HO Mogul Shell Removal Quest

[MarkInLA]

Hi to all. A week ago many of you chimed in on my 2-8-0 shell. This was super as I finally did get it removed !! Jonathan in here had great pics of process ! One little mistake I made was I didn't wipe off the original grease but did add new grease (with Teflon). I did not split the weights to get to motor because several folks have stated we don't need to. I am a tad skeptical about this as a shaft is turning in a bearing. Thus there must be friction of some small amount. But I'll wait to see what you say on that.
On to the mogul : I removed draw bar, pilot truck, the support rods at smoke box and the only visible screws remaining (other than the gearbox cover screws), the two under the cab. What did I miss ? I'm betting it's under smoke box between cylinders. Yet the gear box cover extends all way to pilot thus covering bottom of smoke box. The cab wiggles and lifts a smidge but other than that I can not get shell to budge. It's like it's welded on ... I'm afraid of cracking something. Are those tabs I see under cab sides at frame ? I tried spreading cab sides, but this didn't work either. What gives ?!          Mark

[DAVE2744]

Hi Mark. I too have a new 2-6-0. Great runner. I have not needed to "open it up" but your inquiry prompted me to study the exploded view diagram.  It appears the 2 cab screws are the only mechanical fasteners holding the boiler. There is a light guide (part 00R06) that might be a tight fit at the front of the smokebox. I also noticed the sanddome top is a separate piece. There is an "unidentified" part, looks like a screw, that is in a vertical position going into the motor support casting.  It appears to be very closely aligned with the sanddome. Might be worth investigating.  Good luck, and proceed cautiously.  Dave Kelley.

10 minutes later - - -  Mark, I looked at my Mogul, the top of the sanddome DOES lift off, and yes, there is a micro scopic screw in there!

[MarkInLA]

Dave, funny you caught that ! I saw the slit in the sand dome months ago but passed it up thinking it's just the way they put whole dome on...Well 2 days ago I decided to get deep into and figure this problem out already ! It is NOT rocket science !
Messed around again here and there and decided I've seen EVERY removal item as before and was about to give up after tugging on the boiler and even sliding an xacto blade between frame and shell where I could as someone suggested glue sometimes gets there at factory ! ...Then...the sand dome hits me again ! This time I popped it off and....There it was ! THE secret last screw !! Took it out and shell lifted off like butter !!!!
FINALLY !! I was not able to locate both screws of heavy weight surrounding motor but 1 screw enabled them to separate enough to get grease on the worm using a toothpick. I  then oiled behind fly wheel (also difficult not having weights off) and oiled end of motor shaft at back-head in middle of circuit board..
I put shell back on and lubed all the action and axles.....Seems to be somewhat smoother running. But CV values play a bigger part in this I believe. ...One thing is to put CV 25 to 11 or other value after its having to be at 16 to adjust CVs 67-94....   Mark