Crewe overhauls - 60009

About time too........................ She's been away far to long!

 

Have posted some information on another string today, we should hear the chime whistle shortly, just a pity you have to be on facebookimaybob !

 

I understand via Facebook, that the boiler passed its hydraulic test earlier on this week, a steam test was there after carried out, however at 150 psi, a fault occured with the safety valve/s, So once the defect/s are rectified a further steam test will be done....

 

Thanks for the update, hopefully June 30th is looking more likely. If this is the case I will have to confirm my booking with SRPS who are currently holding reserved seats for us until the end of the month when Number 9's situation became clearer. Given this will work out an expensive trip for us living in Wales we didn't want to commit until it seemed likely Union would be ready. I see Scots Guardsman is standing in for number 7 on SRPS Forth Circle trips, I would guess this would be standby for June - but she also has a lot of other commitments by then as well.

 

Scots Guardsman was chosen to do the SRPS Forth Circle trips long before No. 7 at Grosmont was declared unavailable for the Great Britain. When reading Heritage Railway yesterday I was questioning where they got their information, as I was certainly under the impression No. 46115 had been the candidate from the start.

 

60007 was never booked for the SRPS trips this year, the loco was committed to the NYMR Spring Gala.

 

Agreed ! I had a leaflet on the SRPS tours earlier this year and 46115 was shown as tour traction - annoyingly on the day I returned from an overseas trip - which I would have liked to photograph.

Given the known commitment of 60007 to the NYMR I am at a loss to know where it's use on an SRPS tour came from - unless someone misread the last tour working of 60007 on an SRPS railtour on 24/04/2011 and thought it was this year !

 

another update on the FB group. 'Boiler has failed boiler test once again leaking dome, safety valves and throat plate.. However, tender is now out side on show at the crewe heritage centre in green under coat picture will be up soon of it, the frames are now very shiny as they have been painted along with the front section of the cladding.'
It's looking unlikely for a July finish, nevermind May!
Matt

 

Shiny coats of paint do not an overhaul make

 

Not great news on this, I have emailed SRPS to see whether they intend to bring in a substitute for 30th June.

 

Thanks for the further update Matt, as a former qualified steam engineer, its understandable that some times coal fired smoke tube construction boilers, can be an absolute pain to make "pressure tight" which is a clear requirement to gain its insurance ticket. For me, a leaking dome purely suggests that the steam gasket [between the bottom of the dome cover and the top of the boiler] has not sealed correctly for a number of reasons, none however are unsumountable......
Clearly there is some issue with the boiler safety valves, and clearly they are safety critical devices and need to function as designed.
For me the main concern would be the throat plate, its either suffering from weapage around the stay/s or worse, for me this would be my concern, but no doubt the guys at Crewe will be able to resolve.
In saying all this, these issues will not hold up on going overhaul/rebuild of the engine. Once the boiler recieves its insurance cert, then in simplistic terms it can then be lifted back onto the chassis, and "piped in" the cyliners etc................
No matter what however No 9 will return !

 

Unfortunate about 60009. That shall leave quite a few gaps in the Cathedrals Explorer tour and Crewe Poole summer duties. She was scheduled for many CME and NWCE runs this summer. Something Good shall have to be brought in.

 

Just a update the boiler was refitted yesterday.

 

Cheers Keith, the boiler insurance ticket is now running............ I would consider, all things being equal we could be hearing the south africa chime whistle withing the next 4 to 5 weeks.....

Well done you guys in Crewe...

 

I've been informed that John Cameron has assured SRPS that she will be ready for the 30th June, hopefully reassembly will be straight forward and no more issues will be found. Looks tight to me, but I will be firming my booking tomorrow for my first trip up the Highland Mainline behind steam. With me also booked on the Castle to Edinburgh at the end of the month, I will soon be able to say that I have done Penzance to Inverness and Mallaig behind steam, even if it has taken me since 1996!