap after lap after lap. You’ll probably get two or three runs before you need to repeat the treatment.
		And then the driver jumped into the cab of the Diesel

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