I am sure most of you are much smarter than I am and will actually read the instructions, but there are a couple of things that I did that were problems because I had failed to properly read the instructions. So in an attempt to avoid anyone making the same mistakes I did here are some things to point out.


1.Running gear
BEFORE you fit the train body on the the last time check your running gear works well. I attached the main body ,detail painted and weathered and then put the train on the track and connected the motor and the running gear seized up after 1 rotation.I had to take the top off, ruining my hand painting on the front coupler.


2.Check all of the screws on the running gear before you run it.
The reason my running gear was binding was due to one of the screws connecting the conmnecting rod to the front wheel had loosened and was preventing the connecting rod from moving properly.It took me forever to figure this out.

3.Interference from train body.If you read the instructions it does tell you that if you are not careful the screw for the boiler band closest to the cab will interfere with the motor connection to the running gear.The instructions recommend that the screw that holds the 2 ends of the last boiler band together MUST be moved away from the midline of the bottom of the boiler. I didn't read this and found that once I had solved my binding running gear issue when I replaced the train body I still had issues with the running gear. The screw was chewing away at the silicone tube that connects the motor to the gear shaft for the running gear and after a few seconds it broke.
So before you attach the body of the train check the instructions in book 12 and it shows you which screw to move out of the way.

4.Book 12 has all the painting information in it.However, if you don't read it all the way through BEFORE starting you will end up painting the train and then having some extra parts to paint because there are several parts added after the painting instructions.


So I am sure everyone will actually read the instructions properly unlike me, but if you are having issues hopefully seeing what I did wrong will help avoid you making the same mistakes.

Carl

Very interesting post for those of us who are nearing the end. While you guys in the U.S appear to have received a book of sorts during this build the U.K only received on line instructions. Therefore it would be good to know how 'Book 12' translates into our instructions. I am up to delivery 21 and can't find any reference to these bands needing adjustments. May still be to come but equally I may simply have missed it. Would be nice if one of the Great and the Good could advise

Hi Pilgrim

Carl has kindly posted some things to look out for when you get to the latter stages of the build to help rectify them and they should be treated as advise or things to watch out for. From what you say your currently assembling the base and are at the same stage as myself so I too have things to look out for. As for the magazines that the USA get there the same as the downloads we have here for each stage and contain the same information. Hope this helps.

Regards

Andy

That's why I liked your post so much Carl. As carefull as I am with these builds I still suffer from occasionally reading what I want to see rather than what's actually said. It's a concentration problem that comes with advancing years I'm afraid.