Have now completed the Baldwin valve gear - an evening for each side, so moving along nicely. As I remember, the instructions that come with the Wrightlines kit are pretty useless here so will go into this bit in some detail.

First off, a little bit of filing to the cylinder block to allow a bit more leeway in getting the length of the piston correct.

Then a bit of DIY with a 10ba nut soldered onto the long bit that wiggles (a technical term where my knowledge of the correct terms for valve gear bits is concerned!), this gives the correct clearance in the bracket and being fixed makes fitting all the bits together much easier. A cocktail stick poked through both provides a good location.

Next up was to make the slide bar a good fit in the cross head and a quick polish made for a nice smooth fit.

Next up was a bit more DIY with the white metal piston rod being chopped of and a length of brass fitted instead - far more reliable I think.

So here is the cross head and connecting rod with a 10ba bolt soldered into the back of it and the head filed back to withing an inch of it's life to provide a good clearance.

Here is the cross head bolt being soldered up - a 12ba would have been better but couldn't find any! Note the old trick of a bit of fag paper between the bolt and the head to stop it all getting soldered up into one big lump.

This pick should show the 3D arrangement which is something sadly lacking in the instructions, note the 10ba nut on the rear axle to provide clearance and the crank on the middle axle bent to a Z shape;

One thing that I have found to be invaluable here is the little set of tapered broaches - far better than drills for getting an accurate fit of parts without the risk of snatching and ripping all the bits apart. Another thing I substituted were the horrible solid iron rivets that come with the kit for some much nicer hollow ones that compress easily just with a pair of pliers.

Finally, I cannot stress too much the importance of checking that everything is running smoothly after every single item is added. Very boring but is so much easier than having five places to look for that mysterious knocking noise rather than just that one piece you have just fitted!