LMS Patriot Project Updates

I'm sure I read it somewhere that the expansion links were going to be cast. I'll do some thread-trawling when I get a bit of time. Glad to see progress is being made with the locomotive anyway, it's looking more and more complete every update!

Richard.

 

Porosity in any casting is a possibility due to the process. It just takes a little of the sand to get into the molten material to create a cavity or impurities in the metal. The issues we have are only minor, mostly on the exhaust passages where the pressure is much lower. The foundry passed us on to a specialist repair company who do similar repair work for the nuclear industry.

The Expansion Links will also be cast. We did explore using forgings, but the costs were astronomically high, around £50,000 for the 6 pieces. This did include machining, but not final grinding of the die block surfaces. The main problem is the shape, a curved body, with a long spigot coming out of the back. To get this shape you need a piece of steel that is long enough to form the spigot, plus large enough to split and then form the curved section. This really needs a large and complicated die, or 6 dies as each part is different, hence the huge cost.

We did consider machining from solid block, but again the costs were stupidly high. Discussion with our VAB, pattern makers and foundry finally settled on casting the blanks and machining. Material grade has been established and they the castings will be subjected to x-ray examination to ensure they are flaw free before machining. Total cost will be around £20,000, so a significant saving from the original quote. I believe the group overhauling West Country, Boscastle at the GCR are having new expansion links made using the same methods. I did discuss what we were doing with them a few months ago.

Kevin West
Chief Engineer
LMS Patriot Project

 

Thanks for clarifying Kev, just hope there's not too many porous reactors about seriously though, any idea what the process entails ?
Andy

 

Many Thanks for your reply Kevin, very informative as usual! Although not an Engineer, I am always fascinated to learn about the processes involved in heavy Engineering. If I hadn't gone out and done a Degree, I could probably have been a time-served engineer by now! Damn!

Richard.

 

Going away from the Fowler tank newbuild in the future and back to the Patriot being built at the moment, here are some new parts made this week. The Brake hangers and sand box necks. The cylinders have returned to Llan and are ready to be fitted in the coming weeks.

 

Out of interest, what are those brake hangers made from?

 

Good to see some leaflets for the project in Port Erin museum earlier. Does that mean you're doing a 2/3 scale version as well to run on 3' track? ;-)

 

Engineering Update - May 2015
Submitted by Kevin West on 5 June, 2015 - 12:33
Locomotive Frame Assembly
Work continues on a number of fronts on the construction of The Unknown Warrior.

The cylinders are back at Llangollen following specialist treatment to cure the minor leakage found on hydraulic testing and are now in the process of being permently fitted to the locomotive frames. The 68 special fitted bolts required for this are in manufacture and will be at Llangollen by the end of next week. There are a number of bolt lengths required as various areas share the same bolts to hold a combination of single cylinder, both cylinders or a cylinder and a Frame Stretcher. The bolts are all manufactured with the shoulder diameter larger that required. The holes are drilled through all parts, then reamed and measured to establish the exact size. The shoulder of the bolt for that hole is then machined in a lathe to be slightly larger by a couple of thousands of an inch (0.002”). The bolt is driven into the hole with the help of a large hammer and held by a nut. This method is used to ensure the cylinders do not move on the frames. Over time if movement is found, it can be corrected by driving out the bolt, reaming the hole slightly larger and fitting a new bolt. The same method has been used on the Axlebox Horn Guides.



The LH cylinder mouning at Llangollen shed. 2nd June 2015. Work is in progress drilling and reaming the fixing holes. This view is one not normally seen as it is taken through the RH Frame where the right Cylinder is normally found. The unpainted area at top left is where the Smokebox mounting stretcher is fitted. Above and behind the cylinder exhaust pipes is where the Smokebox side base pieces fit and to the right the inside cylinder. At the bottom is the fixing holes for the Bogie Centre Pin Casting.



Left hand Cylinder being fitted to the locomotive frames.

Photos – Kevin West

Other work continues on the Frame Assembly as time and work force availability permits. Once again this month Arwell and Chris have been called on to work on the return to traffic of Llangollen Railway based GWR Pannier No 6430, so progress has been slower than expected. Discussions with Llangollen Railway have continued to see if we can obtain grant funding for extra staff for the future.

The volunteer gang continues work on the locomotive frames and Driving Wheels. Work has started on refurbishment of the legacy motion parts acquired from Jubilee class locomotives a couple of years ago.



David Hughes who organizes our volunteer working parties stands with the almost complete locomotive Driving Wheels.

Photo – Gavin Shell



The four leading Sandboxes have been ordered.

Work is continuing on machining various casting related to the valve gear and reversing gear. Design work is continuing on the remaining parts required. A number of parts have been sent out for quotation for patterns and casting.



David Hughes points out something to Chief Engineer Kevin West. The boiler tubes for 7822 Foxcote Manor come in handy as a makeshift office desk for the design computer and some original drawings. – Llangollen Works – 2nd June 2015

Photo – Gavin Shell

Brake System and Lubrication System
The locomotive Brake Cylinder from 8F 48518 was moved to Harco Engineering last month. This has now been stripped and shot blasted ready for refurbishment to start. The Tender Brake cylinder is presently at Rowlescourt Engineering with the tender chassis, but is due to be moved to Harco for refurbishment. Martyn Hughes from Harco Engineering has offered to refurbish both these brake cylinders at no cost to the project for which we are extremely grateful..



Tender Brake Cylinder

Photo – Kevin West

Work is also underway on the design of the lubrication system. As mentioned in last months report, we have the offer of a volunteer who wishes to work on the locomotive for a few weeks this summer. We plan to start the installation of all the copper pipe runs. If anyone wishes to help on this work, even for a few days please contact the project office. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

The lubricators we have for the locomotive are similar to those fitted to the Jubilee class locomotives.The system we will fit to The Unknown Warrior will therefore be based on the Jubilee arrangement.

The Lubricators themselves are under overhaul, the 16 feed cylinder lubricator at the Great Central Railway, Loughborough and the smaller 8 feed lubricator for the axleboxes will be done at Llangollen.

The major change from the original Patriots will be the fitting of atomisers for the cylinder and valve lubrication. The oil from the lubricator pumps is passed into the atomiser and mixed with steam to form a mist which them passes into the cylinder block valve chests and bore. The mist distributes more quickly and evenly than plain oil so help spread the lubrication to all parts of the machinery, reducing wear and friction.

The atomisers and associated fittings have been ordered from Tyseley Locomotive Works, who have the castings in stock.



Pistons, Valves and Motion
Work continues at Llangollen towards fitting the Motion Girders to the Frame Assembly.

Once the Cylinder are finally in place fitting the rear covers and slide bars will progress to completion

The Piston castings will be ordered soon.

Manufacture of the Coupling Rod Bushes and Brasses is expected to start soon at Llangollen.



Connecting Rods being worked on in the shed at Llangollen, 2nd April 205..

Photo – Gavin Shell



David Hughes get down to work on the Motion Girder at Llangollen, 2nd April 205..

Photo – Kevin West

Bogie
Work on assembling the bogie has commenced at Tyseley Locomotives Works. A small amount of remedial work has been required on the Bogie Centre casting, which id due for completion next week. Next stage will be to mount the Frame Plates to the Centre Casting.



The Bogie Frame Assy takes shape at Tyseley Locomotive Works – 2nd June 2015.



The new Bogie Axlebox casting await machining at Tyseley Locomotive Works – 2nd June 2015.

Photos – Kevin West

Machining of the Axle and WheelCenters for the new Bogie Wheelset is underway at Harco Engineering.

Boiler
Work continues on the forming blocks for the outer firebox Steel Flanged plates at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

At LNWR Crewe, the Inner Firebox components are now in the new works at Crewe South, ready for assembly to start, along with the Barrel Rings rolled at Deepdale and the Foundation Ring components. An amount of machining is required on the corners before the sides can be welded on to form the complete part.

The steel Outer Firebox Wrapper sheet order has been deferred until after the steel wrapper sheets have been formed. These will then be measured and the wrapper sheets formed to fit. It is easier to do this than try and adjust either the Wrapper or flanged plates is there is a mismatch.

A meeting has been held with the LNWR Heritage engineers to plan the progress of the boiler build. Delivery has been agreed for the end of 2016 to allow time to fit to the locomotive frames ahead of a first steaming in the second half of 2017.

Tender
Work on the refurbishment on the Tender Frames continues at Rowlescourt Engineering. As reported last month it was decided to replace the original Rear Dragbox with a new fabricated unit. This has now been completed.

Following on from this, cad data and drawings were prepared for the Front Dragbox Assembly and also the remaining parts required for the Frame refurbishment. These have now been passed to Rowlescourt and manufacture of parts is continuing.



Rear Dragbox Assembly.

Photo – Rowlescourt Engineering

The design for the new tender tank has been progressing when time allows.

 

The Brake Hangers are cast steel.

 

Great progress as usual Kev, only sorry I can't be there on the 27th to see her up close hopefully next year ! as old Mr Grace would say 'Well done everybody'

Andy

 

You can put it in the proper place alot sooner..... when the smokebox goes back on.... but the engine wont be moving haha.

 

I was wondering who brought the headboard down. I was in Pentrefelyn doing a bit on my brake van.

 

Engineering Report - June 2015
Submitted by Kevin West on 2 July, 2015 - 18:14
Locomotive Frame Assembly
Work continues on a number of fronts on the construction of The Unknown Warrior.

The major work at present is the permanent fitting of the cylinders to the locomotive frame assembly.

The sixty eight special fitted bolts have been delivered to Llangollen and work is underway. There are 5 different lengths of shoulder, depending on which components the bolts are holding. There are different combinations of cylinders, stretchers and bogie mounting to consider. The shoulder on the bolts as supplied are slightly over size to allow them to be turned to the exact size required on assembly.



One of the Fitted Bolts as supplied – Photo-JordanLeeds

Each hole in drilled and then reamed to the desired size, the hole is them measured and the bolt is taken into the machine shop, where the shoulder is turned to 2 to 3 thousands of an inch (0.002” - 0.003”) larger than the hole. The bolt is then driven into the hole and fastened with a washer and nut. Each bolt costs £55 each and when you add the costs of the time taken to machine and fit plus the washer and bolt, the total cost to fit just one bolt is approaching £100. That’s £6800 just to bolt the cylinders to the frames.

If anyone wishes to sponsor the fitting of one (or more) of these bolts at £100 each, please contact the project office or you can find details of how to donate on the sponsorship page.

http://www.lms-patriot.org.uk/sponsorship

The four leading Sandboxes are under construction and will be fitted on arrival at Llangollen.

Brake System and Lubrication System
The locomotive Brake Cylinder from 8F 48518 is under refurbishment by Harco Engineering. The Tender Brake cylinder will join it soon.Martyn Hughesfrom Harco Engineering has offered to refurbish both these brake cylinders at no cost to the project for which we are extremely grateful..

Work continues on the design of the lubrication system.

Unfortunately, the offer from a member to work on the locomotive for a few weeks this summer has fallen through. We are hoping that it may be possible to re-schedule this for sometime later in the year, to make a start on the installation of all the copper pipe runs. If anyone else would like to help on this work, even for a few days please contact the project office. We will then be able to tie up the details and make the greatest benefit for the locomotive. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

The Braking system fitted to the locomotive will be similar to that carried by the Jubilee class locomotives. The reasons behind this is that there are no surviving detail drawings of the original crossbeams and pull rods, where as there are several surviving Jubilee class locomotives whose details we can copy. Also we are following up on the possible availability of some spare crossbeams and pull rod parts from a Stanier 8F class2-8-0which used the same parts. Acquisition of these will be a great saving on time and cost over making new, if their condition is good enough to use.



Cad image of the locomotive brake gear.

Pistons, Valves and Motion
At Llangollen, following the fitting of the cylinders, work will continue fitting the motion parts. These include the Motion Brackets, Rear Cylinder Covers, Slide Bars and Motion Girders.



Cylinder & Valve Covers at Llangollen – Photo- Gavin Shell

Manufacture of the Coupling Rod Bushes and Brasses continues at Llangollen Railway Engineering.

The refurbishment of the legacy motion parts is continuing by the volunteer gang at Llangollen. Many hours have been spent on mainly hand work to clean off the years of pitting and corrosion. The new Connection rod is also receiving some attention to polish out the machining marks. Once again if anyone is interested in getting hands on with the Unknown Warrior, if only for a few days, please contact the office.

Bogie
Assembly of the bogie continues apace at Tyseley Locomotives Works. The Bogie Centre casting returned from the remedial machining and has been temporarily mounted into the frame assembly. The Horn Guides have also had the final machining completed and are now ready for mounting on the frames. The fitted bolts for this have been manufactured.

Machining of the Axleboxes is underway and manufacture of the pins and fixings is complete.



Bogie Frame under assembly at Tyseley Locomotive Works



Axlebox machining underway at Tyseley

Photos – Kevin West

Machining of the Axle and WheelCentersfor the new Bogie Wheelset has been completed at Harco Engineering and the parts were delivered to South Devon Railway Engineering for assembly on 29th May.



Axle for the new Bogie Wheelset at Harco Engineering following machining.

Photo – Kevin West



Bogie Wheel being machined at Harco Engineering.

Photo – Harco Engineering



Bogie bolsters after machining at Harco Engineering.

Photo – Kevin West


The tyres are on order and should be delivered in early September. They then need machining, fitting to the wheelset and finally the profile can be turned. This is planned for completion by the beginning of October.

Boiler
Work continues on the forming blocks for the outer firebox Steel Flanged plates at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

At LNWR Crewe, the Inner Firebox components are now in the new works at Crewe South, ready for assembly to start, along with the Barrel Rings rolled at Deepdale and the Foundation Ring components. An amount of machining is required on the corners before the sides can be welded on to form the complete part.

The steel Outer Firebox Wrapper sheet order has been deferred until after the steel wrapper sheets have been formed. These will then be measured and the wrapper sheets formed to fit. It is easier to do this than try and adjust either the Wrapper or flanged plates is there is a mismatch.

A meeting has been held with the LNWR Heritage engineers to plan the progress of the boiler build. Delivery has been agreed for the end of 2016 to allow time to fit to the locomotive frames ahead of a first steaming in the second half of 2017.

Tender
Work on the refurbishment on the Tender Frames continues at Rowlescourt Engineering. The new Rear Dragbox is ready to be fitted into the refurbished Frames.

Work on the Front Dragbox Assembly and the remaining parts required for the Frame refurbishment continues.

The design for the new tender tank has been progressing when time allows.



Future work planning
Planning the work schedule to complete the locomotive build is a major part of the project at present. Throughout the build we are looking to use the best engineers and centers for each stage. This autumn will see significant work completed on the locomotive, which due to the logistics of moving staff and equiptment, is not desirable to undertake at Llangollen. We have also received an invitation for The Unknown Warrior to attend the Barrow Hill 65 commemoration event at the end of September. So we have formulated a plan.



The Unknown Warrior will leave Llangollen in late September and move to Barrow Hill for display on 25th – 27th September at the Barrow Hill 65 event. This is a major gathering ofLMS motive power, with representatives of almost all formerLMS classes still in existence in attendance. Although the locomotive has been displayed at The Warley model railway show in 2013 and The Great Dorset Steam Fair last year, this will be the first railway enthusiast event The Unknown Warrior will have attended.



We are very grateful to Allelys Heavy Haulage, who have kindly sponsored the locomotive movement costs from Llangollen to Barrow Hill.






The Unknown Warrior being moved from Tyseley to Llangollen By Alleleys July 2014


Photo – Kevin West


The following week The Unknown Warrior will move to Tyseley Locomotive Works to have the Cylinder and Valve Liners fitted.



The Bogie which is being assembled at Tyseley will also be fitted following its completion, before the locomotive returns to Llangollen in early November. The Unknown Warrior will be on display at the Tyseley Locomotive Works Open Day at the end of October.

 

A small picture update from last week. The new bogie wheelset coming together down at the SDR.

 

Engineering Report - August 2015
Submitted by Kevin West on 9 September, 2015 - 17:37
Locomotive Frame Assembly
Work continues on a number of fronts on the construction of The Unknown Warrior.

The major work of permanent fitting the cylinders to the locomotive has been completed.



RH Motion Bracket with Bottom Slide Bar in place being drilled – Photo:- Gavin Shell

This work has also involved fitting the related Motion Brackets, Motion Girders and Frame Stretchers. This has involved a lot of measurement, checking positions to ensure the parts are correctly located.



Chris Collins work on fitting the RH Motion Girder – Photo:- Kevin West

As part of the ongoing design work it was found the Motion Brackets, Rear Motion Girder Support and Boiler Expansion Bracket on the left side of the locomotive required holes and slots adding. These are for various rod runs for the mechanical lubricator drives and Drain Cock operating gear to pass through. These details were not shown on of the original drawings, but are evident on related Jubilee and Royal Scot locomotives.

Work is also progressing on the drawings for the Drain Cock operation gear andLubricator Drivesystems. The Drain Cock Gear alone totals 168 individual components.

The four leading Sandboxes have been manufactured and will be delivered to Llangollen this week ready for painting before they are fitted to the chassis.

The locomotive is scheduled to be re-wheeled and have the Smokebox and Deflectors refitted early next week prior to moving to Barrow Hill for the gala on 25th to 27th September.



L&NWR Loco Dept jack being used to position the RH Motion Girder – Photo:- Kevin West

Away from physical work on the locomotive, recent searches of the drawing archives at theNationalRailwayMuseum,Yorkhave turned up another 100 drawings that are either original Patriot drawings or from related locomotives that can be used for the build of The Unknown Warrior.

Then followed a trip to view the North British Locomotive Co drawing archives, held atGlasgowUniversity. The North British Locomotive Co build the first 50 Royal Scot class locomotives and there are many parts of the original Royal Scots that are either the same on the Patriots or very similar. Another 55 drawings were discovered that will aid the construction of The Unknown Warrior.



55 Royal Scot drawings identified at GlasgowUniversity. – Photo:- Sam Maddra/Glasgow University

Brake System and Lubrication System
Refurbishment of the Locomotive & Tender Brake Cylinders from 8F 48518 continues at Harco Engineering.

Design work continues for the lubrication system. The mechanical Lubricator under overhaul at the Great Central Railway, Loughborough is progressing well. It was purchased as a set of parts to overhaul and build up as a complete unit, but the new body cast in aluminum provided by the supplier is not proving to be as robust as expected. A new body and lid will be cast in steel in the next month.



Mechanical Lubricator under overhaul – Photo:- Kevin West

Design work for the lubrication pipework runs, fittings and clips continues.

As mentioned in the last report, the Braking system fitted to the locomotive will be similar to that carried by the Jubilee class locomotives. The Stanier 8F class2-8-0parts which we had hoped were available have unfortunately been sold to another locomotive group. Therefore the Brake gear for The Unknown Warrior will be all new manufacture. CAD work is completed following measuring up the parts from Jubilee classBahamasat Tyseley Locomotive Works. We now have also located the original brake gear drawing for the Royal Scot class. Once we have a copy of the drawing to hand they will be compared to the data taken fromBahamasbefore data is sent out for quotation for manufacture.

The Brake Hangers have been cast and await machining.



MechBrake Hanger castings– Photo:- Kevin West

Pistons, Valves and Motion
Following the fitting of the cylinders and Motion Brackets, work has continue fitting the motion parts. These include the Front and Rear Cylinder Covers and Slide Bars. Drawings for the Slide Bar Bolts have been completed and sent to Llangollen for manufacture.





Front & Rear Valve Covers trial fitted. Photo – Kevin West

Llangollen Railway Engineering are also progressing the manufacture of the Coupling Rod Bushes and Brasses.

Quotations for machining the recently cast Expansion Links are being obtained.

The refurbishment of the legacy motion parts is continuing by the volunteer gang at Llangollen. Many hours have been spent on mainly hand work to clean off the years of pitting and corrosion. The new Connection rod is also receiving some attention to polish out the machining marks. Once again if anyone is interested in getting hands on with the Unknown Warrior, if only for a few days, please contact the office.



Coupling Rods showing refurbishment in progress. Photo – Kevin West



Connecting Rods. Original from Jubilee Achilies on left. New rod on right. Photo – Kevin West



Drawings for the Valve and Cylinder Liners have been prepared and sent for quotation for castings.

Bogie
Assembly of the bogie continues apace at Tyseley Locomotives Works. The Bogie Centre and Horn Guides have been fitted to the frame assembly. The Spring Beams have been trial fitted.





The Bogie Frame Assembly under assembly at Tyseley Locomotive Works. Photos – Tyseley Locomotive Works

Final machining of the Axleboxes for the new wheelset is waiting for a dimension from South Devon Engineering following final machining of the assembled wheelset. This is due to be completed this week.

Machining of the Axle and WheelCentersfor the new Bogie Wheelset has been completed at Harco Engineering and the parts were delivered to South Devon Railway Engineering for assembly on 29th May.

The tyres were delivered to South Devon Engineering on 25th August. They need machining before fitting to the wheelset. This is due to be completed in mid September after which they will be transferred to Tyseley for final tyre profiling along with the wheelset from 48518.



Bogie Tyres Photo – Gavin Shell

The Bogie is due for completion in mid October for fitting to the locomotive chassis.

Boiler
Work continues on the forming blocks for the outer firebox Steel Flanged plates at Tyseley Locomotive Works. The Doorplate block has been cast .

At LNWR Crewe, the Inner Firebox Crown and side sheets are being prepared for welding prior to a start being made on assembling to the door and throat plates. A start on riveting the 2 barrel rings is expected soon and the Foundation Ring components will be sent away for machining before welding in the side sections.



Foundation Ring Corners before final machining. Photo – Kevin West

The steel Outer Firebox Wrapper sheet order has been deferred until after the steel wrapper sheets have been formed. These will then be measured and the wrapper sheets formed to fit. It is easier to do this than try and adjust either the Wrapper or flanged plates is there is a mismatch.

A further meeting has been held with the LNWR Heritage engineers to plan the boiler build up to completion in December 2016.

The original regulator and J Pipe from 8F 48518 has been obtained for use on The Unknown Warrior.



Regulator from 8F 48518. Photo – Kevin West

Tender
Work on the refurbishment on the Tender Frames continues at Rowlescourt Engineering.

The new front sections of the outer frames have been profiled and tacked into place ahead of final welding. The Inner Frames have been replaced completely following removal of the rear dragbox, which had several wasted plates that required replacement. Completely new welded dragboxes for both front and back have been assembled and wait for machining before they are installed in the frame assembly.



Tender Frames showing new section of Main Frames ready to be welded in position. Also note the new Inner Frames. Photo - Kevin West


Discussions are underway to decide if the final riveting will be done at Rowlescourt or back at Llangollen when the frames return in the new year.

Design work on the new tank which will be of welded construction with dummy rivets is continuing taking into consideration the requirements for new main line running regulations. When complete, which is expected to be by Mid Summer 2016, it will be finished in the livery which will be chosen by the project’s membership.

A start has been made on repair of two of the Tender Axleboxes. During their time in Barry scrapyard, the tenders were subjected to removal of the bronze bearings. This was sometimes achieved by smashing off the outer Axlebox Cover with a sledge hammer, rather than unbolting it. Two of the axleboxes we have were subjected to this and sustained damage in the process. One had just lost the ears that the fixing bolt was fitted to, but the other had lost a complete section from the base. These castings have now been restored by specialist Cast Iron welding by Shilton Cast Iron & Welding, of Hinkley.



Bogie Axlebox before repair showing missing section.



Repair underway.



Cast Iron Welding.



Bogie Axleboxes after repair. Photos – Oakwood Visuals

The Bogie Wheelsets are at Llangollen. A number of areas require welding to repair voids in the castings. This work is planned to be completed very shortly. Painting of the unaffected areas in underway. The journals andTyreprofiles were restored at Tyseley Locomotive works in 2012.



Bogie Wheelsets being painted at Llangollen. Photo – Kevin West

We have acquired a set of Axlebox Covers for use on the Tender from the Stanier Mogul Fund.



Axlebox Cover. Photo – Stanier Mogul Fund

Future work planning
The Unknown Warrior will leave Llangollen in late September and move to Barrow Hill for display on 25th – 27th September at the Barrow Hill 65 event.



We are very grateful to Alleleys Heavy Haulage, who have kindly sponsored the locomotive movement costs from Llangollen to Barrow Hill.



The following week The Unknown Warrior will move to Tyseley Locomotive Works to have the Cylinder and Valve Liners fitted.



The Bogie which is being assembled at Tyseley will also be fitted following its completion, before the locomotive returns to Llangollen in early November. The Unknown Warrior will be on display at the Tyseley Locomotive Works Open Day at the end of October.

 

That my friends, is one hell of a Locomotive Report, astounding progress...
Many thanks
Andy

 

I was meaning to get a picture of that when i walked past it last weekend. Quite apt I thought.

 

Fantastic progress and many thanks for taking the time to post the photos and detailed description here.

A question for the team, if I may? Are new drawings being created as you go to replace any missing ones and to correct items missing on the originals (such as the lubrication slots on the motion bracket, motion girder, boiler supports mentioned in your report) so that, if required another Patriot could be built with minimal problems?


Keith