Restoring the Bittern

The model of the Gresley A4 Bittern holds a very special place in my heart. This is because the locomotive was the first one I owned, back in the mid 1990s as part of starter set R581. As I put in the model’s notes page, this train has essentially been part of my childhood and has always been on the layouts I made. So when I removed it from storage in February 2020 and found that it wasnt working, I was quite upset. The locomotive wheels were completely seized up and wouldn’t turn, meaning that no matter how hard it tried, the motor could not move the train at all.

One of the first things to realise about this locomotive is that it is made of two separate components: the tender, which houses the main ringfield motor; and the front of the locomotive which houses the electrical pickups. Separating the tender and attaching it to another, similarly-styled locomotive showed that the motor still worked fine. In fact, it was interesting to see the Flying Scotsman zooming around using the Bittern’s motor tender. This narrowed down the main problems to the front of the locomotive.

The front of the locomotive could move short distances before the wheels locked up, so I first tried oiling the axles. This helped a bit, so I tried oiling the valve gear mechanism movement points. This helped quite a lot and the wheels appeared free to move again. Setting the locomotive back on the rails, it ran pretty well around the test loop. However, after a few loops of the layout, the wheels siezed up again. Further work was required!

Carefully removing the bottom of the locomotive, I found that the lubricant in the bearings had gone completely solid. The little oil I’d added to the axles had been unable to get into the bearings at all. Using a cotton bud and some isopropyl alcohol, I spent several hours over the next few days removing the remaining solidified lubricant. I also took some time cleaning out the valve gear movement points, just to be on the safe side.

Once the last trace of the old lubricant was removed, I doused the bearings and movement points in 3-in-1 oil and put the locomotive back together. I placed it back on the layout and ran it at a consistent slow speed for approximately thirty minutes with no issue — pretty much confirming it was fixed. I’m keeping an eye on it, but I think it’s behaving itself now!