34081 overhaul progress

Since the boiler was lifted, the rolling chassis has gone under cover while we work towards lifting the frames to allow the roll out of the wheels. Most of the brake gear has now been removed and degreased prior to refurbishment off site and the remainder has been readied for removal. This has involved many tough battles with reluctant split pins. All but one of the sanders have been removed, all driving wheel springs have been removed, degunged and are ready for degreasing, oiling up and storing. All the pins, hangers, nuts, and spring supports have been degreased and are ready for refurbishment off site and we haven't lost any! All the axle horn stay nuts have been released and retightened ready for the chassis lift. (The horn stays need to be replaced as soon as the wheels have been removed to prevent any 'sagging' of the frames.) The RHS connecting and coupling rods have been removed, and an initial inspection shows no obvious problems with the bearings. The LHS connecting and coupling rods are now prepped ready for removal. Our CME will be visiting the boilersmiths next week to discuss for an update and to discuss such repair procedures as necessary. So all in all our small but merry band is making good progress. As always we could do with more pairs of hands on both the engineering and the fund raising so if you'd like to be involved in getting 34081 back on track, PM me please.

 

Very good to hear of the progress being made Ian .

 

Cheers.
Progress is quite encouraging at the moment. We have a small team working off site refurbishing small components and we already have a number of items finished and awaiting refitting to the loco. That's a way off yet though. Boiler progress will be dependent on the boilersmith and finances. If there's no nasty surprises on that front we should be ok financially but we're not counting our chickens just yet. On the mechanical front we have had some good turnouts of late but whether we can keep up this rate every week is another matter as work, family and holiday commitments will come in to play sooner or later. In the meantime the fund raising continues apace.

 

What kind of numbers are involved with the overhaul (ie people)?

 

If I had the transport (and enough time off of work - bless Stagecoach) I'd love to have been able to help in some way or three others!

 

Off the top of my head I'd say we have 20 people involved in the mechanical side. Some are there weekly, some monthly and some only occasionally. Of these some also help out on fund raising. Numbers on any one day will vary. We had 9 this Wednesday just gone but only three the previous Wednesday. Some weeks we have one work work day and others we have more. Numbers available for fund raising are fewer.

 

I was shown round Wansford works on Wednesday...must have missed you Ian!

 

Missed me by some 45 miles Anthony. Busy working weekdays and Saturdays so not involved in the mechanical side of things at present. Active on the fund raising side of things though as there are plenty of events on Sundays to attend with the BBLS sales stand.

 

Should the opportunity ever arise Bristolian, you'll be more than welcome.

 

Thanks Ian!

Very Best Wishes,
Bob.

 

An update from the boilersmith :
"The front tube plate is generally good but will need some local repair and new rivets to bring back to 100%. The inner firebox has thinning on the lower section of the throat plate as already said but also thinning of the sides below the new stays. The lower section of the thermic syphons have bulged and will need the lower half renewed. Crown stays show signs of wasting and are about 3/4 of the original thickness. Although these are not life expired we will be taking a bit of a gamble on them lasting ten years if they are not replaced. Also there is thinning of the tube plate water side."
All more expense of course and whilst we were hoping for better news, none of this comes as a great surprise. So the begging bowl will be rattled a bit
more vigourously from now on.

 

Another week, another work party.
A frustrating day on Wednesday with some jobs proving difficult to do.
The two remaining front brake hangers were a real pain until the "heavy mob," aka Al and Doc, helped out.
The remaining two sets off brake gear were removed and passed over to Mick 'Paraffin' Smith who manfully carried on at the degreasing bath. Barry Ansell finished degunging the springs prior to degreasing. Finally the LHS motion was taken down.
Only the inside big end and the trailing truck to do and the chassis is ready for lifting.

 

30/4/11 by Kingsley Harris
The whole injector set up was craned off after some torch work. The assembly was very carefully positioned on a pallet to avoid damage to a small drain screw. The delta truck, which was prepared for removal on Wednesday, had the front end lowered onto a rail trolley and pushed out from under the chassis. Some of the team spent the rest of the day degunging prior to overhaul.
Allan (Collins) and myself had a good look around the engine to see if there were any fouling points when the chassis is lifted (remember the blowdown valve pin!). All we could find were the 3 drain cock pipes either side which would have fouled the front bogie.

18/5/11 by "Doc" Lacey
Starting work in the new shed, we first we removed 3 nuts from the spring hangers, which had rusted solid, using oxyacetylene. We then moved on to the pony truck coil spring holders. We started in the vice with oxyacetylene, but with the bolts being round (unlike the spring hangers which have a flat surface) we couldn't grip it firmly enough to stop the unit turning. The other group also needed our oxyacetylene, so we went off to the old shed, which has a pipe vice welded to its girder frame, so as to better grip the bolt. We started using the oxyacetylene set in the old shed, but this was not producing enough heat and was leaking gas all around the head, because a previous user had used it as a hammer! DOC then suggested oxypropane. He brought over the new burner (which, though new, had a dodgy oxygen needle valve) and a propane cylinder which proved to be empty! Having sourced a new propane cylinder, we fired up the burner, only to find a poor oxygen supply, which we thought was due to an empty cylinder. We exchanged the cylinder for another (another 200yd trek with a barrow!) and off we went again, only to find the oxygen tube split (either part of the reason for the poor oxygen supply ....combined with the dodgy needle valve.......or as a result of the higher pressure from the new cylinder, or both!). So we trimmed back both supply hoses and tried again. Success! We then successfully removed the 4 nuts from the pony truck spring bolts, which once cooled were taken back to the new shed, and added to micks sand blasting/degreasing pile.......much to his annoyance! It is amazing that even before cleaning, despite having had to remove the nuts with heat, a large spanner fitted with a scaffold pole and 21stone of force, we could put the nuts back on the bolts by hand, the nut having already cleaned up the thread! We then tidied up the tools and returned DOC's equipment and went back to the new shed.
I then helped DOC and the others to jack up the loco and remove the packing, bit by bit, until she was back on her wheels, ready to move back in order to give clearance at the front to jack up and remove the front bogie. However, its never that simple. After a few minutes it became clear that the jack was going up but the loco wasn't, as the wooden packing was just getting squashed. We looked for some hardwood packing but couldn't find any, but I did spot a fishplate. This was deemed a suitable substitute, so DOC and I went out to the steam crane, where 4 more were found and carried back. We then started jacking again, but DOC soon got called away to help with another task. My jack then refused to lift very, far despite vigorous pumping. A check on the oil level revealed no oil on the dipstick! It is a fact that a hydraulic jack without oil does not work! So out with the jack again, find a drum of hydraulic oil, refill the jack, only to realise that we had filled it in the semi-raised position, so had now over filled it! So lift the jack up, tip a bit of oil out to get the right level, reinsert the jack, which now seemed to travel as far as the other one, and the job was done! Piece of cake!
Life at the NVR is never straight forward but the company is great!

Plenty of action other than the two reports above both on and off site. Mostly cleaning, prepping and refurbishing small items too many to mention here. As always there are regular photographic updates at http://www.92squadron.co.uk

 

Since the last update there has been a lot of activity shifting items to our Bedfordshire workshop for refurbishment and then returning them to store and cataloguing of same. On the frames work has continued stripping down the front end ready for the eventual reboring of cylinders and removal of steam heating pipework. Needle gunning of the trailing truck has commenced prior to refurbishment.

 

Work Party July 6th by "Doc" Lacey.
"On Wednesday Alan, Roger, Barry, DOC, and myself had a productive day.
We started with a little light needle gunning and painting of parts followed by moving the completed Mk.1 bogie and the other Mk.1 set of wheels off the track in the new workshop using the overhead crane. This involved much broom work in cleaning the shed floor both where they had been and all around our workspace.
We then prepared 92 for moving, then coupled to the newly completed Brake van. DOC persuaded Dave to shift the lowmac and another brake which was in the way. Unfortunatley the PW team who had loaded it had done so out of guage and then dumped a cubic metre bag of gravel on the top so we couldn't move the offending sleepers without the help of Carl and the loader! Having sorted that, 92 and the brake van were pulled out of the shed which enabled us to recover the big end connecting rod which had been under the loco. Then followed a massive cleanup of the entire 4 foot in the shed (2 dustbins full of crap) before we lifted the crossing walkways out of the 4 foot so that they could be repositioned once the loco was back in the shed. Back outside the shunt continued retrieving 656 from the old shed ready to push in new shed complete with 92.
We then moved a platelayers trolley, a spare set of wheels and a pair of rail transport gantries out of the siding into the shed as they were in the way of the shunt."
The shunt has now taken place and the next job is to lift the frames and roll out the driving wheels.

 

Frames were lifted a few weeks ago and all wheels rolled out. Removal and refurbishment has continued apace and the strip down is almost complete. Disassembling has yet to take place of the front bogie but work is well advanced on the trailing truck which is rapidly approaching the undercoat stage. One component on the frames is being a bit of a bu99er though. The pin in the driver's side safety link will not give up it's hold on the drag box. While a solution to that problem is sought, cleaning of the frames continues. Lots more small components were being primed yesterday.
On a slightly different note, yesterday I had the immense pleasure of showing Wing Commander Andy Dickens (OC 92 Squadron RAF) the progress so far. The Squadron has always taken a keen interest in the loco and we are very proud of the association with her namesake Squadron. Unfortunately it's easier for us to give them a footplate ride than it is for them to give us a flight in a fast jet. :sad:

 

Just spent a happy hour looking at your website, was incredibly informative and interesting.

Thanks for the updates, whilst as you may have gathered I have something of a Swindon bias I have always had a soft spot for the BoB's (perhaps seeing Winston Churchill at Didcot all the time when I was a kid), although I have never seen one in action - one day maybe.

All the best!!

 

Cheers. Glad you enjoyed your visit to our site. This overhaul is being documented photographically far greater than the initial restoration. Digital photography makes it so much easier and the web is a godsend when it comes to disseminating the info to the world at large. could really do with some pics of the boiler work but that's 100 miles away so not so easy for our chaps to go and take pics.

 

Wednesday 17/8/11 by Kingsley Harris.
"A really cracking day with again great company.
The day started with Ambie, Richard and I clearing up the mess under the chassis that had accumulated. Now with a nice clean area, Ambie recommenced to mess it up again but with great results on the chassis! Alan carried on with removing the leather seals on the centre driving axle with the help of a ratchet screwdriver and extension piece nattily knocked up by Barry - thanks Barry. Reassembly will be considerably easier and faster now. Alan also made preparations for the main driving axle boxes to be dropped away from the journals.
Some good news whilst on the driving axle. John Haydon had a 'go' at the centre crank journal with some Scotchbrite and was very surprised and pleased that there appeared to be very little deep scouring so fingers crossed when the journal is measured with a micrometer. John has also taken on the task of renovating the reversing mechanism entirely.
Richard completed the move to store of all the remaining brake parts, life guards and carried on with painting the horn block and wheel journal delivery guides after Barry had attended to some straightening of the lubrication tubes. He refitted all the nuts on the valve and piston head covers (to avoid loss) and then started prep on the two large outside cylinder end covers. The smokebox shed plate is ready for top coat and then picking out the detail in white. (Important bit this. )
The speedo drive crank that I inadvertently painted black last week, needs stripping as it runs as polished finish - doh, sorry peeps! Nitromors to the rescue!
Mick removed the four breathers from the top of the oil bath. Their function is to take care of any pressurisation that may occur whist the engine is rotating. Three are OK and just need repainting whist the last one needs re soldering. Barry to the rescue.
Meanwhile Roger is making very good progress with the Delta truck and will have completed two coats of primer by next Wednesday. The plan then will then be to turn it upside down, prep and final paint and the turn over so the other side can be finally top coated. At this stage all the existing grease in the lateral support chamber will be removed, repacked with fresh grease then the sliding dust cover can be fitted and the Delta truck will be ready to receive it's wheels - a start was made on them today. We also will ensure that the grease nipples that grease the lateral system function OK as they will be part of the scheduled maintenance programme we will be maintaining once back in traffic.
On a final point, Al is still determined to remove that LHS safety coupling pin so a full examination can be made of the drag box."
Regular photo updates at http://www.92squadron.co.uk where you can also make donations or buy goodies from our on line shop.

 

I've heard on a other thread that 34081 has lent some of it's parts to another Bullied.

Is this true?