Driving the "T3 Märklin start set"

Lately, a lot of time has been invested in making a final design for the boiler of the Y14 loco project on 5".  Finding a copper pipe in the correct dimensions for the boiler shell was difficult. Due to Brexit, importing this from the UK is a big problem. In the end I've got a piece of 4½" pipe (114mm). This is a perfect fit for the loco.  

Also some more detailing and boiler parts were designed and drawn. A FEM simulation was done with the boiler parts, to calculate the strength of it. 

Also last weekend we went to the track in Turnhout (Belgium) to drive with the now almost completed  T3 loco and the set of wagons.
This was the first outing with my complete 'Märklin Start set' on 7¼ gauge' 😁.   Also a nice test of my new Lumix 8 mm fisheye lens. 

With my new 8 mm fisheye lens I also made a small video clip, so you can get an impression of the beautiful track of Stoomgroep Turnhout  

Or to see it on YouTube go to  https://youtu.be/Y5VOmIYX1WM

Some fitting work

As you may have noted in the video; the right-hand water gauge is leaking a bit. Not much, just a few drops, but enough to leave some chalk marks on the glass and this makes the water level hard to see,

so I've now replaced the glass and the sealings (silicone rings). Due to the leaking, the glass was worn on the outside (with your fingernails you could feel a rough surface of the glass, even after it was cleaned in citric acid.)

This coming weekend we are going to Enschede (Modelbouw Vereniging Twente), so hopefully the new glass will be ok and tight. 

The old water gauge glass. As if the outside is etched away by the water that leaked.