As of October 2020, I’ve driven the engine around the industrial estate a number of times now, at weekends. There are bits that need adjusting still; things work loose, and few bits have even fallen off! The water pump works, but the injector,which tops up water in the boiler I just can’t get to operate. The boiler inspector has offered to help, so when I’ve fixed a couple of other things, I’ll give him a call.
Once it’s all okay, he’ll inspect the boiler and certify it for a year. I can then contact DVLA and get a number plate for the engine and it’ll be road legal.
2020 has of course been a nightmare, with all the Steam Rallies cancelled. So hopefully I’ll be in a position to start exhibiting it in 2021.
Driving
1/3-
The first time I started it up was very scary. There’s no clutch, so it starts very abruptly. So I would pull back the regulator (accelerator) and stop again. After a few false starts, I managed to run. I soon got used to it.
I videoed this on my first run around the block at the factory.
It’s not the most comfortable of rides, with the solid rubber tyres, but the seat’s quite nicely padded.
Lots of oil gets flung around, and of course my face is in direct line with the top of the chimney. Thankfully the smokeless Welsh Steam Coal produces very little by way of smuts, so my face doesn’t get too dirty!