Overhaul update
Work is ongoing with the axleboxes, and new white metal is poured on to the brasses within the boxes, formers being arranged to place the molten metal where needed, and is here cooling.
The six coupled axleboxes complete with the correct underkeeps stand in the machine shop, ready to have the white metal turned down to the correct size to suit its particular axlebox journal.
A close up of two of the boxes, with the side faces already machined to its particular horn cheek face.
The coupled wheels, with their journals cleaned to allow accurate measurement of the individual dimensions and, of course, ready to receive the boxes when done.
Likewise, each crankpin has been cleaned so its diameter can be accurately measured, and the bushes turned to suit.
This is the left hand leading coupling rod, on the table to have the eye for the gradient pin, which allows flexibility in the vertical plane between the leading and trailing rods, to be machined circular. The pins themselves are to the right on top of the rod; left are various coupling and connecting rod bushes; the thin brass ones are oiling rings and control side play.
The other three coupling rods have already been dealt with and are stored adjacent to the tender.
Other work in progress includes painting of detail parts prior to fitment. Why the spanner is marked as 2968 is unknown.
Amongst these parts is the sanding gear. Each pipe assembly will be stripped to its component parts, cleaned, painted and stored, labelled for location. They cannot be fitted until the engine is back on its wheels.
The steam brake cylinder is back in its place, the correct way around this time! It has also been connected up to its bellcrank lever.
A big achievement by the Fund’s working party is to identify and fit the boiler feed, steam heat and vacuum pipes, and the last piece that can go on before the engine comes off the jacks is the front vacuum pipe. It’s difficult to see a shiny black pipe against shiny black frames but it appears dropping vertically ahead of the steam chest, carries on forwards below the angle for the running plate before a drop down and through the buffer beam brackets. Note the bends in these, which should be straight, and are a memento of a heavy shunt in BR days.
Some of the pipes in course of painting; the finished black one on the ground is the front end vacuum pipe mentioned above and prior to fitting. Note that the frames are now in gloss black.
The driver’s side GWR-type injector and its multiplicity of pipework. The separate water valve has involved the relocation of the control mechanism, the vertical rod for which now appears from the top of the photo.
Which means that the control handle in the cab has moved from the back corner to below the driver’s seat, the frame of which is temporarily on the cabside to check clearances. The vertical copper pipe, right, will be the new steam supply pipe to the injector.
On the tender, the handbrake stanchion is back in place and connected to the brake linkage. The working party also removed the oil pipe to the brake cylinder, annealed and refitted it, so the tender now is fully braked.
The intermediate tender buffers, painting in progress before these too are refitted.
In the boiler shop, the boiler has been rotated 180 degrees and now rests on its right hand side to allow the same work previously done to the other side to be repeated.
The rear of the inner copper side sheet, giving a clear impression of how the groove has been ground out prior to being built up by copper welding.