LMS Patriot Project Updates

In what way? As in what is being done to fix them? If so see my post from the other day.

Or do you mean where are they at the moment? If so there either at boro foundry or going to middlesbrough I Will have to email to find that out for you.

Gavin

 

I refer to your post No. 187.

 

Ah sorry. So to Quote an email from David Bradshaw (Chairman) "The fact is that three keyways have been machined in the wrong place and as a result they have had to be welded up and are due to be machined in the correct place shortly"

 

That sounds like you have been very lucky and there is some good news. We must assume this repair has all been approved by the VAB as being satisfactory and there is no distortion of the hole for the axle caused by the welding process.

 

Not good. Someone hasn't got their act together have they.

 

Exactly.

 

I do hope the repair procedure has been approved. . . . . . . . . . . . It has; hasn't it?

 

Yes it has. When they Will be done I don't know but the sooner the better.

 

I have been so busy this last week i have been unable to update you on our boiler launch from last saturday. The Mayor of Crewe, Local MP, Pete Waterman and our celebrity member (Chris Hughes from BBC Eggheads) attended the event along with all the Directors, and a few members. We had a great day and were lucky enough to have a tour around the LNWR works. Thanks to our generous members we raised a massive £11,000 on the day which with gift aid puts £25,000 in the Boiler fund kitty (only £475,000 to go!!!!). The first £75,000 raised will purchase the copper for the firebox, so were 1/3 of the way there now. All donations not specifically said to be for the boiler, and monthly standing orders, will still go towards the rolling chassis, with the front bogie the next part of the project once the driving wheelsets are completed.
see Creating the new Royal British Legion Endorsed National Memorial Engine for more info

Gavin

 

The VAB were unusually quick in making that decision. How did you manage that?

 

Really. The wheels have been know about since they were delivered to sdr last year so i dont see how this is quick.

 

For those of you who are not on Facebook.

A forged steel blank billet was made in June at Somers Forge, in the West Midlands. This will be machined into an outside connecting rod, thus completing the set of three connecting rods that are needed for the three cylinder 'Patriot'.
Other motion parts have now been acquired from other Jubilees, thanks to Tyseley Loco Works, meaning we have a virtually complete set of motion for 'The Unknown Warrior'.
We now have all three connecting rods for 'The Unknown Warrior'.
Two original ones from Jubilee 45697 'Achilles' and a brand new outside con rod
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Following on from our announcement in April that we had acquired one outside connecting rod that was originally fitted to the Jubilee ‘Achilles’ and a complete set of coupling rods, we were subsequently offered the middle connecting rod also from the same locomotive. Thanks to the Bahamas Locomotive Society, ‘The Unknown Warrior’ now has an original ‘Jubilee’ inside connecting rod.
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We now have a new JustGiving charity donations page. To make a Card donation please click on the link above. Any donation, however small will be gratefully received. Thanks for your support and helping to build 'The Unknown Warrior'.
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THE LMS - Patriot Company Ltd

Also Donations to The LMS-Patriot Project can now be made from a mobile phone by texting: LMSP01 £1 (please choose amount of your donation, donations start at £1), to 70070

Gavin

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Last email I had was that we have raised 25k for the boiler. So only another 475k to go!!!!.
For those of you who don't know the boiler is to be built at crewe, by LNWR Heritage. Phase one is to raise 75k (25 already done so just another 50) to purchase the copper for the firebox. Then the boiler will be built up in stages. Ie firebox then barrel etc etc. As the boiler is such a huge amount of money we will be funding this separate to the rest of the funding. So all monthly donors will be funding the main construction of the loco as will one off donations which don't state that they are specifically for the boiler.

Gav

 

Man this project is moving fast! One minute its just the assembly of the frames, the next, its nearly a rolling chassis with pretty much all the motion ready at hand and the boiler appeal is well on its way!

Great to see progress being made and I wish you all the best, I'm keeping a close eye on this rising star... or perhaps rising Patriot is more appropriate.

I do have a couple of questions though, that have been niggling me...

1) Apart from the boiler, what other major components need to be done, or if not, what about minor parts?

2) Are you planning on remaining based at the Llangollen Railway when The Unknown Warrior is completed, go elsewhere, or like the A1ST not be based anywhere in particular?

Again, I wish all the best and I'll be keeping a sharp eye on progress. Just make sure you can bring it to the SVR sometime though, seeing an original Patriot with a set of LMS coaches will be too good to miss!

 

Hi sorry I thought I had replied to this, but it obviously didn't go through.

Answer to question 1. We still have absolutely loads to do, cylinders, smokebox, tender, front bogie truck, cab and cab fittings. And there are so many other smaller things to do. Ie basically everything.

2. We will go everywhere, ie mainline tours and heritage lines. But I'm unsure what the plan will be with regards to an actual home. Who knows what will be available in 5 or 6 years time.

If it was up to me I would like to have an actual base with shed, a bit like the west shed. But only time will tell if we could ever afford such a place, or if it was what the project wanted to do.

Gav

 

Thanks for answering Gav, you do have alot to do! Certainly while the boiler appeal gradually builds up they'll be no time for lounging then!

As for the home base affair, its perfectly understandable that there wouldn't be much consideration for that at the moment, afterall, building the engine must come first!

I suppose I, like probably several others, must be jumping the gun a bit really... Best to wait till the boiler's done, THEN get chatting about a possible home base and other similar topics.

Since you've recently launched the boiler appeal though, is there another component you might be launching an appeal for, or are you just going to rely on your mainstream funding from now on?

 

Work on £1.5m steam engine taking place in Llangollen - Need to Read - News - Daily Post North Wales

 

Im a bit lost at the moment as to what were raising money for, i will ask this question on saturday at our Members day at Llangollen, because we have the boiler fund, which i know the Chairman is keen to get £75k into it as soon as possible to purchase the copper, we also have just had the blank connecting rod produced which will need machining at some point, and there is the front bogie truck to complete. Plus as you may or may not have read in SR, we plan to have our rolling chassis at Warley model railway show at the NEC Birmingham in 2013, and the board want to have a cab and smokebox on at that time so people can get a real feel of how its going to look, and again this splits funding, then there is also the issue of the second front wheelset that were buying from the Turkish 8F chaps because the spare one there planning to get is still in Turkey, so is there much point in starting to build up the front bogie if were waiting for the parts?
So as you can see we have a huge amount in the planning stage with more than just a simple "order it in this sequence" to get on with. I will try to get a firm answer on this this weekend and i want to then get what ever part were raising money for separated into smaller chunks for people to sponsor, as this has proved quite popular in the past.

Gavin