Very much as predicted, progress on the Alco has slowed somewhat as I start to get into the dark and possibly dangerous waters of the valve gear. Couldn't put it off any longer (although the Markits etch was looking tempting!), so set to it and after pretty much a whole day of drilling and fileing I had this;

not much to show really but this is a complete set of parts for both sides. Yes it is both sides as I made them up as pairs soldered together so that they would be the same and save on the file work but have not split most of them back in half yet. Towards the end I did hit on a really good way of making sure everything would turn out straight and level. If this has been done before, I can safely say I haven't seen it. Basically, it is just to put a drill bit through each hole and then grip it in the vice while pressing firmly down. The work piece should then be level about the holes at each end and can safely be filed down.

As a brief distraction, I did make a start on what I hope will be the final version of the pony trucks. Roller bearings in the hope that they will allow the wheels to actually turn and being able to rotate around the left / right axis to try and keep them on the track.

After a suitable amount of time to get my patience back I set about assembleing it all and to my utter astonishment it all works pretty smoothly!