Sandringham New Build

If anyone is interested, here is a short video of the last weekends Open Day at Diamond Engineering in Sheffield

 

I hope members of this Forum will not mind me posting this. We are a family of like minded enthusiasts so apologies if this is not allowed. I will remove it if the moderators ask.

As many will know, Brian Hall, our chairman and founder of the B17 project, passed away in March this year. The B17 Steam Locomotive Trust will carry this project forward not only to fulfil its original vision, but to honour the memory and enduring legacy of its founder, whose passion first set it in motion. Your financial support to Brian’s Memorial Fund will help ensure his legacy for the benefit of future generations. Thank you sincerely.

 

Apologies for the delay in giving an update on construction but I have been out of the country.

So I have attached just a few photographs from the recent Open Day with the Hengist Group at Diamond Engineering in Sheffield. They are hopefully self explanatory but show the cab on its jig, temporarily painted for free by Phil Anderson especially for the Open Day. The smokebox is now in place and the plain axles for the main driving wheels look pristine having been delivered the day before. Very shortly all the components for the rolling chassis will be delivered to South Devon Railway Engineering so hopefully at next years Open Day, 61673 will be on its wheels on some track!

An order is likely to be placed soon for the manufacture of all three cylinders and the smokebox saddle. I will update the Forum on this as soon as I can.

On the financial front, in the past 6 weeks we have been left a legacy of £85,000 in an individuals will, while a donor who wishes to remain anonymous has just transferred £50,000 to the Trusts funds. Then adding a record £10,000 profit from the Sales arm of the Trust (B17 Enterprises), things are looking very healthy!

 

Hi all.

Apologies for not having posted a recent update on progress on 61673 Spirit of Sandringham but I have had a few business issues that have been taking up my time! I intend to post a construction update in the next few weeks but in the meantime, we have just given our website a long overdue upgrade so if you have the time, I hope you will not mind having a look and see what we are up to.......!

Many thanks

https://www.b17steam.com/

 

August 2026 Construction Update

Smokebox:
Visibly, not a lot has changed and it still looks the same as at this year’s Open Day. But in the background, we have now received five rolled plates from Barnshaws (who made the wrapper) consisting of two plates that will be welded in place under the chimney (an anti vacuum valve rectangular plate and a smokebox top stiffening plate) plus three more that will be stored for later (the superheater access plate, the anti vacuum valve closure plate and another called the access hole reinforcement panel). In addition, we have received four small plates each with a self-tapped hole.

The receipt of all these items means we can now remove the smokebox from its plinth on the frames and finish the first stage of welding to include the four plates welded on the back of the door (so that a shed plate and numberplate can be both fixed in place but changed as required) and the bolts to hold the baffle plate on the back of the door can also be welded on. At the same time, we will weld on those two plates under the chimney. When you see it back up on the frames, it should have a full metal numberplate and a 39B (Sheffield Darnall) shed plate.

A lamp bracket has also been fixed to the to of the door so that it can be used for displaying appropriate headboards as the construction progresses.

Cab and Footplating:
The partly completed cab has gone back to Elvar Engineering where work continues to finish the exterior with steps and then starting on the interior, with the splashers that intrude into the cab and the fireman’s toolbox. The windows are also moving forward, the joiner having acquired a stock of well-seasoned English Oak (from Essex), the brass sections are on order and the special glass has been received and stored. Elvar Engineering have also manufactured the two front wheel deflectors.

CAD design work continues with the footplate/running boards, the splashers and the running board brackets and a quote is out for the pattern of the slidebar bracket.

Creation of a Rolling Chassis:
Work toward the complicated process of creating the wheelsets continues, with several critical components already finished and boxed up ready for shipment to South Devon. These are:

· Intermediate and Trailing axles.
· Intermediate and Trailing Cannonboxes
· Crank Axle Sweep Webs.

Other items being finished are with Daniela for finish machining, these being:

· Crank Stub Axles (2)
· Crank Axle Inner Pin
· Coupled Axleboxes (2)
· Balance Weight containers (6)
· Crank Pins (6)

It should be remembered that the six coupled wheels are already finished at Diamond Engineering, whilst the tyres and Timken roller bearings are already at South Devon Railway Engineering in Buckfastleigh. So, we really are getting close, with preparations in hand with the assembly process being documented by our Engineering Consultant and discussions started with South Devon to agree the assembly procedures.

One job that has to be done before the wheels are sent to South Devon is to find the Centre of Gravity of each wheel. This procedure is planned to take placed in the coming weeks at Sheffield, under the guidance of Daniela, who has the knowledge of it being performed on the A1 Tornado and the P2’s wheels at Darlington.

Cylinders and Saddle:
The first version of the Request for Quotation (RFQ) is ready to hand to Diamond Engineering for initial comment, before it is finalised and then for them to formalise their response and price.

Building the team:

The engineering team under our Chief Engineer, Alan Lusby, has been strengthened by the addition of two highly qualified and experienced engineers, both of whom are also members of the B17 Trust.

Roy Horrocks is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with a background in the automotive industry. He has advised the RCAS (Railway Challenge At Sheffield) team for several years, acting as their mentor and attending meetings. He has now kindly agreed to take on engineering tasks on the B17 project itself.

Dr Jacob Whittle is a PhD-level engineer specialising in railway engineering. After several years when he led the RCAS project at the University of Sheffield, he moved on to British Steel, where his main focus is on railway engineering topics. He, like Roy Horrocks, has also now committed to working part-time on the B17 project.

Daniela Filova is another new addition to the team. An engineer qualified to MSc level, Daniela is a leading expert on new-build locomotive engineering based on her involvement with the A1 and P2 projects. She is acting as a consultant to the Trust, providing guidance for instance on the Finite Element Analysis for the bogie.

 

Excellent progress and good to see such notable additions to the team.