2014 - February 1st/2nd Loco Working Weekend

Work achieved over the weekend


- Wire brushed No 4 Edward Thomas's firebox, ready for cold examination by the boiler inspector
- Wire brushed and painted the smokebox and back head of No 4
- Chased and greased the fusible plug threads on No 4
- Continued expanding tubes at both ends of No 7 Tom Rolt
- Lit up and tested the safety valves of No1 Talyllyn and No 2 Dolgoch
- Gave the motion of No 1 a good clean down
- Continued patching the paintwork on No 2

In the North Shed, Carriage 22 is now back on it's wheels and free of the supports that have been holding the body for the last few years.

Also in the works the new tyres were being shrunk onto the wheel set for TR carriage 1.

The new tyre is placed on a gas burner ring which has enough holes to heat the tyre uniformly and as it heats up, the steel tyre will start to expand. The wheel set is suspended above the tyre, using an overhead crane. Weights are used to ensure the wheel set is hanging vertically (at 90 degrees to the tyre heating below). A temperature gauge is used to check the tyre is heating correctly and a pre-set feeler gauge checks how much the inside diameter of the tyre has expanded. Once it is large enough, the wheel set is lowered into the tyre and the gas is turned off.

As the tyre cools, it shrinks back to its original size and grips onto the wheel centre which has been placed inside it - in engineering language this is called an 'interference fit'. Because both the wheel and tyre have been measured precisely, when the tyre has cooled down it is so tight on the wheel centre that it will stay where it is.

Once its all cooled down the wheel set is turned over and another tyre is fitted to the other end.

Thank you to everyone who came along, it was a very productive weekend.

Thanks to Nick Fieldhouse for the update.

Photos by Nick Fieldhouse and John Burton











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