Eardington Cylinders

En route to the FR/WHR last Friday I stopped off at the SVR for a bite to eat; continuing on to Shrewsbury and following the line I paused at Eardington and found two pairs of ex-GWR loco cylinders in the brambles. One set had clearly but cut straight from the donor loco as the remains of the lower smokebox and frame extensions were still attached. The other set of cylinders were slightly different, hinting at larger boiler.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if these were from 4156 and 3817, scrapped at Barry in 1980 and 1973 respectively?

 

No not really ex Barry but the larger set are ex 2857 which had its cylinders changed for a set from a scrapped 38xx (can't recall the number) found at Briton Ferry Steelworks on closure the ones at Eardington being cracked.

The other set were also recovered from the same location and are ex a 61xx tank and are retained as spare in the ownership of the 4150 fund.

A third set found at Briton Ferry were u/s (ex 61xx again) but the cylinder covers & a few other bits were acquired and were used in the restoration of 7802 along with a spare set of tender wheels also found there.

There was a proposal to section the ex 2857 block but I am unaware of the current position re that.

 

Many thanks for this info guys

 

What use would GW cylinders be at he bitton ferry steel works ?

This was the place that used steam loco tenders for ingot carriers wasn't it ?

 

Probably something to do with Wards, Briton Ferry, scrapyard.

 

At the time I was told the cylinder blocks survived because they were too big to go in the furnaces without being broken. Ray.

 

I can also confirm that the larger set are from 2857. I put them there, (with assistance from the 6-ton steam crane and Gerry Carter, then P. Way Manager) 'Twas a bit of a fraught job - they were at the limit of the crane's lifting capacity.

Regards,

jtx

 

Interesting piece on the history and restoration of the Britton Ferry cylinder block for 2857
http://www.2857.org.uk/2857_3-2nd_rebuild.html

 

What's the purpose of retaining 2857's old block if they were terminal enough to require replacement ?, seems unlikely they'd ever be a better proposition than the current set or even new ones, so why have redundant metal lying around ?.

 

Perhaps saying that the block is "beyond repair" is dangerous, and in the future it could be repaired by metal stitching or similar, and to quote the retail trade, "once its gone its gone".
Maybe the SVR with hindsight regrets disposing of the remains of GW pannier 3612 that was broken for spares some years ago, although in fairness I dont know how much of that loco was actually retained for spares.

The cylinder block would possibly make an interesting ( if somewhat heavy...) Engine House exhibit?

 

With modern technical developments such as polystyrene patterns you must consider the trade-off between retention and subsequent repair of the existing cylinder v the cost of a brand new one should it ever be needed.

So long as a drawing exists experts suggest that modern CAD/CAM systems can produce a new one almost at the touch of a button. Other posters may be able to clarify how true or not that is.

 

For anyone interested in the cylinder swop on 2857, there is an image in John Marshall's book "Severn Valley Railway" from David and Charles published in the 1980's. The work was carried out in the open at Bewdley in 1982 and was clearly an immense task at the time.