Bluebell Motive Power

Updates on the overhaul of 73082 are now available via The 73082 Camelot Locomotive Society facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-73082-Camelot-Locomotive-Society/381518251989806
Last update was on Wednesday.

 

A couple of photos from the weekend of the partly-disassembled regulator of LBSC E4 B473.

The copper welding repair to the firebox appears to have been successful and the loco has passed hydraulic and steam tests; however when in steam, the regulator was leaking by, and investigations were under way to see where the leak was.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamessquared/14761043145/in/photostream/ shows the view into the dome.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamessquared/14758739184/in/photostream/ shows the moving parts of the regulator valve. Size 9 feet to give a sense of scale

Tom

 

Thanks for the update, Tom, nice to know the E4 is well on the way back to service. How long is she expected to run for now this repair has been effected? Will she be able to run to around the same time her ticket would have been due to expire (about 6/7 more years?), or is it suck it and see how long the inner firebox will hold out?

 

There's always a certain element of "touching wood" in these things but - touch wood - so far the repair on 1638 seems to be sound, so hopefully B473 will last likewise. Probably as great an issue will be the mechanical condition; B473 was reckoned to have done about half the expected mileage between overhauls up to the point she failed, so probably a similar amount of usage to come.

What is certain is that having B473 back will ease a lot of the pressure currently being shouldered by 592 and especially 263. Remarkably, 263 had the biggest mileage of any loco last year, higher even than 92212. Based on the kinds of mileage seen historically for pre-grouping locos (probably around 50k miles between heavy general overhauls), 263 certainly wouldn't last ten years with the level of usage she got last year. So having three home-fleet medium engines will be a boon.

Tom

 

Thanks, Tom. After some hard years, the Bluebell is starting to get closer to having a large enough loco fleet to be comfortable.

 

B473 was apparently out on test a couple of days ago, so looks like she may be back in traffic very soon.

 

thanks Tom for the excellent pics of Birch Grove's regulator - very interesting! very pleased to hear the repairs are complete and that she will be back in action very soon!
cheers,
julian

 

That's good news - a welcome return for a most appropriate loco. It will also offer some chance for some new photographic viewpoints. Since B473's withdrawal, there hasn't been anything much in working order facing south apart from 3205 when it paid a brief visit. There appear to be a couple of spots coming out of East Grinstead where the loco should be working, including the first bridge south of the viaduct (name escapes me.)

On a different note, does anyone know how the Tornado visit went? I'm surprised not to have seen much in the way of photographic coverage. I was able to pay a very brief visit on Saturday and saw the final train (5.15PM ex-SP) on the approach to Kingscote. It looked reasonably well loaded, but given the sun was shining, the temperature was reasonable (although I didn't get a great deal of exhaust as it pulled away from the signal box), I was quite surprised to have had no other company at this spot, especially as the blue livery is going to disappear soon. I've yet to see any pictures of it at any of the more favoured spots such as Freshfield Bank. Pity I didn't have time for a ride behind her.

 

John, you and others will be pleased to hear that B473 was on pilot duty at Sheffield Park on Sunday, then taking over 5643's train in the afternoon after the latter suffered injector problems. She had been given a good bulling up by the cleaners and appeared to be fully fit again.

As for Tornado's visit, I'd say it was a rousing success, she was pulling a specially strengthened train (though I would question why the set had an all 1st class coach added, not a 3rd), and every time she came to a halt, throngs of people flocked to get a closer look. There was a smattering of lineside pass holders taking photos of her, but at the foot crossing at West Hoathly there were hoards of photographers, I've never seen so many people at that spot. I'm sure the photos will trickle out in the days to come.

And now to plug my photos , I have two albums from Tuesday 29th and Sunday 3rd (I was too busy travelling on trains to take many photos on Tuesday!)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/spinner673/sets/72157646046815182/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/spinner673/sets/72157646179539795/

I'll be uploading a video of Sunday's action later this evening.

 

Does one have to hoard photographers in order to have enough to have a horde of them?

(Those spelling correcters sure are annoying...)

Noel

 

John - was going to answer but it got lost in the great NatPres outage today ... Anyway, it seems Matt has already answered!

There are a couple of photos of Birch Grove from Derek Hayward here: http://www.derekhayward.co.uk/BluebellRailway-1/Collections/Bluebell-2014/37995745_9Pt5Bg#!p=1&n=10 (scroll down) and some of Tornado and Birch Grove (from John Sandys) here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebellrailway. The Bluebell webmaster has been away, which is why I think photos haven't been more forthcoming - it seems the usual suspects have been taking plenty, they just haven't been getting onto the website with the customary dispatch!

Will certainly be good to have Birch Grove back

Tom

 

From the Bluebell newsletter, an update on current restoration progress from the Locomotive Director (note that events with Birch Grove have already overtaken this update, in a good way!):


"Since my last update for the eNewsletter, work has continued on a number of locomotives, both on and off site.

Starting with the onsite locomotives, the chassis for Q Class No. 541 is now complete and has been paired with the tender. Work on the boiler continues, and it is currently upside down for the last time. This work has allowed the fitting and welding in place of the last four pieces of the new steel outer firebox wrapper and the last few remaining patch screws. The boiler will shortly be turned through 180 degrees and made ready for the tubes to be installed.

Work has continued on the boiler of No. 928 "Stowe", mainly concentrating on repairs to the foundation ring, while outside in the yard, the Maunsell Society continue working on the chassis.

The wheels and frames for No. 73082 "Camelot" have now been reunited together, and work has started on the endless lubrication pipework, most of this being hidden underneath the loco on the inside of the frames. The tender has been moved from Horsted Keynes, and it now sits in the loco yard where our volunteers are making progress on cleaning and painting the tender. The tender wheels will need to be turned at some point in the future too.

On the maintenance side, running repairs have taken place to the spring hanger on No. 1638 and minor items have been taken care of on S15 No. 847. This is all in addition to the usual boiler washouts and daily maintenance. The most significant item of maintenance, however, is the repair to No. 473 "Birch Grove", which has been successfully completed. The loco has passed part one of its boiler exam, and it will shortly be steamed for its part two exam. The whole Railway looks forward to the return of this popular and useful locomotive.

Off site, a recent visit to see the work on the 01 boiler showed progress was being made, with the new steel outer firebox repairs complete, along with the new copper stays. Patterns were in the process of being made for the new girders, which sit above the crown sheet. Work on the "Camelot" and "Sir Archibald Sinclair" boilers continue, and I'll be able to update you further in a future eNewsletter.

By Chris Hunford, Locomotive Director"

 

I must admit brain failure on that one I initially wrote hear instead of here as well, but corrected it before anyone noticed! I blame being out in the sun too long!

 

My video from yesterday is now up, mainly shot at Sheffield Park as I wanted to record the duties of the station pilot that Tom wrote about in this thread (or the other Bluebell thread) a little while ago.

 

Thanks for photos/vidoes, Matt, Tom et al. Most enjoyable. Great to see the E4 back in business. I use film and therefore can't post my picture from last Saturday (and by the time the film is used up, I doubt if anyone will be interested!)

 

O1?? Has this also been stripped down for overhaul??

Matt

 

No, there is a spare boiler which is the one being repaired. The loco is still currently in one piece with its original boiler. I think the plan is to get the boiler repaired up to the point of retubing but stop there until there is capacity to commence the mechanical overhaul. I'm not sure what the timescale is, except that we need to think about the replacement for 592, which entered traffic round about 2007 as I recall.

Tom

 

Interesting - where did that come from?

 

I need to do some research, but my current understanding is Stewarts Lane, where it had been a stationary boiler. At the time it was acquired many years ago, I assume it was as a spare for the H class, though it is also interchangeable with the O1 as well. Dimensionally it is the same, though the boiler support brackets will need modifying as they are at a different height.

There is a bit of confusion in my mind about which loco it was originally attached to - when I get a chance, I'll need to look up the boiler records. I was told it was from an R1 and assumed that meant an SER Stirling 0-6-0T; however I am subsequently led to believe it was actually an LCDR Kirtley 0-4-4T (also known as an R1). The Kirtley R1 was the progenitor of the Wainwright H and was the origin of that design of boiler, which subsequently was widely used by Wainwright both for his own H class and for reboilering elderly Stirling locos such as the O.

http://www.semgonline.com/steam/r-r1class-lcdr_01.html

Tom

 

Careful, someone will suggest a new-build project!!