After a long lay off I have finally gotten around to finish my Netta, started in the 1970s! I have the original Percival Marshall plans plus all the ME copies for this era

I have the frames erected as well as the cylinders machined, slide bars and brackets, internal valve gear all made and fitted etc. The outstanding parts are the valve eccentric rods and other bits and pieces. Y'day I made the valve and pump eccentrics and came to fit them on the driving axle. The frame stay directly behind the driving axle is fouling the eccentric straps. With the eccentrics on back dead centre the frame stay is about 5/8" too far forward. Obviously it cannot be moved backwards as it would then foul the front of the firebox, so something else needs to be done to correct this problem.

Another error I found is the size of the lubricator eccentric on the leading axle. This is never going to fit as its strap fouls the pump directly behind it, or the valve chests on either side of it.

I know that LBSC never built this loco, he admits as such in his notes. If he had he no doubt would have discovered these problems.

The frame stay is fairly easy to correct, discard the original item and fit two 1/4" round pieces drilled and tapped to stiffen the frame in this area, similarr to the Gauge 0 & 1 versions. One can use the bottom hole of the pattern of 4 holes and the top one can be 3/16" down from the top of the frame on the same vertical line, which is 7/8" behind the driving axle. The lubricator eccentric if made to the dimensions on the drawing, even without the strap is a serious problem as it fouls the water pump no matter where on the leading axle it is positioned. I omitted the stub and drilled the hole for the grub screw the same as the valve eccentrics, but this still left too little clearance. The largest eccentric it is possible to fit is only 3/4" over the flanges with about 1/8" throw and a minimum thickness strap.

The lubricator eccentric can be discarded and the lubricator driven off one of the slide valves rod, or the water pump ram pin, which would have been a better idea as the works are a bit crowded in this area of the frames.

Another problem I came across regards the balance weights on the wheels. The castings I had (bought from Reeves all those years ago) has the same protrusion as the web for the crank pins. This presented a problem with it fouling the coupling rods on the leading and second axle. I milled this down to just over the thickness of the wheel tyre, you can't turn it down as the tool would cut into the crank pins boss! The trailing wheel balance weights can be left as cast as there is no danger of it fouling, the driving wheels also can be reduced a bit for the same reason.