Gala News

August 2010 Working Weekend

2010-08-28T14:36:00.000+01:00

Whilst Llangollen Railway was hosted the Thomas the Tank Engine specials, a number of 6880 members were busy working away in the C&W sheds. The aim of this working weekend was to prepare our recently purchased box van for outside storage, as at present it is not in the best of condition. The Van was moved down from the loco shed to Pentrefelin Shed by Quentin and Graham Hoyland during the previous week.

On Saturday Mick, Jeff and Q started by removing all the remains of the old roof canvas. There were numerous old nails to be removed before the roof boards were ready to be sanded down. Two boards had sprung and required coach bolts to pull them back down. Once the roof had been sanded, a sealant was applied.

The two sliding doors required repairs. A new set of T&G boards were cut and fitted to replace a poor set on one door. The frame on the other door required two new main timbers. The same gang, now assisted by Richy P and myself fresh from Thomas duties, and Hank, did this on Sunday. Due to the joints this proved a lengthy job but was completed by the end of Sunday. Further vertical planks were replaced and a start on sanding the remaining planks down prior to painting was made.

Next working weekend we plan to fit a new roof canvas and make a start on painting the exterior and fitting of shelves inside.

Below is a brief history of this van, courtesy of Steve Best from Preserved Railway Stocklist. http://www.preservedrailwaystocklist.org.uk/

Box Van 30454 was purpose built for the MOD by Chas Roberts in 1940, and is loosely based on a LNER diagram 094 box van. 30454 is its ROF Glascoed ID number, & wouldn't have had a 'M' pref. They were also 10t not 13t as in your photo. It was registered by the GWR in the 85xxx range as all privately owned wagons, MOD included, were registered by one of the main operators in pre nat days and later by BR. The registration would have been plated on the frame. These were not the running number the owners applied. In 1994 the Van was purchased by a Mr Mimms and it moved to the Dean Forest Railway, where it was used as a stores van. The 6880 Society recently bought the wagon from Mr Mimms and intend to use it for storing all the parts for 6880 that they have acquired over the last few years.

Jon

Newsletter Summer 2010

2010-08-07T16:47:00.000+01:00

Now available for download, Newsletter 14. (3mb PDF file).

All the latest progress on 6880, membership news and the purchase of 5952 Cogan Hall.

Cogan Hall at Llangollen

2010-05-04T00:30:00.000+01:00

5952 Cogan Hall is now at Llangollen, and we have added a page for the Hall on the site.

Progress Update, April 2010

2010-04-25T23:26:00.000+01:00

[caption id="attachment_673" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dragbox and Step. Photo, Mick Prior."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_688" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Fitted Cab Step. Photo Mick Prior."][/caption]

We have now had all the riveting completed to attach the cab steps to the main frame, and the completed the fitting of the rear dragbox, rear bufferbeam and buffer plates including the riveting. 6880 volunteers have marked up and drilled out all the holes over the last 12 months.

[caption id="attachment_674" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Front saddle. Photo, Mick Prior."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_689" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Fitted Saddle. Photo Ashley Broomhall"][/caption]

The saddle plate has also been successfully riveted into place after being built and marked out by Ian Massey last summer. 6880 now awaits the arrival of the extension frames which will be riveted in front of the saddle. It is hoped for these will arrive later this year.

Jonathan Kerr, 25th April 2010.

5952 Cogan Hall

2010-02-02T23:00:00.000Z

The Board of 6880 Betton Grange (Society) Ltd are pleased to announce that they have been successful in purchasing 5952 Cogan Hall together with a substantial amount of spare parts. This is a strategic decision which will substantially reduce the time and cost of constructing Betton Grange.

In the medium term we propose to refurbish the bogie and later tender from Cogan Hall for use with 6880. The cost of a new bogie alone would be in excess of the purchase price for 5952. In addition the time required to refurbish the existing bogie will be substantially less than manufacturing and assembling from new. Refurbishing the existing bogie will also assist in providing information and experience necessary to construct a new bogie for Cogan Hall in the longer term.

We must stress that we do not propose to dismantle Cogan Hall to provide parts for 6880 or any other projects. The longer term desire is to restore Cogan Hall in its own right. This will be subject to separate fund raising. There has already been significant interest expressed by several of Betton Granges supporters in restoring 5952 by once 6880 is completed.

We must record our thanks to the Board of the Llangollen Railway for their agreement in allowing Cogan Hall to be moved to the railway. It is expected that 5952 will be moved to the Llangollen Railway before the Spring Gala 23rd to 25th April.

With regard to 6880 significant progress is being by Dave Owen’s team in completing the riveting of the dragbox and progressing with the horn guides. In addition the patterns for spring hanger brackets have been made and the brackets cast. The curved foot framing which will be fitted below the cab has been manufactured.

The Society is indebted to Pete Simpson from the Severn Valley Railway, for producing drawings for the new extension frames. Costs are currently being obtained for their manufacture. It is anticipated that an order will be placed for the extension frames before the summer.

Membership Options

2010-01-10T13:10:00.000Z

We now have three membership options:
Foundation, City and Express.

The sign-up page has been updated to show the features/benefits of the three schemes.

Please take a look.

Don’t forget you can help the Betton Grange Society by making your online purchases through our
webshop.

Newsletter 13 (Autumn 2009)

2009-12-19T16:26:00.000Z

Now available for download, Newsletter 13.

All the latest progress on 6880, and future plans.

AGM and Members Day

2009-10-04T11:04:00.000+01:00

The 6th Annual General Meeting will take place on Saturday 10th October at 11 am in the Henry Robertson Suite at Llangollen station.

We would like to encourage as many members as possible to attend this year. We will be explaining our plans for the next year which should see significant progress being made with the construction of 6880 Betton Grange. There will be opportunities both before, and after the meeting, for all members to visit the locomotive works to view the work in progress.

We have arranged for the Great Western Engineers Saloon to be attached to the Llangollen Railway service trains on the day exclusively for our use. Members are invited to join us on either the 13:00 or 15:00 departure from Llangollen.

Our sales stand will be open with our full range of merchandise.

Progress Update, August 2009

2009-08-16T13:02:00.000+01:00

6880 news

Well it’s been a while....

But at last we seem to be out of the coma called the "Steel Steam & Stars II aftermath" it is time to get back into the groove, namely building 6880. We will again be spending time adding to what has been built so far.

There will be a full gala report in the next newsletter, and a web update, but I can say, yes it was successful, yes it raised a significant amount of money and without doubt raised the profile of Betton Grange and Llangollen Railway even further. The downside is lack of real progress on the construction of 6880 due to the Gala taking up so much time, but now we are in possession of a healthy bank account we can now make some progress, as I will now explain;

We are in the process of placing orders with Llangollen engineering to:

Fit the dragbox permanently along with the back buffer beam, rubbing plates and the two pressed steel brackets. This will all be riveted, but all the parts have been trial fitted and drilled.
Fit all the Hornguides, Hornties, rear stretcher tie bolts, pins etc to the requires standards.

The extension frame drawing has now been finalised by Pete Simpson. Discussions are due to take place on methods of construction during the next few days. The original was a forging, and to adhere to the original it is is the correct method, but at a cost. Cutting it out of high-grade steel and fabrication may be a better present day alternative.

As soon as we have a clear path on the best route the order will be placed, but to assist with the speed of construction most of the components that fit round the extension frames have already been made or are about to be ordered.

We are putting together an order with Angle Ring in Tipton for all the curved sections of footplate angle (eight in all), also the last two pressings for the front dragbox. There are also a few other components on the list.

With a bit of luck we should have enough cash to finish the frames front to back, albeit without wheels cylinders or bogie.

Not a bad achievement considering it is ALL new.

As mentioned a while back now the NRM has given up all its drawing secrets we are in a much better position to be able to order what we need, when we need it, something that was not always possible even a short time ago.

We are looking to step up the progress at the working weekends as there is much input we can now make. No doubt I will be cracking the whip and requesting sick notes for lack of attendance!

The last working weekends have seen the cab dismantled as it is now in the way and needs to be in dismantled in order to be fitted. There is quite a bit of preparation work ready for September.

[caption id="attachment_591" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Working on the cab"][/caption]

The sales and promotion stand is visiting the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry Great Garret Gathering, with Quentin, Phil Macey, Jon Kerr, Mick, Emma, Richard Cadge and myself. There is also a planned Members Weekend on October the 10th, more details to be announced as we put this together.

[caption id="attachment_592" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Sales Stand"][/caption]

I hope this post addresses the balance of news, without a Gala to plan, run, and organise it leaves us with time to concentrate on what this project is all about, building the 81st Grange

Thanks for you patience and support.

Will Naylor

Gala DVD now available

2009-05-16T20:26:00.000+01:00

The Gala DVD is now available and can be ordered from Belhurst Productions via www.steam-railway-videos.co.uk, or through our shop.

The dvd has 4hr 45mins of footage! It consists of 2 main discs and a bonus disc and it is narrated by Danny Hopkins, editor of Steam Railway magazine.

Newsletter 12

2009-05-10T20:19:00.000+01:00

Now available for download, Newsletter 12.

Contains a Gala preview and all the latest progress on 6880.

Website News

2009-05-10T19:36:00.000+01:00

With the Gala now behind us I'm concentrating on our web presence. The old site had become a little stagnant, so once again we are moving format to what I hope will become more of a community effort.

Please bear with us while the changes are happening, and please let us know if there is anything you want to see on the site, or if you want to contribute.

May Online Offers

2009-05-10T00:11:00.000+01:00

Don't forget that you can help us by making your online purchases through our webshop. Please remember to use this link whenever you are buying online.

For this months special offers, please click this link.
Don’t forget you can help the Betton Grange Society by making your online purchases through our
webshop.

February News

2009-02-04T23:06:00.000Z

6880

[caption id="attachment_686" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Bolts. Photo Will Naylor"][/caption]

The first of new parts arriving ready for the 21st - 22nd of Feb's working weekend are the nuts and bolts to fit the brake hangar brackets.
They have been made by Premier Engineering in Southport from drawings by Keith Gilbert of the 1014 County Project at Didcot, the brackets also supplied by Didcot have had counter bores put in the back of them so collar studs can be fitted.....all a bit technical I know, but that is the way with this sort of project. After fitment the next part to consider manufacturing will be the brake hangars themselves.

A second visit to the NRM at York took place on the weekend of the 24th - 25th of Jan, first time visitors were Quentin and Peter Thomas. I think Quentin was taken aback by the enormity of the task and was surprised just how disorganised the Great Western drawings collection is, but after the weekend we reckoned we were over two thirds of the way through. We have found some more drawings relevant to 6880, one being the cab and splasher drawing, and the other for the rocking arms. Our next planned visit will be during May.

Most of the side brackets which hold the footplate angle in place are now in the process of being machined and should be ready for the working weekend.

I took a trip to Microform near Wakefield who specalise in data capture and they copied seven microfilm aquired from Ted Lacey who is in charge of Didcot’s drawings. The films were scanned and blown up into 1/4 sections providing us with readable dimensions and we have found that what was supplied by Ted was about 95% legible.

Our bogie wheels are now at the South Devon Railway where they will be tested for any cracks and flaws in the axles, and if sound then the next step will be have new tyres fitted.

5199

After a reported 73 steamings and 100% reliablity in traffic, with only a few small jobs needing attention, 5199 has flown the flag for team and the Llangollen Railway while out earning her next overhaul. She has proved to be an excellent performer in traffic and has now departed from the Bluebell Railway and is now a little closer to home at the Churnet Valley Railway.

Will Naylor.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T22:41:00.000Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM 6880
News just in..

The image above shows 8 pressed steel brackets which support the footplate, the two bigger ones brace the saddle plate which holds the rocking arm brackets in place. I have been preparing them by welding up the folds and as of the 31st of December 2008 are in the machine shop with an estimated completion date for early Feb.

The first set of drawings from the NRM are due to arrive next week and these will include the cylinder drawings. I am off to Wakefield on Monday 5th Jan to copy 7 microfiche drawings in attempt to have more readable drawings, there are just a few dimensions that could be clearer.

Next weekend I should be down at the Bluebell Railway preparing 5199 for her trip back up North to the Churnet Valley Railway.

Will Naylor.

Cylinder Drawings Found!

2008-12-19T22:50:00.000Z

Since the decision was taken to press ahead with the building of 6880 all those years ago (yes it does seem along time ago) the key component to any new build project has been the drawings, without which you either have to make new or best guess.

The best guess route is really not an option when building a new Grange, even with Swindon’s reputation for standardisation. It has been known for a while that we have appealed for the whereabouts of the missing cylinder drawings for the 6800 class over the last few years, all to no avail.

The NRM has been a bit of a closed shop due to lack of available facilities over the years – the Swindon collection was simply too large and too disorganised to be dealt with by the existing staff in the limited space available, and the logistical challenge of uniting a GWR team and the NRM archives staff over hundreds of miles was one that took time to overcome. So since we started this project we always found ourselves frustrated in the knowledge that ex-Swindon drawings did exist at the NRM, just what and how many we could never find out.

Thanks to massive amounts of investment and a new direction to collate and make available information with Search Engine the NRM has made available to us the Swindon Drawing collection. The reason for this is plain and simple, time and money. The NRM needed a large expert volunteer team to assess and summarise the contents of the Swindon archive to make it available through Search Engine, while the 6880 team needed to find key drawings. A working weekend with mutually beneficial aims was duly organised!

An initial inspection of the task ahead, as shown to us by NRM archivist Tim Procter, revealed the enormity of the task, over 600 boxes of two different sizes with an estimated 6000 plus drawings; we were under no illusion that it would not be a quick job.

So armed with all the paperwork a National Museum requires, we stepped up to the challenge with representatives from the GWS Didcot looking for drawings for 1014 and 2999 and the 68 boys looking for.... well 6800 drawings. The team of eight commenced battle on the 29th of November.

Cylinder drawings found at the NRM.

Left to right, Ian Massey, Ian Carpenter, Max Trench, Alan Naylor, Will Naylor, Mick Prior, Mike Cooper and Ron Hows with the newly uncovered cylinder drawings.

It was like opening Pandora’s Box on the once known to be very secretive Swindon Drawing office, throughout the day it was a series of finds from Gooch to Hawksworth, the Taff vale and Rhymney to the Broad gauge of the Bristol and Exeter Railway. We concentrated on the locomotive drawings leaving the carriage and wagon for another gang to take care of.

Come Sunday we starting to think, maybe just maybe those cylinder drawings weren’t there after all. Then on the table that seemed to produce the best results, they appeared in a roll of drawings around Castles and Kings in excellent condition as drawing number 106875 DEC 1935. Any doubts as to what was going to drive 6880 had gone, the information was there, found by Ian Massey and Mick Prior of the 6880 Betton Grange Society.

Anyone who stuck their nose into the room at that moment would not have thought it was in any way connected with a Museum/library; to say we were happy would be an understatement more like ecstatic so with renewed hope we set out to see what else we could find. Unfortunately the NRM staff in attendance, Tim and Peter, had headed to the store to get another load of boxes, so they missed the happy moment!

A brief list of what I remember goes something like this:

Drawing for a fire bucket.
Drawing for display stand at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition.
Drawing for the Swindon test plant.
Wheel for Broad Gauge Lord of the Isles.
Outline drawing for Churchward’s proposed standard locomotives (remember the Grange specification was set out in this plan).
Boiler for number 111 The Great Bear.
County 460 as originally numbered 9900.
ARP protection hats ?

By the end of play on Sunday we were all more than happy with our finds, although a little tired and all facing a long drive home.

So I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to the NRM for retaining what is left of the products of the Swindon drawing office. We are in no doubt that this visit will pay dividends in the future and not just for 6880 1014 and 2999 we will soon be in the position to know exactly what has survived and where it is, something that has been asked since the end of Western Steam in 1965.

A big thanks to Tim Procter and his colleagues at the National Railway Museum for moving ahead with this most worthwhile project; we are all looking forward to returning next year. After all, this is the first part of the first stage of the task – to create an overall summary of the contents of the Swindon locomotive archive, to flag up conservation issues such as Swindon’s extensive use of fragile tracing paper, and to identify which rolls of drawings need priority detailed attention. We’ve opened the box, but it’ll be a long time before we reach the bottom!

The 6880 Society, Great Western Society and Tim Procter from the NRM

Newsletter 11; Autumn 2008

2008-12-06T13:48:00.000Z

Now available online, our latest newsletter in a web optimised PDF format.

Sorry for the delays in producing this newsletter, but I think we cover the reasons for this in the publication, along with all the latest progress news, and plenty of information about the upcoming Gala.

6880 AGM

2008-10-19T16:00:00.000+01:00

The 6880 AGM has been postponed until the 9th of November.

We will announce the details of time and venue nearer to the date.

Apologies for this late change.

Gala Website

2008-08-22T00:00:00.002+01:00

The Gala website is now live.

All the Gala news and info will be available on this link.

Working Week News

2008-06-27T13:25:00.000+01:00

6880

Well I am pleased to report that 6880 continues to grow with more and more parts being added (I can see this line being used for many years to come).

Over the four days of 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd of June, we achived all we had set out to do. The team included: Quentin McGuinness, Ian Massey, Max Trench, Richard Pumphrey, Ashley Broomhall, Jon Kerr, and myself. We also had a helping hand from a possible new member, Richard Vanstone.

Without a doubt the 'man of the week' award goes to Ian Massey who seemed to be very persuasive when coaxing 15mm by 90mm metal bar around 90 degree bends with the biggest blowtorch you have ever seen. Well done Ian for all your help.

Richard and Mick seemed to be playing a game involving the magnetic drill and rota broach cutters, seeing how long each cutter would last. I am pleased to say we only had one break, and that was with just under 200 holes drilled. Again well done guys, but I assure you there are plenty more holes to be drilled!

The result of our labours were both rubbing plates (where the tender buffers against the engine) fitted, rear buffer beam fully fitted, with slots cut out. Front saddle plate fitted, saddle plate angle fabricated, four angles cut and fitted below cab, and four other angles fitted to hold the buffer beam and saddle plate.

Ashley took charge of cleaning a collection second-hand parts we have acquired, some which will be fitted in due course.

John and Quentin spent time on working out the gala timetable, a thankless task which will not really make sense until next year.

Another thing of note was a visit by Paul Appleton who works for Ian Allan publishing (Hornby Magazine and Railway Illustrated are just two of the many titles they are involved with). Paul brought many good ideas and views to the table and he decided to sign up for 6880, with the possibility of becoming more involved.

The visit to the MEN Arena in Manchester to have ours ears blown by Whitesnake and Def Leppard was also a great night out.

The next set of working dates have now been published. This now takes us up to 2009.

Regards.

Will

June Update

2008-06-03T08:08:00.000+01:00

6880

Good progress was made this weekend, 31st May - 1st June, despite a small team consisting of Quentin, Max, Richard, John Kerr, Steve Rodenhurst and myself. Ian Massey popped in for a look as he was doing his firing test, which he has passed.
Well done Ian, you have just acquired more responsibility!

The dragbox underwent final alignment and was drilled and bolted into place. Max spent a few hours getting his head around 1936 Swindon drawings and managed, with the help of a few more pairs of eyes and Foxcote Manor, to decipher what it was trying to tell him and marked out the back buffer beam.

With mag drill and rota broach cutters the manufacturer of swarf could then begin, with around 65 holes to drill we knew this was gaoing to be a long job, and was going to stretch into Sunday. After a good nights sleep, the rest of the holes were drilled and with the aid of some temporary brackets the buffer beam was fitted to the dragbox.

So at long last 6880 has grown in width..

No doubt the extended weekend coming up in June, the 18th to the 22nd, we should be able produce even more swarf, and this should result in more parts being made and fitted.

We have just acquired a full set of eccentric straps at a fraction of the price it would cost to have them made new. I would not be far off in saying we now have around 75% of the inside motion. The eccentric rods are due to arrive towards the end of the month, complete with new pins.

We attended the GWRS gala on the weekend of the 24th to 25th May, usually a good turnout, but the weather was very windy followed by never-ending rain, so on Sunday we decided to head home. We did however make a small amount of money for the 6880 fund.

5199

So far I hear 5199 is running well with no problems, the Bluebell lads have taken to her with one driver requesting that they have her for keeps..... sorry but that is going to be a NO!

We have just taken delivery of a new radial truck spring as a spare, along with a set of new brake blocks and gaskets for the first boiler washout.

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

Will

May Update

2008-05-17T15:06:00.000+01:00

6880

Construction of 6880 has started again!

After almost 12 months of non-activity on the frames, apart from final riveting last year, we have now restarted work with the drag box being fitted.

With 5199 to re-tyre, drawings to find, quotes on pattern making, casting, and machining, all in between fundraising, we were being asked what is happening with 6880?

So with many parts now on order, i.e brake hanger brackets, horn-guides, & horn-ties, some of which is now with the GWS at Didcot, you can expect to see some further progress.

On the subject of progress, we have now got the steel plate section for the back buffer beam brought in for marking out and another stretcher identified that will put more strength into the front section of the frames, and a list has been compiled of various items that will need be formed with a press.

I hope you all pleased that work has recommenced and you can look forward to more updates on the construction of 6880.

Working parties

The next working weekend will be on the

31st May/1st June

We will be setting ourselves up for the planned working week and the main job will be fitting the back buffer beam before progressing on with further plate work.

We have planned for the working week for 14th to the 22nd of June, but after much discussion at the weekend it has been decided to leave the dates as they are BUT it is likely work will not start until Wednesday 18th, with an extension into Monday 23rd June. This due to prior commitments of key members. Could you please tell me what days you may be able to make.

GWRS

We do intend to be at the GWRS Toddington on the 24th, 25th & 26th May. Please let me know me if you can make it as we need to arrange staffing for the stand.

Will Naylor, 4th May

February Update

2008-03-09T12:17:00.000Z

6880

Progress update.

I recently spent half an afternoon discovering the delights of the Black Country, first visiting Shentons to collect the two vacuum brake cylinders, one for 5199 and one for 6880, then it was off to Boro Foundry to drop off the patterns for the Hornguides and hornties, they should be cast by the end of March, and then the last stop was Micron to pick up the dragbox.

I did manage a stop off at the SVR to view 7812 Earlstoke Manor being lit up for the first time in many years, this was my reward! I took a trip round the works and had a chat about railways and politics and then it was off to Llangollen to help out at the Thomas event.

The dragbox and cylinders were then delivered to Twinbidge engineering in Burscough to be machined, and are now finished and back at Llangollen. Hornguides and ties next!

We have asked Llangollen Engineering to quote for machining and fitting the hornguides and ties and I will be asking for quote to fit the dragbox and buffer beam. Once these items have been fitted we are then in a position to work on 6880 ourselves which will lead nicely into the planned working week in June.

The cost of it all.

Building 6880 is not cheap and I would like to give you some idea on how we are spending the money.

Brake cylinder - £399
Machining brake cylinder - £315
Hornguides fronts and middles - £150 each and there are eight of them!
Hornguides rear - £180 four off
Dragbox pattern in polystyrene - £148 (we were quoted £900)
Dragbox casting - £1293.00 (again we were quoted over £2500)
Dragbox machining - £1000 (I did haggle on this and shaved off £150)

We do adopt a transparent policy with 6880 in the decision making, costs etc so I have no reservation in publishing information.

The cylinder pattern has been quoted (this is a fixed quote that will a maximum, but could be less) and is looking set us back a cool £26.500 but it is payable over a period of time. No doubt we will looking into this as soon as the quote for the extension frames comes in this later week.

5199

Just a word of thanks to all those rallying round 5199 in order to get her back into traffic.

Being on your own in the shed is no joke, it is cold, colder than outside, which was -5 at one point, and as Llangollen is not awash with volunteers as most were helping out at the Thomas event, in the event of me having of accident I would not of been found until Monday...

A big thanks to Ste Jones and Gary Roberts who lent a hand putting the brake rodding back, and to Mick Prior on a Sunday for getting stuck with his usual high degree of enthusiasm. 5199 now has working brakes once more after lots of fiddling about unbolting and readjusting. There is still most of the motion to put back, mainly the heavy bits, but this is already scheduled.

At least we're on the home straight .

Regards Will.

WANTED!

2008-02-15T09:09:00.000Z

The missing rear radial truck tyre has now turned up at the SDR and the complete wheelset should be back at Llangollen later this week.

So come on boys and girls, 5199 needs our help over the next few weekends.

Feb16th-17th, & 23rd-24th, with the possibility of other dates too.

We have to refit:

All the Brake rodding.
Eccentric rods and straps.
Coupling rods and con rods.
A repaired boiler band.
Put back front footplate.
Lots of painting and cleaning.

Piston and valve exam has revelaed more work needs to be done by the fulltime staff as well as the firebox repairs, these are being attended tat the moment. As we all know work done by Llangollen engineering costs money and eats into our next overhaul budget, So it is up to us to do what we can do to keep the costs down.

Please contact me if you can help.

I will make myself available BOTH weekends.

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-10T22:40:00.000Z

5199

The saga of the wheels continues with hiccups along the way, these include:

The leading pair has at some point had shims fitted between the wheels and tyre, this would have been to avoid scrapping the wheelset. Fortunately they have trued up on the lathe and they are just within tolerance, this means next time 5199 is retyred she may need a set of new wheels, the good news is it won't be within our lifetime and they are still acceptable for mainline running.
One of the rear radial wheels had a crack in it which has now been welded.
It took a week to grind all the welding off that held the tyres in place, delaying the job.
We are still waiting a rear radial truck tyre to be delivered prior to fitting.

Despite this we are still on course for all wheels back at Llangollen before the end of January.

We are all set to finish painting the frames this weekend as the weather forecast is good.

6880

Now the good news!

We have just placed the order for the rear dragbox, with an expected delivery in 5- 6 weeks. The next step on this component will be machining the casting.

The horguide and horntie patterns should be finished by the end of this week. We still await quotes to come in so as to make a decision on where we will get these castings made.

Ian Massey and I are making a trip on the 14th of Jan to Somers forge to discuss forging the extension frames, and at the same time we be dropping into a pattern makers and foundary in Stourbridge to discuss the cylinder pattern.

We have just purchased 4 second-hand buffers and 2 brake hangar brackets.

We are planning a working week in the last week of May, this being the 24th though to the 1st June, though we will be planning a trip to see the Australian Pink Floyd on the Friday night!

Will Naylor