P2 Locomotive Company and related matters

Project managers tend to say "you can have it on time, on budget and to spec - which two do you want? (And then they deliver none of them in any case )

Tom

 

I have a question that has been on my mind for a long time and never got round to asking - not specific to the P2 but related to the fitting of coupling rods :

When a loco under build / overhaul or restoration has wheels and axles fitted into the horn guides and frames, the crankpins often look out of alignment and yet to fit the coupling rods onto the crankpins, they need to be exactly aligned. How are the main wheel sets / axles rotated in the frames to achieve this alignment if the axles are taking load? (this may seem like a really stupid question to those who do this in their sleep! )

 

Not at all ..good question.

 

I also came across plenty of clients that wanted the world, for free and yesterday!
In my world, delivery management was always about managing expectations of my client and the governance for the decisions, risks and compromise agreed along the way.

 

Hope this helps:

 

This 2 part might help, with 60532 blue peter getting her motion replaced during maintenance.

60532 Blue Peter Part 1 - YouTube
60532 Blue Peter Part 2 - YouTube

 

If the axle boxes have wedges, they are slackened off, so the box is loose in the horns.
Then a spare herbert jumps up and down on a pinch bar to turn the wheel set.
Not difficult just fiddly.
This way wouldn't damage paint on the wheels either.

 

Thanks for the responses - brute force manipulation is probably what I had imagined. In some cases you see a six-coupled locomotive with rods removed where all three axles & crankpins are completely misaligned so jimmy-bars do the trick and until now, never seen being done.

 

Can I ask where the “P2 Update” quote came from please?

 

I’m surprised at them putting the rods on with the crank pins at six o’clock. I was always taught to do it with them at three or nine o’clock. This way the wheels are at a point where slight rotational misalignment has minimal affect on the centre distance and you also know that you have got your bearing centres right. Moving the loco to place the other side similarly then corrects any rotational error.
The only time I put rods on at six o’clock is if the loco hasn’t been moved since they were taken off. It’s less height to lift them.

 

Hi @Sheff it came from the latest P2 news update on their website, I just used the NP quote system to show where it came from

 

Thanks. Just seems odd for them when normally great care is taken not to take the ‘big hammer’ approach - They have Materson pillar jacks etc available.

 

Third para of the Desmond (2/2/22) update at https://www.p2steam.com/category/news/ in case you wanted to read the text at source…

Simon

 

The first set of rods had been fitted for the 2021 convention, the https://www.p2steam.com/category/news/ makes this clear on the second line.

So what we are being shown is the second set being fitted. The first set had the crank pins set by eye to be at the same angle: we are not given any information about this angle, it could have been at three o'clock or nine. The engine is nowhere near its full weight so oiling the rail contact area and making use of a crowbar to slightly adjust the wheels if necessary might have been, on balance, the best option. At least the sets will remain in position once adjusted.

What are we going to presented with next? More news from Howco in Irvine about the cylinder block construction or a report on progress of the valve gear development? The boilers under construction at Meiningen must be well advanced by now because Tornado is due to be tested in June complete with new boiler so we might get a progress report about these. Though every aspect of progress is welcome the cylinders and valve gear are the areas which interest me the most.

 

Are you commenting on the setting of the wheels on their axles (90 degrees, 120 degrees or another figure specially calculated to delivery the best and smoothest output) or on the slight manoeuvring of the wheelsets which might be needed in order to fit the coupling rods?

 

The latter I believe.

 

I think that Clinker is commenting on the former, which is fair enough in itself but has little to do with how the P2 team fitted the coupling rods to their engine. At least it isn't like introducing the GWR and Collett to the 563 thread.

 

Oh sorry I hadn’t seen his comment

 

My question related to settings the axles so the crankpins are aligned for placement of the coupling rods. In this image, we see new driving wheels in 1014 but crankpins are currently miles off so to fit the rods, one or other of these wheel sets has to be manually turned whilst maintaining a static locomotive.
Setting the wheel on the axle at the correct angle (modellers will understand the term 'quartering') is something different.