Mike Waters details how he removed the body from his Linda after a small mishap!
My fairly new Linda suffered a ruff shunt on the way to the sidings, resulting in the boiler moving forward in the chassis by 3mm. Actually the cause was my letting its case fall from the rack under the York ME’s track. The case ended front down and the weight of the pre-filled boiler was sufficient to move it 3mm, leaving a gap between itself and the burner bracket. It ran ok but the cab roof didn’t clear the safety valve exhaust, nor the dome fit properly!
Looking at it on the bench I was unsure how the boiler was secured and how to remove the cab and tank. A phone call to the helpful crew at Roundhouse resolved this and the problem was quickly restored.
Below is guidance on the removal of the cab, tank and smoke box which may be helpful if you’re considering removing same for painting or lining etc. It also shows how the boiler is secured.
Before the cab can be removed some preparation is required.
The red reversing rod on the LH side should be removed by taking off the 10ba nut shown in pic 1.
The injector casting bracket screw should be loosened to allow the pipe work to be detached from the injector and tank flange. See pic 2 for fixing screw and pipes to free.
The smokebox needs to be freed to allow a tab on the cab/saddle unit, which fits into the smoke box, to be lifted off later. The smokebox is secured by two screws in its front face, but to get to one the nut securing the vac brake pipe must be loosened to allow access to one of them. See pic 3.
The cab and saddle tank are a unit and are fixed by four brass screws through the cab bottom flange into the footplate. A long screwdriver is required for access to these and when putting them back a blob of “bluetack” or similar, on the blade to hold the screw helps, as access to the front two is restricted.
Once the four screws are removed the smokebox can be moved forward to allow the cab/tank to be lifted off.
Replacement is a straightforward reversal of the above.
The boiler is secured at the front by a screw through the boiler cleading which clamps over a tab on the chassis stretcher. See pic 4.
At the rear the boiler band clamps to the burner bracket. See pic 5. To get to this the regulator servo needs to be freed.
Once the two clamps are freed the boiler could easily be moved back to its correct position and the two clamps tightened.
The smokebox as well as being secured by the two screws at the front also is located at the back by two shoulder screws, into the cylinders, which it slides over. See pics 6 & 7.
Once the cab/tank are removed the smokebox can be lifted up over the chuffer, but must be replaced loosely before replacing the cab. Ask me how I know!
Hope this of help to someone.
Mike Waters
April 2026
