Achilles Report No24: From Right to Left...

Hi everyone. "Achilles" post No24 is from today, when I did a little more work on the engine. The loco is being taken back to the crank pins on both sides of the valve gear, allowing me to replace the bronze bushes which have now worn to their own size, rather than the drawing size. Today I made a start on removing the LHS valve gear, now that the RHS is completely gone. I removed everything except the main rods (connecting rod, coupling rods and crosshead) as a previous engagement with the gudgeon pin and some Lock-tite had stopped me in my tracks...if you'll pardon the pun! The steam chest cover was however removed, allowing me to check the condition of this valve too. I also took the "posh dome" off for storage, prior to it heading somewhere for repolishing pretty soon. I'll be cracking on with the rest of the LHS once I receive my recently ordered mini blow-lamp ("That Lock-tite won't know what hit it!"). The long term plan is to have "Achilles" on steam test during late March/early April, allowing it to hit the track again in late April or early May. I would like to have her in steam earlier but, providing it doesn't knock when it returns to steam, I'm quite happy to take the time with it. Thanks for reading guys. Regards, Sam.