With Lockdown 3 in full swing I am trying to maintain some sanity by tinkering with Liza Jane. The engine shed in question is still our joint hobby room which I share with my wife’s spinning wheel and loom.

In the last two steamings I had some issues with the injector steam valve. It wouldn’t close nicely resulting in steam wasting at the injector overflow with the potential for heating the injector. A club member had previously improved things by resurfacing the seat of the valve but it was still a bit poor. I ordered a replacement from Polly and fitted it last weekend.

I have learnt from previous work to put a bit of tape around the pipe to stop the union vanishing through the floor! The valve is secured in place with trusty Loctite 542.
While I was doing this and in ‘plumbing’ mode, I refitted the whistle as I wasn’t pleased with its orientation on the lock nut on the buffer beam. All in all a pleasant hour of tinkering.

Hole in the whistle should point down so that condensed steam drains away
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I had it in the right orientation, but the lock nut had come a bit slack so have refitted the whole thing. Interestingly the lock nut is the only thing on the entire loco to show signs of rust!
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Thank you for your candid and instructive blog. It has given me much confidence as I start my first Polly I build. cheers
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