Industrial Loco Updates

Sorry if this is a slightly thick question but how hard is it to fit it with dual brakes? That way if the GCRN vac set has an issue it could still run.

How far off are this pair to running again? Seriously looking forward to having an industrial tank at rudd. Should be a good fit.

 

Funny that you should raise the question of dual brakes. Manning Wardle 2009 will be fitted with single pipe air brake. The main reservoir has been mounted and the bracketing for pipe runs under the left hand footplate is in place. Since pipe runs are no larger than 1 inch bore for air brake, the routing is easier than vacuum brake. Vacuum and steam heat run down the right hand side. MW1762 is probably nearer to completion than MW2009 as the recent setback of discovery of further distortion in the frame has held matters up a bit.

 

Bagnall 2746 The Duke

I called in to see David Wright over Christmas; he proudly showed off his new portable, sectional, inspection pit which was extended to its full length and had Tornado sitting on it; it is made of girders and stands on the floor. He was also able to show me the new foundation ring for The Duke, and the latest news is that the foundation ring has been bolted up, the new side sheets have been welded in and are having seven bells knocked out of them to complete the fit. The new copper tubeplate has also been checked for fit.

Back at Wirksworth, the bunker has been checked over ready for fitting, as far as we can tell both Bagnalls and Dave Wright worked accurately to the same Hunslet drawing and the bolt holes are in the right place. After much debate we have decided to leave the old footplating down and mount the bunker on top of it. Mike Evans very kindly offered to lift it up for us today. The next hurdles are to get the cab roof to somewhere we can work on it, get that temporarily mounted after painting and use it as a guide for the coal rails.

The Duke having its new bunker installed: picture by Graham Stokes.



Many thanks to the Wirksworth midweek team.

 

That sounds fascinating. Did you get photos? How does the loco get up on it?

EDIT: would this be it: https://www.a1steam.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/01111805-LMS-GB-J.jpg

 

That's it. I thought it was an odd idea when I first heard about it, but it looks brilliant. Seems the loco was just dragged straight off the low loader, so hopefully that will reduce stresses in the frames etc compared to using ramps.

 

Manning Wardle heavy general overhaul continues at Ruddington Locomotive Works on the GCRN. The cylinder block re alignment work on No2009 is progressing. A fixture to support the cylinder block and adjust its position to correct the mis alignment of the cylinder bores and the crank axle, has been made and installed and with one side of the cylinder block freed by the removal of the mounting bolts, the alignment has been corrected. Re fixing will follow remedial works to the cylinder block. Meanwhile work on axleboxes preparatory to re wheeling, is progressing.

 

Updates from Foxfield:
'Whiston' has had her regulator J pipe removed after discovering a long standing flaw in the casting which was causing excessive blowby, a new J pipe is awaiting machining and fitting.
'Wimblebury' is having her overhauled axle boxes refitted and should be on her wheels ready for a steam test in March. She is booked to appear at the Welland Steam Rally in July.
'Bellerophon' is undergoing winter maintenance and is having work carried out on her regulator. She will be appearing at the Severn Valley Railway spring gala in March.
'Eustace Forth' is returning to her home of many years this year spending the summer at Shildon.
Beyer Peacock '1827' has had her tank removed for a new inner skin to be fitted to cure the horribly excessive leaks!
The sole surviving inside cylinder Peckett 'Ackton Hall No.3' is due to enter the workshops once Wimblebury is back in traffic for work to start on her restoration to steam.

 

Good news. This loco has been a long time waiting since first entering preservation on the KWVR. It was a complete loco in those far off days.

 

Indeed it was, it's been rather nomadic and each time it's moved it seems to have left something of itself behind so we are missing rather a lot of fittings and other bits. On the plus side we have discovered what we think is original Peckett paintwork on the wheels.

 

AB 1719 'Lady Nan'

Pleased to report that Lady Nan passed her steam test today following the 10 year overhaul last year. A couple of minor problems to clear up that will not require a further visit by our boiler inspector.

 

Wimblebury was on loaded test at Foxfield yesterday- all appeared to be satisfactory when I left after the first line trip,

Jon

 

She sounded good taking the lowmac and brake van up the bank from the colliery on the second trip!

 

Bagnall 2746 The Duke

A notable first at Wirksworth- it was warmer inside the shed than out. Saturday was a relatively quiet day, most of the diesel types were busy elsewhere on the railway. The main effort went into repairing one of the cab handrails on which the retaining thread had worn away at the bottom. Mick Clark sawed off the thread, drilled vertically down into the bottom of the handrailrail, tapped it and inserted a 3/4" whitworth stud which the 8F crew just happened to have handy.

Mike Ball is cleaning up the replica works plates, purchased about 30 years ago by Gary Dixon. I had always assumed these were cast iron, but under the gunge and paint they turn out to be brass. In recent weeks Chris Richardson and myself have been adjusting the front section of footplating to a better fit, and that is now finally bolted down.

Less good news is that the gauge glass valves turned out to be very badly worn indeed when cleaned and Alen advises these are beyond repair and must be replaced. Fortunately a wide range of very similar gunmetal gauge glasses are used on hospital sterilisation boilers, rated at 250psi and available from Chanter Biomed of Bradford with a full range of spares.

I take my hat off to the guys manning the ground frames on the EVR this weekend, in these appalling conditions.

 

There are several people who will bore out your existing gauge glass cocks and fit Klinger sleeves and new spindles. A cheaper option than new.

 

Bellerophon held her own amongst her bigger sisters at the Severn Valley spring gala this weekend and was well received by the Bewdley loco staff. The crews who manned her over the weekend on the Bewdley/Kidderminster shuttles were surprised how competentlyshe performed and all came off having thoroughly enjoyed themselves, despite the weather conditions! She is staying on the SVR until early May and will be out and about several times during her stay.

 

"There are several people who will bore out your existing gauge glass cocks and fit Klinger sleeves and new spindles. A cheaper option than new."
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the information. Further enquiry suggests that while some locos have been successfully fitted with gauge cocks from Chanter Biomed, they are not as robust as the traditional loco patterns. We intend to try to make The Duke fit for intensive regular use so we will be trying a different direction. LMS have patterns to make traditional Hunslet cocks modified to take Klinger packings, so we await their quote; they are to make the new backhead to which these will fit and there is a lot to be said for keeping everything under one roof

I gather that not all "Klinger conversions" have been successful. If someone out there would like to make an offer for the existing fittings on behalf of their own project they are welcome to have a go.

Meanwhile, latest news from LMS is that the new copper tubeplate is machined and ready to fit and that the new lower side sheets are being drilled and tapped ready for stays.

Regards,

Tim

 

I understand that Peak Rail now have ex South Hetton colliery No.72 as their sole working steam loco. Jennifer which has been there on hire has gone to the Wensleydale Railway because Joem failed a boiler exam and it has been decided to overhaul the boiler.
Finally ex Industrial loco Maureen, now the engine converted to an 0-6-0 tender loco has gone to the Great Central Railway North at Ruddington.

 

Bagnall 2746 The Duke

We had a good session last Thursday with the help of the EVR pway gang who brought the cab roof into the shed and lifted it into place using the Komatsu machine; this was a useful exercise for them as there is a plan to re-lay roads 2 and 3 to a better line and level and then provide concrete walkways alongside. The cab roof needed a little adjustment to square it up, but eventually it was a perfect fit; this enables us to make progress with other jobs in the cab and bunker area. The tank has also been moved to the rear of the shed so we can work on that too.

 

Bagnall 2746 The Duke

LMS report that the foundation rivet holes have been reamed ready for riveting and that the new side sheets are drilled and tapped ready for the new stays. Various drilling and fitting operations are in progress on the cab and bunker. The saddletank is also receiving attention; the copper strainers have been drawn out for examination. One of these put up quite a struggle due to being jammed in what looks like seventy years of scale; I am told that in the old days NCB apprentices would crawl into the tanks to hide and play cards across the saddle under the dome. We only have one "apprentice" who might fit and therefore no-one to drag him out if he got stuck. We settled for cutting a hole in the tank at the cab end at the driver's side and have so far raked out over a barrow load of scale, we shall see how this goes and probably repeat the operation on the fireman's side.

The theory is to get out as much as possible dry, then use a pressure washer, then weld the plate back. Alen says the Army never bothered with things like this and would probably just have bought another tank. What means have other people tried?

 

Bagnall 2746 The Duke

I recently spent some time in the back stores of a traditional ironmonger; it turned out that they still had a little traditional ironmongers stock, a few whitworth machine screws and rather a lot of whitworth nuts, which I did my best to clear. It looked like it had been on the shelves for 30 years - the 1" nuts were wrapped in greaseproof paper. Sadly most of the bolts had been thrown out for scrap not long before, "nobody wanted them". Aaargh! Still, I wonder how many other independent stores there may be tucked away to explore. Items which Twiggs of Matlock do still have include brass butterfly nuts. 1/2" and 5/8" (tank filler lid catches?), brass countersunk machine screws 1/2" and in various lengths. 3/8" brass dome headed bolts. There were also some 3" whitworth nuts, goodness knows what they would fit. If you are passing through Matlock on a Saturday morning, it is a good place to visit.

We have now cut two holes in the cab end of the saddletank to clear out the scale which was in deep drifts at the bottom. We raked out what we could, but the tank is about 18 feet long. Simon improvised a vacuum lance with 20ft of metal pipe and an industrial vacuum cleaner which has sucked out several bucket loads from the fireman's side already. Once as much dry scale has been removed as possible we intend to make use of the new improved water supply and flush the tank with a power washer. The tank has been jacked up at one end to make this easier. Mick and John continue to work on the bunker and are trimming and bending the top beading from the old bunker to fit the new profile.

Van No.2 is breaking out in bauxite in places; there is still a lot to do, but I have managed to make a start on the lettering and one side now reads, "To Work Between Buxton And Longsight Stores". There is a lot to add but one day this might be an exhibit at a Multiple Memories Gala as the van was used to deliver DMU spares to Buxton.

Craig Hibbert has started cleaning down my LMS brake van ready for a repaint. I see the Long Low has come up from Shottle to collect the bracket signal; it could definitely do with a repaint as it is now badly peeled. I think it was last painted over 10 years ago - how time does fly!



The rest of the shed is extremely busy with work on various coaches and DMU vehicles. The brake coaches in particular will look marvellous when completed.