76077

What remains of theSecond batch of items up for sponsorship are up on the 76077 website
https://standard76077.com/support-7...BBaWa2yEZTHrVkLC1I_FZqKNZTIQfNkRcgTNBB_WjgRWQ
The full batch was only released a few weeks ago and already the majority have been taken. If anyone wants to help with the great progress already made, please take a look!

 

Loco was successfully rewheeled this week, 6 months later than planned due to lockdown, great to see how well things are now going. There will be a push soon for new shareholders to help continue the rapid rebuild of this useful engine. Photo TSLL

 

Impressive progress...

 

Always a great event to get the frame back on its wheels! Well Done to all involved.

 

Good write up in Steam Railway. Looking good now with a nearly a complete smokebox loosely fitted to frame. Cab and connecting rods also being worked on.

Looks very smart and very swift progress. Even talk of a new tender.

 

Plenty of talk, but not enough money yet. We need to finish the loco first, but that is dependent on enough support.
You can help here:
https://standard76077.com/support-76077

In particular, we are still looking for help with the funding of the reverser gearbox. We are a bit over half way at the moment, with 45 of the 75 £140 shares taken up. As our loco was the last of its type to leave Barry, it was the most heavily stripped, and the reverser gearbox has gone.

 

For those who haven’t seen any progress pictures, here are a few by Ian crowder from the recent shareholders open day.

 

Any news on the cab and if it’s back yet?

 

Nothing in the latest news letter and speaking with our head engineer whilst we were working on the coupling rods from scrapped classmate 76080 a couple of weeks ago he mentioned that hopefully coming in the new year. So should have news soon. The hope is also to have the coupling rods on before Easter along with a good start on the other motion and cylinder/valve work.

 

Due to university run I couldn't make this years open day. Has anyone seen any updates and what's priority for next 12 months?

Assume still no decision on type of tender yet.

 

The open day went very well from all accounts, the cab was temporarily fitted, but the real achievement was the fitting of the coupling rods (ex 76080). I’ve heard that the cab will now have some additional new plate work as the sides are not as good as originally hoped. Last Saturday at toddington work was progressing on one of the original radius rods whilst at lms work is being done on the locos sanding gear. I think the hope is to have a largely complete chassis by the end of 2023. We are still hopeful to get the boiler into the shed at toddington at some point to work on new boiler crinolines and cladding, we’ve just taken delivery of some of the complex firebox cladding sections from a chap in Norfolk using 76084 as the pattern. The component sponsorship continues to go well with the latest batch already going, that’s not to say that we always need new supporters and those who want to get involved. Regarding the tender, still no official decision but plenty of small bits being made. Full set of photos from the open day on the 76077 Facebook page and workshop update on website https://standard76077.com . Picture copyright Ian crowder

 

Been a while, lots moving forward in the background, the biggest news is the purchase of tender wheelsets From the bluebell railway.
https://standard76077.com/its-official-76077-will-have-a-br2a-tender
Sponsorship from supporters has already raised the full amount for purchase and the flange profiling!
On the loco front, at LMS the cylinder cladding is being worked and is coming along nicely, along with trial fitting of slide bars.
at toddington, the boiler was recently craned from its long term storage on a wagon to a position behind the shed building where work will shortly start to trial fit the new boiler crinolines and firebox cladding. This is all in advance of a big fund raising push for the boiler overhaul.

 

For those who haven’t seen the latest website updates or articles in the railway press, here is an update on progress in the last 12 months. Firstly the cab. Having got the cab rebuilt by an external supplier, we decided that after all the cab sides were really too far gone, what with some rectification work needed, we had new cabsides bent and subsequently we have spent a lot of time making all the pieces fit well. New roof ventilators, new toolboxes, new roof. We are at a stage now where it can all be riveted together. Another milestone was the assembly of the new reversing screw and connecting it to the refurbished reverser cross shaft.
Whilst we haven’t managed yet to get the cylinders and valves rebooted due to the protracted overhaul of tornado sat next to it, this is now imminent. This will allow the valves and pistons then to be sized.
A small team (mostly one very patient volunteer) has spent many hours polishing the valve gear and the two connecting rods. One was original and the second was made some 25 years ago and stored.
Probsbly the biggest luck this year was acquiring 3 spare tender wheelers from the bluebell railway. This has dictated that we will be rebuilding the engine with a BR2A tender as it originally had. There was serious discussion about it running with a large 1B tender as there are some new build ones now built of being built. (73156 and 75079). We have had to have 6 new bearings for the tender wheelsets but that’s a story for another day.
Moving on to the boiler, we have awarded the overhaul contract to leaky finders. We have over 44k already on the boiler fund since it was launched earlier this year. but we do need more! Leaky finders have said that they envisage a 12 month turn around. Before the boiler leaves in December we are there for endeavouring to make the new cladding and crinolines. We are rapidly finding out that nothing is as per the drawings and it’s all having to be fettled. So, as you can see, we’re really cracking on! We need to maintain the income steam as we still hope to light a fire in late 2026. Please look at getting involved!

 

What with the paint on the rod ?

 

On the BACK of the rod - Quite common.....

 

Most bright steel rods get a coat of paint on the side that can't be seen.

 

you learn little every day !

 

That's what my teachers used to say!

 

The boiler appeal continues to do really well, with just shy of £60k in the bank from our target of 150k. This in only 8 months is really fantastic, we continue to push hard with progress on the locomotive and fund raising.
Here is the progress so far on the missing reversing mechanism.
The original disappeared from Barry and has never resurfaced. Speaking to other members of the BR std owners group , we had hopes that some patterns existed that would at least give us a head start on making a new one. Sadly, said patterns couldn’t be found or turned out to be wrong. Most standards have the same mechanism (apart from std 4 tanks and 2’s afaik), plus there were other groups needing one. We therefore have had our own patterns made and from that castings were produced. We already had a new indicator drum and the hand wheel (from existing patterns that were about).
The body castings have now been expertly machined and look superb.
we are now speaking to specialist engineering companies for the internal gearing, which is the last major components. I suspect that by the end, having produced what is likely the first brand new complete br reverser in preservation will cost 10-15k and 2 years in time. Nothing is quick or simple in this game, but we still have the aspiration to see the first die in late 202. If you want to get involved either financially or as a working volunteer please do take a look at https://standard76077.com/support-76077/
all photos copyright TSLL