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Another milestone, they're coming thick and fast now! The boiler tubes are now fitted, and the boiler is being filled with water to check for leaks. More details below.
Chassis
The axle boxes for the driving axles should have devices to limit the travel in the case of spring failure. One or two of ours are missing and so metal blocks are being made and will be welded onto the axlebox covers to perform the same function.
The bolts in the reverser weyshaft brackets were found to be the wrong type. The holes have been tapped and the bolts are being replaced with specially made fitted bolts.
The vacuum pump drive bracket nut locking plates have been fitted.
A tool was made in order to hone the barrel of the vacuum pump. The tool consisted of a bar with three discs attached, each wrapped in emery paper and sized to fit the bore. A handle at each end allowed the two operators to rotate the bar and move it along the bore. After four or five hours of operation, the bore was sufficiently smooth.
Other parts of the vacuum pump have been gradually coming together. They have been trial fitted and honed. The pump is in the final stages of assembly. Most recently the various packings to seal around the piston rod were fitted. Only the end cover is still proving troublesome, and the lubricators have to be completed.
The locomotive brakes have been adjusted so that the brake blocks present a more even pressure on all of the driving wheels during braking, and there is adjustment left on the turnbuckle.
Lubrication pots for the valve rods have been fitted through the running plates. Pipes will be made to direct the oil onto the rods.
The fall plate has been further welded and is now complete.
Boiler
All of the boiler tubes are expanded into the tube plates. This completes the boiler tube fitting.
The boiler was prepared for its first water fill. This included fitting blanking plates, fitting the new washout plugs, and fitting borrowed mud hole doors (ours haven't been delivered yet).
The main steam pipe hasn't been expanded into the tubeplate yet and so the water level is still below that point. There are some leaks, but nothing unexpected, and these are being caulked.
The gauges have all been calibrated ready for fitting.
The superheater header was set up ready for the hydraulic test. The frames and blanking plates were re-fitted to seal all of the ports. During the test it was discovered that the fixing studs have been made to an incorrect design and these will have to be made again to a slightly different design. Once tested, some new parts have to be made and fitted before the superheater header is complete.
The ash pan damper doors were found not to close sufficiently well to provide the desired air tight seal. Two of the three doors were adjusted successfully at Llangollen. The third was found not to match the design dimensions, and so it was returned to Toddington where a piece was cut out and the parts welded back together.
The ash pan design incorporates a sparge pipe to damp down the hot ashes. Further pipework has been made up and is nearly complete.
Back at Toddington, the safety valve bonnet is being polished up ready for fitting. The green painted parts, which cover the clack valves, have been rubbed down and painted.
Tender
An extension pipe is being made to bring the steam heat flange on the rear of the tender out by appriximately four inches and to rotate the flange by 90 degrees to suit our steam heat valve. One of the flanges is complete, the other nearly so, and the pipe has been cut to length. When the second flange is complete the three parts will be welded together and the extension fitted to the tender.
Measurements have been taken in an attempt to determine the extent of any problems with the tender geometry.
The tool storage, which runs along the left hand side of the coal space, has been made and trial fitted to the tender, welded up, and final fitted into position.
The new piece was welded in to the weyshaft bracket to lengthen it, the bracket was re-fitted and painted.
The toolbox hinges have received some attention. They were found to be too weak. To strengthen them, the brazed joints have now been replaced by welding, and other parts adjusted.
The work to remove the loose paintwork and re-paint into GWR green (from BR black) has continued. The first coat has now been applied to the whole of the left hand side of the tender tank.
Photos from the month of October 2009.
Another milestone, and it's a big one! Tubing the boiler is nearly finished. More details below.
Chassis
The left hand side piston valve had been found to be stiff. It was found that the motion link rod did not quite line up with the crosshead and so a new spacer has been made to correct the alignment.
The condenser coil has been fitted to the inside of the cab roof.
Assembly of the new vacuum pump parts has begun. Some adjustment has been necessary. A design for a hand operated honing tool has been sketched out.
New whistle chain guides have been made.
Boiler
The superheater header machining is complete. The header has been delivered to Llangollen, along with the equipment to carry out another hydraulic test.
At Llangollen work has continued on the cladding. A new piece was made to attach to the bottom of the existing throat plate cladding, thus completing this section. This piece is quite fiddly as it has to allow access to three mud hole doors while also keeping the insulation in place.
Work continued on the boiler barrel cladding sheets, trimming and cutting washout plug access holes.
The ash pan was removed from the chassis to facilitate welding for the sparge pipe sprinkler system. This welding is now complete and the system is ready to be connected up when the ash pan is fitted. On advice from the Llangollen staff, additional axlebox heat deflectors were fitted.
The flue tubes were delivered, two months late, but the Llangollen staff did a great job and fitted them very quickly.
The firebox tubeplate was cleaned up in preparation for fitting the small tubes. Each tube hole was cleaned and any irregularities removed.
It was discovered that the bottle ends of the tubes were slightly too big to fit through the holes in the smokebox tubeplate, and so each hole had to be slightly enlarged. Once this was done the tubes were threaded through, marked, removed, cut to length, and then threaded through again.
By the end of September all of the tubes were in, the flues were all completed, all of the small tubes were expanded into the smokebox tubeplate, and approximately half were expanded into the firebox tubeplate.
The Llangollen staff worked on the boiler backhead, cleaning up the pads for the various controls and gauges to be attached, including the water gauge, regulator plate, ejector and blower control.
Some of the firebars have been delivered.
Tender
One of the items listed on the recent tender inspection report was that the brake cylinder brackets did not close properly. When they were removed it was found that they cannot close fully, but it was agreed with the GWR that shims would be made up and inserted into each of the brackets. This has now been completed.
Another item on the inspection report said that the pins on one of the springs would foul the side beam. It was found that the spring was fitted incorrectly, and fitting it correctly has resolved the problem.
Yet another item on the report, the ride height of the tender, has been resolved by adjusting the springing.
Previously the weyshaft bracket was found to be too short, it was cut and the parts re-fitted to show the extent of the problem. A new piece has now been cut to size, adjusted to fit, and the edges chamfered ready for welding.
The middle lower lamp bracket was missing from the tender. A new one has been made and fitted to the tender.
The removeable piece of tender floor at the bottom of the coal chute is ready for welding.
The fire iron stowage arrangement for the tender has been started. Steel sheet has been formed to shape, brackets made and holes marked.
The work to remove the loose paintwork and re-paint into GWR green has continued. We have been lucky with the weather and progress has been good but there is a lot still to do.
Photos from the month of September 2009.
The restoration has entered a new phase. The boiler and the chassis are both at Llangollen. This means that the restoration team has to travel and sometimes stay at that site to progress chassis and boiler tasks. The logistics of this working arrangement add to the complexity of the restoration. Not only do travelling and accommodation arrangements have to be made, but also tools and supplies have to be taken to Llangollen for every visit, and returned to Toddington afterwards to allow work to continue there.
The chassis (with the ash pan suspended between the frames) was moved to Llangollen on 20 July and so work which is outstanding on the chassis has to be carried out at that location.
Chassis
At Llangollen, a spacer was made and fitted to the left hand side valve rocker arm. The front valve cylinder cover had a very small amount of metal removed to improve the fit. This was only partially successful and will have to be tackled again.
Boiler
The ash pan sparge pipe parts were completed at Toddington and transported to Llangollen. There the connection was welded into place on the ash pan.
At Llangollen, with the boiler now right side up, volunteer work has focused on the boiler cladding.
The crinolines have been re-fitted to the firebox and barrel. The firebox cladding sheets were fitted and the locations of the washout plugs was determined and marked. The sheets were removed and access holes for the plugs were cut. Pre-fabricated ferrules were fitted to each hole. Mud hole door access holes were cut into the top corner of the firebox cladding and bolts welded in to fix the covers. The top panels were fitted and all panels trimmed to size.
The right hand side 'elephant ear' was trimmed to size.
The right hand side number 1 cladding sheet was trimmed to size, a washout plug access cut and a securing bolt hole positioned.
A start was made on the throat plate cladding and the modifications to right hand side cladding sheet 2.
Tender
More loose paint has been removed, the areas prepared removing corrosion where present, and painted with a base coat.
The coupling link that was recently bent has been straightened.
When the tender was prepared for the Steel, Steam and Stars 1 Gala the plate at the bottom of the coal chute was welded in. This arrangement does not allow any access to the parts below the plate, including the brake cylinder. Since this is a part which must be kept in a safe and proper condition, it was decided to create an access by cutting out the plate and creating an arrangement whereby the plate would be bolted in instead of welding. The plate was cut out and the new arrangement is being designed.
Photos from the month of August 2009.
The chassis has gone to Llangollen!
During July the chassis was prepared for the move, and on the afternoon of 20 July it was loaded onto a truck at Toddington and taken the 120 miles to the Llangollen Railway. The boiler has been at Llangollen since early 2006 and work on it is nearing completion. When the boiler is completed it will be thoroughly tested and then fitted into the frames. Once boiler and frames are re-united, the various bits of pipework can be made up, fitted, and the complete unit tested.
A van load of parts was also taken to Llangollen, including boiler cladding, regulator, lubricator, gauges, safety valves, various other valves, and cab fittings.
With the boiler and chassis both at Llangollen, the focus at Toddington has switched to the tender.
Chassis
Both of the valve crossheads and linkages are now complete. The chassis has been moved with them connected thus proving that they operate satisfactorily, and all clearances are sufficient.
The piston rod lubricators have been completed, along with their lids and a wick to supply oil to the piston rod.
The cylinder cladding was completely re-fitted, with insulation underneath to hold heat in the cylinders and steam passages. In addition, the cladding around the cylinder block and steam chest has also been re-fitted.
The fall plate has been completed and fitted to the cab floor. It needed a bit if straightening and the hinges had to be modified.
Both of the injectors are fitted.
The lubrication oil pots have been fitted to the motion rock shafts.
The running boards have been checked and securely bolted down. Some had been removed to allow access to parts underneath them.
A flange has been made to allow fitting the American style blow down valve instead of a GWR pattern valve. The American style valve is considered to be much safer in operation.
Boiler
The ash pan was lowered into the frames for transport to Llangollen.
The ash pan sparge pipes are largely fitted. The water supply to them is ready to be connected once the boiler and ash pan are fitted into the frames.
The backhead cladding was made a few years back, for the locomotive's 100th birthday. At the time we cut holes to suit all of the boiler wash out plugs. These holes should be finished off with purpose made ferrules, which provide a neat connection from the cladding to the wash out plugs, while also stopping the insulation coming out through the hole. The ferrules were purchased recently and have now been fitted to the backhead cladding in preparation for the cladding being fitted to the boiler.
At Llangollen, the tubes have arrived, but the boiler is still awaiting the arrival of the new superheater flues so that re-tubing can commence.
The boiler has been upside down for quite a while to allow work on the firebox, but has now been turned the right way up ready for tube fitting.
Tender
The damaged front 'cab' floor plating has been straightened out.
A rivet from the front left hand side plate, which had come loose and been lost, has been replaced.
A start has been made on the last of the lamp brackets. This tender was used during the first Steel, Steam and Stars gala without this lamp bracket. But now a new one is being made.
The tender needs to be re-painted in GWR green. It was painted into 'dirty' BR black for the Steel, Steam and Stars gala. No. 2807 will be painted GWR green when it enters service and so the tender needs to be re-painted into this livery. A start was made removing the BR emblem from the left hand tender side. In doing so it was discovered that some of the paint is not sound and it will have to be removed before the new paint can be applied.
The weyshaft bracket was recently found to have been made too short. To rectify this it was decided to remove it, cut it in half, and weld a new piece into the bracket to lengthen it. The bracket has been removed, cut, and the parts re-fitted, demonstrating a gap of approximately an inch which will be filled in.
Photos from the month of July 2009.
Chassis
The right hand side valve crosshead and linkage is just about finished. It has proved to be more difficult than anticipated to get the fit and adjustments just right. But the left hand side has already been started and very soon both will be complete.
The pony truck nuts underneath the small dome on the front of the chassis have been adjusted.
The covers that fit over the piston rod lubricators have been completed and painted.
With some of the other progress around the cylinders, it has become possible to re-fit more of the cylinder cladding, this time with a full set of insulation behind it. But of course inevitably with more parts fitted some of the cladding parts no longer fit properly and have had to be 'modified' before final fitting.
An attempt to lap the steam heat valve from the front buffer beam failed. It was discovered that the valve has been badly machined and may have to be machined again. The one from the rear of the tender was fitted in its place but now we need to do something to create a useable valve for the tender.
The vacuum pump drive bracket has been fitted to the right hand side crosshead.
The brackets have been fitted to the 'tea tray' which fits onto the boiler above the fire hole.
There has been further progress on the fall plate brackets, cutting slots in the cab floor and designing the hooks.
New whistle chain guide tubes are being made.
The parts between the frames and the inside of the frames themselves in the area which will be below the boiler when it is fitted have been painted. We are now using an enamel paint for top coat and it looks very good.
The driving wheels have been re-painted with rustproof paint prior to finishing with enamel paint.
The inside of the cab has been painted with green enamel.
Boiler
The ash pan sparge pipes have been cut and are ready for welding. The water supply system has been designed, some parts made and others purchased ready for assembly.
The cladding parts that fit around the saddles, and the cladding strips that fit to the front of the cab are all now complete.
At Llangollen the boiler is awaiting the arrival of the new tubes so that re-tubing can commence.
Photos from the month of June 2009.
The chassis and tender were displayed at Toddington Station at the end of May for the "Cotswold Festival of Steam" gala. In preparation some of the more visible parts were re-painted. Then the tender and loco chassis were coupled together for display.
Chassis
The valve cylinder covers have been machined and now fit correctly. The right hand side valve crosshead is being set up. This is proving to be a very difficult task. The adjustment is by shims, and getting everything lined up correctly with the correct sized shims is a bit of a puzzle. The right hand side is almost ready, and it is hoped that the techniques learned on that one will make the left hand side easier and quicker.
A survey of the braking system has shown that the brake blocks need adjusting to make sure that they act evenly on all of the wheels.
The left hand side cylinder drain cock bracket has had to be modified, involving cutting and re-welding.
Final adjustments to the steam heat pipe were carried out, followed by a hydraulic test. This test was successful and proved the integrity of the pipework, flanges and welds. The only problem was with the valve at the front buffer beam. The valve was found to leak slightly, and this will have to be dealt with.
We have two fall plates, and one has been selected for use. The fall plate covers the gap between the rear of the cab floor and the tender. A start has been made on making the plate fit. The brackets on the plate which connect to the cab floor have corroded so much that new ones will have to be made. Adjustments are also needed to the brackets on the cab floor.
The castings for the piston rod lubricators arrived and after some adjustment they were fitted. This part holds a felt, which is soaked in oil from a small tank above the slidebar. There is a cover that fits onto the top of the casting and this has been fabricated from sheet.
More insulation has been applied to the cylinders and cladding fitted for the last time.
A start has been made on fitting the vacuum pump drive bracket. This bracket fits to the left hand side crosshead and drives the pump when the locomotive is moving.
Painting has now become a priority task, because we don't want to be spending time painting once the chassis and boiler are re-united and the boiler certificate clock is ticking.
Boiler
The ash pan heat deflector and its brackets have been completed and fitted.
The ash pan sparge pipes have been started. These pipes will spray water into the ash pan using a feed from the injector. This will help to keep the ash pan cool when in operation, and also help cleaning out the ash pan at the end of the running day.
The ash pan hopper door mechanism has been tested with the springs fully tensioned. All was well.
The welding on the cladding strips which fit to the boiler barrel cladding around the saddles and hold the insulation material in place is nearly complete.
The cladding strips that fit to the front of the cab and cover the gap between boiler cladding and cab front have been started.
The end pieces for the superheater elements have been drilled out.
Following the successful hydraulic test, the superheater header has been taken to the contractor for machining.
At Llangollen, the new front tubeplate has been riveted into position.
Tender
The tender has been inspected by the railway who will now produce a report.
Photos from the month of May 2009.
Great news! The superheater header passed its hydraulic test. This allows us to move on to having the header machined ready to be fitted in the next few months.
Chassis
The piston rings have been fitted to both pistons, and the piston / crosshead / connecting rod assemblies on both sides of the locomotive are now complete.
The front cylinder covers have been fitted to both cylinders.
Both of the valve spindles have been fitted into the valve cylinders. The spindles have been refurbished and the valve heads are new. It is good that the spindles are fitted, and that the valve heads were found to be a good fit into the valve cylinders. In the process it was discovered that the valve cylinder covers do not exactly match the liners that were fitted some years ago. The solution is to machine a very small amount off the part of the cover which protrudes into the liner. Then the covers will be re-fitted and should tighten into their proper position.
The flexible pipes have been fitted to the vacuum system, in the vicinity of the vacuum retaining valve.
The vacuum connections on the front of the tender and the rear of the chassis were surveyed. This was to make sure that the connections can be successfully made once tender and chassis can be brought back together. The conclusion was that the connection will be tight, and it will be necessary to confirm when the tender and chassis can be coupled together and an attempt is made to connect the vacuum pipes. Some modification may be necessary.
The steam heat pipe was adjusted yet again.
Boiler
Work has started on the ash pan heat deflector. The deflector creates a one inch air gap and helps to reduce the heat transferred from the ash pan to the rear driving axle.
The cladding strips which fit to the boiler barrel cladding around the saddles and hold the insulation material in place have been cut and are ready for welding.
The curved water feed pipes leading to the clack valves were adjusted to improve the fit.
At Llangollen, the new front tubeplate has been fitted. This allows measurements to be taken and the boiler tubes ordered.
Tender
The tender has been removed from the old Dowty shed. Now out in the yard, it will be possible to give it a thorough check, and to re-commence work to complete it ready for use when the chassis and boiler return from Llangollen.
Photos from the month of April 2009.
Chassis
The pony truck pin has been replaced. The one in there was found to be too long and was fouling other parts. The one fitted now is the original, which could not be found when the pony truck was fitted. This one has a device to supply grease to the pin. New parts for the grease supply device were made by members of our team.
The two flexible hoses have been made to fit to the vacuum system correctly. A part had to be cut from a pipe that one flexible connects to, and this cut off piece was just the right length to add to the other pipe.
Preparations were made to fit the rings to the left hand side piston. This piston and crosshead are very stiff when moved far enough forward to fit the rings. An attempt was made to ease things to make it easier to move the crosshead / piston forwards.
Boiler
The angle strip which fits around the front cab aperture, where the boiler enters into the cab, has been welded. It has needed some adjustment to produce a good fit.
The superheater header blanking plates were final fitted. The pipes for the hydraulic test were fitted and adjusted.
The front and rear brackets were fitted to the ash pan. These brackets attach the ash pan to studs on the bottom of the firebox. The side brackets will be positioned and fitted once the ash pan is attached to the boiler.
The ash pan hopper doors have been tested again. This time there were no hitches and both of the doors operated perfectly from the operating lever positioned on the frames below the left hand side of the cab. The lever has been designed to be removable so that it doesn't spoil the looks of the locomotive.
The ash pan was then removed from between the frames so that the final parts can be fitted.
Photos from the month of March 2009.
Some of our scheduled working days had to be cancelled due to poor weather. This inevitably reduced the amount of work completed during February.
Chassis
The operating linkage for the right hand side cylinder drain cocks has been adjusted again. This is because the rod had to be modified to fit around one of the ash pan hopper door shaft plates and this upset the adjustments made previously.
The steam heat pipe which was tack welded last month was final welded and fitted. This proved the clearance between the pipe and the ash pan.
Boiler
The angle strip which fits around the front cab aperture, where the boiler enters into the cab, has been started. This part covers the gap between the front of the cab and the firebox cladding. It has to allow for the movement forwards and backwards of the rear part of the boiler as the boiler heats up and cools down, expanding and contracting in the process. The boiler is fixed at the front and so it is the rear part of the boiler which moves. The angle strip is ready for welding.
The quadrant plate modifications carried out last month were found to be not quite correct and this part has been modified again.
The brackets which will attach the ash pan to the firebox have been completed. When the ash pan is removed from the frames the brackets will be fitted to the ash pan.
The last of the old studs were removed from the superheater header as we edge closer to a hydraulic test.
Chassis
The piston rod lubricators, which fit onto the slidebars and provide lubrication to the rod just behind the cylinder rear cover, have both been fitted.
Clips have been made for the vacuum system flexible hoses.
A section of the steam heat pipe was re-designed and re-built to eliminate a change of pipe bore. This was tack welded ready for a trial fit and full weld.
Boiler
The frame which operates the ash pan hopper doors was modified to resolve a problem discovered during testing last month.
The operating lever for the ash pan hopper doors was also modified, again following a problem discovered during the recent test.
The quadrant plate that the lever engages into was also modified.
A start has been made on the frames which will attach the ash pan to the bottom of the firebox.
Blanking plates which fit to the superheater header for the hydraulic test have been completed by a contractor and delivered to Toddington.
Some of the remaining old studs were removed from the header. Only two more need to be removed.
Photos from the month of January 2009.
There was a lot of focus during December on preparations for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's 'Christmas Cracker' Gala on December 29 and 30. The chassis was to be displayed on the railway's unloading road which extends into the Toddington Station car park.
Chassis
The connecting rods were re-fitted. The rods are relatively easy to fit but the locking mechanisms that ensure that they stay where they're meant to be are quite fiddly and take some time to get right. But the eventual result was that the external parts of the motion were nearly complete and presented a good visual impression. This was also the first time that the con rods had been fitted since their removal in October 2007.
A number of parts were painted and re-fitted, including the water feed pipework and left hand side injector.
Boiler
After some final preparations, the ash pan hopper doors were tested on 13 December. The testing was carried out over one of the new pits in Toddington yard. The hopper doors can only be tested over a pit because they are largely inaccessible without a pit, and because the hopper doors open downwards and cannot be opened over normal track. The test was mainly successful. The quadrant plate will require some adjustment. The frame which connects the two hopper doors fouled the flange on the main vacuum pipe and will require a small amount of re-design. But generally the operating principle was proven and confidence is high that after the previously mentioned adjustments the hopper door mechanism will work very well and ease the process of 'disposing' of the locomotive at the end of a shift.
Photos from the month of December 2008.
Chassis
The steam heat pipe and vacuum pipe brackets were fitted to check clearances with the ash pan damper doors (see below).
There was investigation and progress with the valve operating gear crossheads and link rods.
Some of the recently fitted parts have been painted, along with a re-paint of the boiler cladding sheets.
On 29 November the chassis was shunted back into the David Page shed following the extension work to the South end of the shed.
Boiler
November 1 was the date set to test the new ash pan. Ash pan design work started before October 2005. Once the design was complete, the main structure was fabricated under contract and delivered to Toddington in June 2007. Since then the damper doors, hopper doors and operating linkages have been made and fitted by CSPL volunteers.
The test involved designing and constructing a frame to suspend the ash pan in the correct position between the frames. The ash pan was lowered into position and then adjusted to the exact height. The linkages for the three damper doors were connected and it was then possible to operate the damper doors from the cab. Some minor adjustments were needed but in general all worked remarkably well.
Some more parts were made and fitted to prepare for a test of the ash pan hopper doors.
There were more preparations for the superheater header hydraulic test.
Photos from the month of November 2008.
Chassis
On 18 October the chassis was shunted out of the shed into the yard. This was to allow work on the extension to the front of the shed. The shed is being extended towards the new pits. The chassis had to pass over the pit, and the opportunity was taken for members of CSPL and representatives of the railway to examine the chassis and compile a list of items which will have to be dealt with before the completed locomotive can run on the railway. The chassis was then shunted next to the siphon, CSPL's workshop and storage vehicle.
The last of the flange pairs has been tack welded to the steam heat pipe.
The vacuum system is complete as far as is possible before the boiler is fitted into the frames, apart from the fitting of the flexible hoses within the system. All that remains is for the system to be tested. The vacuum pump still doesn't have internal parts, but that is awaiting funding. Three holes were drilled in one of the frame stretchers to allow fitting a vacuum pipe bracket, very similar to the one used on the steam heat pipe.
The left hand side piston has been fitted, but without either of the piston rings. With the front cylinder cover fitted, it was possible to take measurements and prove that the piston rod has been lengthened as planned. A start was made on fitting the right hand side piston, complete with piston rings.
Final adjustments are being made to the cylinder drain cock operating mechanism.
Boiler
Various pins have been made up for the ash pan hopper door operating mechanism. An operating handle has been made.
A frame was made up to support the ash pan in the frames. The frame allowed fine adjustment of the ash pan height to position it accurately and check for operation and clearances. Other parts were prepared ready to test the ash pan in the frames on 1 November.
The clack valves and safety valves are being assembled.
At Llangollen, the boiler firebox work is virtually complete. The next task is the internals of the boiler barrel, repairs to the front of the barrel, followed by fitting the front tube plate and re-tubing.
Photos from the month of October 2008.
Chassis
The left hand side piston has been fitted into the cylinder following the rod lengthening process. It was found to be very tight, and further investigation suggested that the piston rings had insufficient gap. The rings were removed and trimmed, but on re-fitting and attempting to move the piston back into the cylinder, one of the rings was broken. A new one will have to be made, delaying the piston fitting process.
The vacuum pipe which runs up towards the boiler backhead has been fitted. This pipe has been terminated in a flange, ready for the backhead pipework to be put together after the boiler is fitted into the frames. Elsewhere on the vacuum system, progress is being made on the pipework and fittings around the vacuum maintaining valve.
A start has been made on fitting the right hand side valve spindle and associated parts. Some needed a little easing, but nothing drastic.
A 'final push' on the steam heat pipe has resulted in a continuous pipe from the front buffer beam to just below the cab floor on the left hand side. A final pair of flanges needs to be tack welded, and then the pipe will be removed to allow these, plus two further flanges and a butt joint, to be final welded out of the chassis. Completing this part of the pipe will enable the ash pan test to proceed (see below). A new flange still has to be made for the front end of the pipe, to allow fitting of the valve. The tail end of the pipe will probably be left as it is until the boiler is fitted and we can see how the steam supply will be delivered from the backhead. A bracket, which suspends the steam heat pipe from one of the frame stretchers, has been modified and, following the drilling of three holes through the stretcher, bolted into place.
The cab roof and some boiler cladding panels have been painted.
Boiler
The sealing arrangement has been fitted to the superheater header ports. This is to allow a hydraulic test of the header to prove that it is sound before machining. All that remains are the four main ports. These still had the remains of studs in place and so work has started on removing these old studs, ready for new studs and blanking plates, again for the hydraulic test.
The pipework for the top feed, i.e. the water pipes that run from the flanges just above the running boards up to the clack valves, have been bent to shape. This is quite difficult as the curve has to follow the shape of the boiler and be a close fit. The flanges to attach the pipe to the clack valves have been started.
In the next few weeks we're going to test the ash pan by lowering it into the frames. Then we can test that it doesn't foul anything and that the damper doors operate correctly. A start has been made on gathering together the materials needed to suspend a ton of ash pan in just the right position - not easy! Parts to complete the hopper doors are also coming together so we may also be able to test these at the same time.
Photos from the month of September 2008.
Chassis
The various parts that make up the piston rod packing have been fitted to the left hand side rod. The crosshead has been fitted and connected to the rod.
The vacuum pipe that runs from the train pipe up towards the boiler backhead has been designed, parts made, and the pipe welded up. The pipe was made up from 5 elbows with straight pieces between. The pipe will stop just below the cab floor, terminating at a flange. When the boiler is back in position an additional piece of pipe will be made to continue up to the ejector on the backhead.
Parts that attach to the vacuum retaining valve have been welded and final fitted.
The water supply from the injector pipework that feeds the coal damper in the cab has been completed.
The pipework from the steam chest to the centre drain cock was completed. The cylinder cladding was adjusted to accommodate the new pipework.
The bend on the steam heat pipe was modified to move it further away from where the ash pan will be. It was realised that the pipe design needed to be modified to provide a further removeable part to allow one of the driving axles to be dropped if necessary. This meant another slight redesign and another pair of flanges to be positioned and welded in position.
Boiler
The flanges on the clack valves and safety valves have been adjusted to give a better fit.
The new water feed trays have been assembled with the original brackets and are complete.
Further parts have been made for the ash pan hopper door operating mechanism.
A plan is being worked on to allow the ash pan to be lowered into the frames to check clearances and operation of damper doors.
Photos from the month of August 2008.
Chassis
The left hand side piston has been fitted to confirm the effectiveness of the metal spraying.
Parts which connect to the vacuum retaining valve have been manufactured and test fitted.
There has been progress on fitting lubricator restrictors and lubrication pot covers to the con rods.
The pony truck bearing dome cover base has been welded to the front plating.
Boiler
The plating to blank off the superheater header ports has been completed, and the sealing arrangement is being finalised.
Some work has been done to the remaining superheater element parts to make them suitable for re-use.
The clack valves and safety valves have been examined and final assembly has started.
A start has been made on bending the top feed pipes to shape. These pipes run from flanges just above the running boards to the clack valves positioned around the safety valves. To get there they run around each side of the boiler, and will be covered by special cladding pieces. But this means that the pipes have to have an accurate, steady and continuous curve from top to bottom.
The original water feed tray brackets have been located. The brackets hold the trays in position inside the boiler. The new trays have been drilled to suit.
Photos from the month of July 2008.
Chassis
The chassis has moved! This time, the move involved a shunt of the chassis from 8F 8274, diesel shunter 7069, and 2807's chassis. The objective was to move 2807 from the back of the shed to the front. The advantages of this are:
The chassis was prepared for the move on Wednesday 25 June, and the move took place on Saturday 28 June. All went well and 2807's chassis is now resident at the front of the David Page shed.
There is a video of the move on the Cotswold Steam YouTube site, acessible via the Gallery page.
The piston rods have been metal sprayed to lengthen them by 1/8". The first has been transported to the contractor for final machining. When complete and returned to Toddington, it will be fitted and comprehensively checked to make sure that the modification has had the desired effect.
The injector pipework is just about complete, and a fine sight it is. Only one of the injectors is complete, the other needs machining and this will be carried out in the next few months.
Leading off the left hand side injector pipework a small bore pipe has been made up. This pipe leads up into the cab. It provides a water feed for damping down the coal and cleaning up the cab.
Progress is being made on the valve spindle bushes. When complete the valve motion will be assembled, albeit without valve heads, to check fit and to make sure that the straightening process on the valve link rods has been successful.
Various auxiliary vacuum pipes have been worked on, including improvements to joints and brackets.
Boiler
The plating to blank off the superheater header ports has been cut, welded and drilled and is nearly ready to be fitted.
There has been some work on the quadrant plate assembly for the ash pan hopper door operating mechanism.
Photos from the month of June 2008.
Chassis
There was a bit of a setback on the steam heat system this month. After a lot of work designing and making brackets and flanges to enable incorporation of the large bore exhaust steam injector pipework into the steam heat supply pipe, it has been discovered that the exhaust steam heat pipe fouls the left hand eccentrics of the valve motion. This is a real problem because clearly the locomotive can't be run like this. The only possible conclusion is that the exhaust steam pipe that we have isn't from 2807, and probably isn't from a 2800 class locomotive at all. After many attempts to make the pipe fit, it was decided to abandon the idea and make the steam heat supply completely out of small bore pipe.
Despite this, more parts of the steam heat pipework have been completed and fitted. This has included modifying and fitting flanges, bending new pipes, and making and fitting new brackets.
Now that the main vacuum pipe is complete and fitted, the auxiliary vacuum pipe is being progressed. Some new brackets have been made. Pipe runs have been eased to improve joints. Gaskets have been made and joints have been clamped.
The main area of the vacuum system still to be completed (apart from the vacuum pump internals) is the pipework connecting to the vacuum retaining valve. This is quite complex and incorporates a 'pepper pot' valve. A start has been made on this pipework, in particular the pepper pot valve mounting.
The injector pipework is progressing very nicely. There are some sharp curves, not least on the injector overflow pipe, which starts at the bottom of the injector and ends up at the rear of the bottom cab step, via three tight right angle bends.
The steam chest drain pipe stub has been measured so that new coupling nuts can be made up.
The blast pipe jumper top has been fitted after some adjustment of the three hooks that restrict its upward movement.
The cover over the reversing lever has been re-fitted after painting.
Drawings for the vacuum pump internals have been finalised and sent to contractors for quotes.
Painting continues, with more of the black parts painted, and new parts being painted as they are completed.
A start has been made on fitting the con rod lubrication pot covers.
Boiler
A start has been made on the plating to blank off the superheater header ports to allow a hydraulic test. This is half inch plate and so cutting it is hard work. Most of the blanking plates have been cut and some have been welded and drilled. Once complete the plating will clamp over the ports and the test can proceed. Only then will we know whether the header is sound and ready to be refurbished for use.
At Llangollen, more stays have been replaced with new.
Photos from the month of May 2008.
Chassis
There's been some real progress on the main vacuum pipe. The last part of the pipe has been welded in, the last of the flanges have been welded on, brackets fitted, and gaskets made for all of the joints. So now the pipe is in its final position, and everything else can be adjusted to fit.
Some of the smaller bore pipes that connect to the main vacuum pipe have been adjusted to provide a better fit of flanges and joints. Some of the brackets for the pipes were in poor condition and these have been replaced with newly made ones.
There's also been real progress with the steam heat supply system. More brackets have been made to hold the pipework firmly in position. Plates have been made to join the large bore pipework, which was the old exhaust injector pipe, to the smaller bore pipe extending in front of and behind the large pipe. The large bore pipe has to be in just the right place to avoid braking levers and axleboxes. The forward part of the pipe was cut into three sections for ease of maintenance in the future. Two sets of flanges have been prepared and the first pair welded to the pipe.
And also real progress with the injector pipework, on water supply pipes, steam supply pipes, and water feed pipes. As with the vacuum system, some brackets in poor condition have been replaced. And new ones made, in particular those under the cab at the very rear of the chassis which support the water feed pipes where they connect to the pipes from the tender.
The castings for the injector internal parts are being machined under contract.
The valve spindles have been taken off-site to be re-furbished. New bushes are being made.
A new 'tea tray', the one that fits above the firehole in the cab, has been purchased and delivered.
The water gauge frame is being machined off-site.
New connecting rod lubrication pot covers, made under contract, have been delivered.
There has been more work on painting numerous parts of the loco, painting red between the frames, and also improving the finish of the cab external panels.
Boiler
The water feed trays have been welded up.
There has been progress towards hydraulic testing the superheater header.
At Llangollen, copper stays are being replaced.
Photos from the month of April 2008.
Chassis
The main vacuum pipe is now ready for final welding. Once this is done, and the brackets are fitted to fix the main pipe into position, more of the ancillary pipework can be adjusted and fitted.
The vacuum retaining valve has been re-fitted to the inside of the right hand frame.
The steam heat pipework is progressing. We've made a bracket to attach the steam heat pipe to the front buffer beam, and this is fitted. To enable this, the hook for the coupling (and therefore the coupling itself when not in use) had to be moved to the other side of the buffer beam. The new bracket has fixed the position of the front end of the pipe, and allowed that section of pipe to be finally bent to shape to meet the exhaust steam pipework correctly. In doing so, it was found that this piece of pipe is difficult to manoeuvre in the confined space, and so it will be cut into at least two parts for easier future maintenance.
A bracket has been made to hold the new pipe against the frame in the area where it passes alongside the ash pan. Another bracket has been made to hold the pipe in the area around the front of the ash pan. A flange has been made to convert the large size of the exhaust steam pipe down to the smaller size of the new steam heat pipe. A piece of pipe has been bent to shape at the tail end of the system, providing a supply to connect to the tender.
When the exhaust steam grease separator was opened up, it was discovered that parts inside it could have caused problems with the steam heat, and become a future maintenance headache, and so this part has been removed. But the exhaust steam pipe is still being used for steam heat.
The left hand valve link rod, which had been slightly bent but was recently straightened, was assembled with the valve spindle and all is now well. The right hand rod is bent more then the left hand was, and a plan of action to resolve this issue is being worked on.
The 'shelves' for the two injectors have been completed and fitted. A start has been made on piping up the injectors. The right hand side has to be replicated as per original, but the left hand side would originally have been an exhaust steam injector, and so the pipework arrangement for this side has to be designed, made and then fitted. Some of the brackets that locate the pipework have been made.
The old rusted studs on the side of the saddle that fix the snifting valves in place have been removed, after considerable effort, ready for replacement. Similarly the studs on the top of the cylinders that fix the steam pipes in place have also been removed ready for replacement.
The inside of the cab top and front, and some of the vacuum pipework parts, have been painted.
The lubricating pipes on the left hand side of the cab have been cleaned up.
Boiler
Some work was carried out on the hopper door operating mechanism.
At Llangollen, there are indications that the boiler work is falling behind schedule. This will have implications for the planned steaming date.
Tender
The coal area painting, started last month, was completed.
Photos from the month of March 2008.
Chassis
The steam heat pipework, in the section where it passes alongside the ash pan, has been bent to shape. This required eight bends of varying angles and all in 3-D. The pipe has to avoid the ash pan, damper doors, operating levers and the axlebox lubrication pipework. A start has been made on fixing brackets.
The bracket to hold the right hand side live steam injector has been made, and the one for the left hand side started.
The left hand injector would originally have been the exhaust steam injector but we will use a second live steam injector. Pipework runs have been investigated as they will have to be modified for the different injector type which has connections in different positions.
The old studs that hold the snifter valves to each side of the saddle have to be removed. One pair has been removed and work has started on removing the other pair.
Brackets to hold the axlebox lubrication pipework against the frames have been completed and fitted. These hold the pipework in place as it passes through the area where the ash pan will be and will stop the pipework being damaged when the boiler is fitted or removed.
Valve cylinder glands are being made.
Holes have been made in the cladding on the underside of the cylinders to accommodate the steam chest drain pipes, leading to the centre drain cocks.
More parts have been painted, mainly cylinder cladding parts.
The connections between the loco and the tender have been investigated in detail to make sure that we set them up correctly.
Boiler
The ash pan damper and hopper doors and their mechanisms are just about complete. The damper operating levers from the cab to the ash pan were worked on extensively a while ago and so the whole damper system is ready for testing. Further work is required on the hopper door mechanism which attaches to the chassis, including levers and springs.
The water gauge frame casting is being machined.
Work continues on the water feed trays.
Tender
The tender is out in the elements, and the new plating on the top, welded into place by the Betton Grange team so that they could use the tender at their gala, had never been painted. This plating has been wire brushed to remove corrosion and painted.
Photos from the month of February 2008.
Chassis
Further work on the vacuum system means that the main vacuum pipe is almost complete. Unfortunately welds which introduced a short piece of new pipe had failed, and on examination it was decided that a longer piece of the pipe needed replacing. A new piece approximately four feet long was welded in. The remaining parts were prepared for final welding and fitting next time.
We don't have any of the internal parts of the vacuum pump. It has proven difficult to obtain detailed drawings but we now think that we have sufficient information and detailed drawings are being made.
A mock up of the 'shelf' that supports the injector between the cab steps and the chassis has been made, and used as a pattern to make a start on the real thing. The parts have been cut out and clamped together ready for welding. The design is critical as the injector has to be level in order to work properly. This is for the right hand side where the loco originally had a live steam injector. The situation is slightly different on the left hand side where the loco would originally have had an exhaust steam injector, and so this needs to be fully investigated and a new arrangement designed.
The new method of straightening the step bracket was successful. This time the bracket was cut through completely and welded back into place. This equalised the cooling effects and resulted in a straight bracket.
The wooden panel that the driver's seat attaches to has been re-varnished.
We have the newly machined cylinder drain cocks and a start has been made on fitting them. The centre one in particular is problematic. It drains the steam chest via a pipe which runs through a very confined space behind the cylinder. And it's very tricky to get the pipe to match up with the drain cock. We also have a problem with one of the pipes, which has deteriorated badly. Unfortunately it also needed yet more alterations to the cladding in that area.
The blast pipe has been fitted to its base, with some adjustment needed to form a good seal. The jumper required some adjustment to produce the required loose fit onto the blast pipe, and the three retaining hooks have been refurbished ready for fitting.
The collection of brassware has been re-checked against our inventory.
Boiler
The ash pan work continues. The remaining damper door hinge blocks were fitted and the doors adjusted to give acceptable operation and closure. The hopper door frames and doors have been completed and like the damper doors they have been adjusted for acceptable operation and closure. The hopper door operating mechanism frame has been fitted. The frame links the two hopper doors together so that when the rear one is operated it in turn operates the front one. The remaining stiffening bars / cooling fins have been fitted. All that remains to be done is to finish off some welding, and then the ash pan will be ready.
Work has started on the mechanism that will operate the ash pan hopper doors. This consists of a lever, transverse operating rod and connection to the rear hopper door. A spring is incorporated to force the doors closed if the lever is accidentally operated.
A start has been made on the water feed trays. These fit inside the boiler barrel below the top feed. This stops the comparatively cold water that is coming in from causing thermal shock inside the boiler when it meets the high temperature water that's already there.
At Llangollen the new plating is being welded into the firebox sides.
Photos from the month of January 2008.
Chassis
It has been discovered that the valve heads and rings do not match the size of the valve liners. Solutions to this problem are being considered, but in any case accurate measurements at key points of the internal faces of the liners are required.
Critical parts of the reversing lever locking mechanism have been sent away for case hardening.
The pipe leading from the top of the vacuum cylinder, underneath the cab floor, has been removed and the elbow part replaced with a curved piece because the elbow fouled other parts under the cab floor. A tacked weld in the main vacuum pipe has been finished off, and subsequently work continued to fix this pipe in place. A new piece of straight pipe has been prepared for welding in.
One of the main axle underkeeps was removed to check the condition of the lubricating pad. It was found to be in good condition and so the other underkeeps will be drained and topped up with fresh oil, but the pads will not be checked until the locomotive has spent a short while in operation.
A bracket is being designed to attach the new steam heat pipe to the buffer beam. A further bracket will clamp the pipe to the vacuum pipe underneath the cylinder block. A drawing of the rear part of the pipe will have to be modified to give more clearance around the lubrication pipes.
Critical parts of the reversing lever locking mechanism have been removed and sent away for case hardening.
The shovel plate and various bits of cladding have been painted.
The injector parts have been examined and matched to drawings. Some are still bare castings and need to be machined.
An attempt has been made to straighten the step bracket. But when completed, the contraction of the weld resulted in the step returning to its previous position. A different method will be tried next.
Blanking plates have been fitted to the exhaust steam outlets on the underside of the cylinder block. These would originally have supplied steam to the exhaust steam injector, but we are using two live steam injectors.
Painting of the chassis continues.
Boiler
The ash pan rear hopper door hinge plates have been welded into place and adjusted. The rear hopper door frame weldng has been completed and hinges adjusted. One of the hinges for the centre damper door has been moved slightly, and other adjustments made, to aid door closing. The hinges and packing pieces for the front damper door have been fitted. It has been discovered that the contractor made the front damper door too wide and so this has been cut down and re-welded. Two of the four channels designed to stiffen the ash pan and provide cooling have been bolted on, ready for welding. Various un-painted Parts have been painted.
Photos from the month of December 2007.
Chassis
A new part has been made for the reversing lever locking mechanism. The mechanism is now working well. It was noticed that an oiling point is not accessible when the reversing lever cover is in place, and so an access port was cut into the lever cover.
On the vacuum system, the pipe from the vacuum pump which runs through the running plate has been fitted. Because this pipe is now fixed in place, the vacuum pump body does not need to be fitted to fix the pipe's position, and so it has been removed from the chassis. This allows two further tasks to commence, firstly the refurbishment of the pump itself, and secondly the straightening of the step (the vacuum pump bolts to the step).
The step has been removed from its bracket on the right hand side of the chassis. The bracket has been bent at some stage and there is a concern that it may be out of gauge. The bracket will be cut and welded to straighten it.
The part of the main vacuum pipe, where the flange joint was taken apart to allow the pipe to be straightened, has been cut off to allow a new straight piece to be welded in and connected up.
Both piston rods have been taken off site to a specialist engineer for the lengthening process. The process will involve welding on a new end piece, metal spraying the taper, and re-machining to match the crossheads. This will add 1/8" to the length of each rod. The crossheads were removed and transported with the piston rods.
The superheater header has also been taken away for specialist refurbishment.
The blast pipe base was fitted to the saddle. The bottom face of the blast pipe has been skimmed to provide a smooth surface for a better joint with the base.
Drawings have been prepared for the regulator internals, and the castings can now be machined.
We've had an item on our 'to do' list for a while. This was the task of fitting steam heat pipework. As a freight locomotive No. 2807 wouldn't have had steam heat originally and so there isn't any route for the pipework from the back to the front of the loco. Furthermore any visible pipework will not be authentic. But there is a pipe that would have run from the front of the loco to the rear, the exhaust steam pipe for the exhaust steam injector. This starts beneath the cylinder block and runs to the exhaust steam injector below and to the left of the cab. However, No. 2807 is going to run with two live steam injectors, as most preserved non-mainline locos do. This is because at preserved line speeds, the exhaust steam injector does not work effectively. So we don't need the exhaust steam pipework. But if it's not fitted then again the loco's look is not authentic. So a decision was made to hide the steam heat supply within the exhaust steam pipework, thus providing steam heat but with an authentic look.
The main parts of the pipe were fitted, along with the oil separator. The pipework that we have reaches from the position of the exhaust steam injector to within a few feet of the cylinder block. The oil separator fits to the end of this pipe. The next piece of pipework would have been a highly curved piece, curved in three dimensions, which unfortunately we don't have. This was followed by a piece which splits into two pipes, and would have attached to the underside of the cylinder block, which we do have but we won't fit. This is because we need to connect a new piece of pipe running to the buffer beam and providing the steam heat supply to the front of the loco.
This new pipe has been created by bending a pipe to fit around the pont truck parts, mirroring the route of the vacuum pipe on the other side. The next step will be to make and fit a bracket to the buffer beam to locate the pipe, and then bend the pipe to final shape.
Painting has started! If we're to keep to the plan to re-unite the completed chassis and boiler in May '08 then significant tasks like painting the whole chassis have to be started.
Boiler
The holes have been drilled in the ash pan damper doors for the hinges and the door plates. The door plates connect the damper door to the damper operating linkage. Hinges have been fixed to two of the damper doors. Holes have been drilled to allow the cooling fins to be attached.
At Llangollen, the palm stays have been refurbished and wasted metal is being cut from the firebox sides.
Photos from the month of November 2007.
We ran our stalls in support of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's Steam and Vintage Gala over the weekend of 13 and 14 October. An excellent event with a huge number of exhibits.
Chassis
Work has resumed on the reversing lever and its locking mechanism. This was started a while ago, and some 'prototype' parts made. But these were never assembled and tried out. So to check for correct operation, they were assembled and a spring fitted. This has shown that some modification is necessary, and some new parts will be made up shortly.
While investigating the reversing lever locking mechanism, it was noticed that the lever would not achieve full forward gear. The motion expansion links were fouling the main vacuum pipe, stopping the motion from being set into full forward. Invesigation of the motion drawings showed no obvious problem with the way that the motion has been put together. So attention turned to the vacuum pipework.
Consultation of drawings showed that the main vacuum pipe should be straight apart from one kink where it avoids the motion. Ours was kinked in a number of places, and as a result was out of position where it passed under the expansion links.
The main pipe was taken apart at a flanged joint, and the offending kinks removed using a pipe bender. The result was to move the pipe away from the motion sufficiently to allow the setting of full forward gear. Unfortunately the flanged joint now doesn't come together, so there will need to be some modification to the adjoining piece of the main pipe. Once the main pipe is in its correct position, then the ancillary pipes which attach to it will be adjusted to achieve a correct fit.
The piece of running plate into which an oval shaped hole has been cut was re-fitted. The hole allows the vacuum pipe from the vacuum pump to pass through on its route to the inside of the main frames. The hole is oval because there is a flange at the point where it passes through the plate. With the hole cut in the correct position the next part of the pipework can be fixed into place.
Insulation material has been attached to the whole of the right hand side cylinder, and to the front and back of the cylinder block.
Both pistons needed to be removed for the rods to be lengthened. In addition both of the con rods needed to be removed to fit the lubrication reservoir covers. The right hand piston was removed relatively easily, but the left hand rod taper was jammed into the crosshead. To free it, the con rod needed to be removed, to gain access to the end of the piston rod to apply some 'persuasion'. To add to the complication, the cotter pin, that holds the con rod into the crosshead, also has a taper and an array of locking mechanisms, and the one in the left hand side crosshead was also jammed. Apparently it's a common problem and the usual solution is large amounts of 'persuasion'. It's impossible to access the back of the pin sufficiently, so it has to be pulled out from the outside. A tool was made, but proved not to be strong enough. A stronger version did the trick and removed the pin. Both of the con rods were then removed.
Boiler
Drawings for the regulator parts are being finalised. These have required the amalgamation of a number of different drawings to produce a complete set, which has been tested for operation in CAD software.
At Llangollen, various factors un-related to 2807 have delayed work with the result that the crown stays have only just been completed. Work is about to start on replacing wasted metal in the boiler barrel and firebox.
Photos from the month of October 2007.
The weekend of September 15 and 16 was the 'Churchward 150' Steam Gala at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Being resident on the G.W.R., and being the oldest of Churchward's standard locomotives still in existence, No. 2807 was on show. There was a steady flow of visitors into the shed to see the frames being worked on, and some very interesting discussions ensued. The frames were specially tidied up and cleaned for the event. Cotswold Steam Preservation were also out in force with the sales stall, tombola and bric-a-brac stall all operating over the weekend.
But despite this we've reached another milestone. The first of the insulation material has been glued into place. Read more below.
Chassis
The finishing touches are baing made to the cylinder cladding. The last of the captive nuts have been welded and the individual parts are being painted.
Because the cladding is now virtually complete, a start has been made on fitting the insulation material to the cylinders. The cladding, while it looks nice, is really there to cover and hold in place the insulation material. This applies to the cylinder cladding, block cladding, and also the boiler cladding. The insulation material is glued directly to the metal with special glue. The material itself is ceramic-based, looks like dense fibreglass, and is white in colour. Originally an asbestos material would have been used, but since the discovery that some asbestos is carcinogenic, other materials have been developed.
The vacuum pipework passes through the right hand side running plate just above the vacuum pump, and an oval shaped hole has been cut to allow it to pass through.
An attempt has been made to straighten the left hand side valve link rod (the one which was less bent). It is clearly much better than before, but the whole valve motion needs to be assembled to verify that everything will now operate correctly. If all is well an attempt will be made to straighten the right hand link.
There has been some work on the reversing mechanism and also a related discovery. Although parts had been made, the locking mechanism for the reversing lever had never been fitted. An attempt to fit the mechanism revealed that some adjustment was necessary, and a slight re-design may be required. In addition, the counter-balancing spring had not been tensioned, and so moving the lever was very difficult. The spring has now been tensioned, but may need some further fine tuning. But in the process, it was discovered that part of the motion fouls the vacuum pipe when attempting to select full forward gear. Some investigation has been carried out but as yet no solution has been found.
The right hand piston has been removed, ready for the piston rod to be lengthened. The left hand will also be removed but is currently wedged into the crosshead and can't be removed without first taking off the connecting rod, a rather larger piece of work. But both connecting rods do need to be removed for some finishing work to be carried out.
The studs for the blast pipe mounting were fitted into the saddle and the mounting temporarily fitted.
Boiler
Various parts have been made for the ash pan, including pins to connect operating linkages, hinge bars, and a new piece to complete the rear hopper door mounting frame.
It is proving tricky to make the damper doors fit accurately to the ash pan. They need to fit well so that when closed not too much air can get into the ash pan and the firebox. Spacers have been made and fitted to the hinges, but it's likely that thicker spacers will have to be made.
The hinge blocks for the front hopper door have been welded into place.
Photos from the month of September 2007.
Chassis
We've finally been able to measure up accurately the required length for the piston rods. We discovered a few months back that the rods are slightly too short. We now know exactly what adjustment is required and can plan the remedial work.
The right hand side cylinder and block cladding is now complete except for a few nuts that need welding onto the inside of the plates. The left hand side needs a little more work, held up by the need to leave the cylinder front cover off while measuring up for the piston rod lengths.
The connecting pins for the valve motion have been progressing, and were checked together with other parts of the valve motion. Unfortunately it was discovered that one of the valve link rods is slightly bent. And the other is not completely straight either. We'll need to find better examples or straighten the ones we've got.
A small problem has been found in the new cylinder drain cock operating mechanism. A bracket has been cut and welded back to move a set of mounting holes by 1/2".
The position of a hole in the right hand side running plate, where a vacuum system pipe passes through, has been marked, and a start made on cutting the hole. The hole is oval and has to be made accurately as it is very visible when the locomotive is complete and running.
Boiler
A lot of effort has been put into adjustments to the ash pan hopper doors. These were made prior to the ash pan arriving at Toddington, but because the ash pan is not completely to drawing, adjustments are necessary to doors and hinge mechanism to make the doors operate and shut properly. The aperture for the front hopper door is the wrong size, necessitating changes to the hinges and the door itself.
Packing plates have been made for the damper door hinges. These allow the hinges to operate correctly, allowing the doors to open but also fit tightly when closed. The last of the damper door hinge plates were made.
Photos from the month of August 2007.
Restoration this month has been disrupted by the flooding and lack of water supply. Toddington was almost inaccessible the weekend following the deluge of Friday 20 July. Train services have been suspended because of the water supply situation.
Chassis
The cladding for the whole of the right hand side cylinder and block is almost complete, and the left hand side is not too far behind.
A new roller has been made for part of the sanding control lever. This has been fitted, and after some adjustment, works perfectly.
A hole needs to be made where the vacuum system pipework passes through the running plating. The particular piece of running plate was removed and the pipework connected up. This allowed holes to be marked and drilled to bolt up the pipework 'through' the running plate. This will finally allow the hole to be marked out and cut for the pipework flange to pass through the running plate.
Boiler
Detailed examination of the ash pan, now at Toddington, has revealed that it has not been made accurately to the drawing. There is no significant difference, but some of the parts already made to fit onto the ash pan will have to be modified to fit because they were made accurately to the drawing.
Meanwhile, moving parts of the ash pan and operating linkages have been case hardened.
The superheater header was pressure jet washed out to remove accumulated 'stuff'. Lots of interesting 'stuff' came out, and the header can now be assessed to see if it is repairable.
Photos from the month of July 2007.
Chassis
The cladding for the front of the right hand side cylinder is now complete. Captive nuts have been welded to parts of the cylinder cladding to ease future removal and re-fitting.
The machined and completed left hand side cylinder front cover was delivered to Toddington.
The studs to fit the blast pipe have been fitted and a gasket cut to seal the joint.
The cylinder drain cock brackets have been painted in preparation for fitting. Three hangars have been fitted to support the operating rod.
Boiler
Four hinge plates for the ash pan hopper doors have been cut out, and welded to the hopper sub frames. Two of the companion hinge plates that will be fitted to the hopper doors have also been cut out. These will be fixed with screws initially to allow adjustment to achieve correct hopper door closure, and then welded into position. Holes have been drilled and slots cut into the hopper door operating frame and strengthening bars / cooling fins for the ash pan sides. The three bellcranks, that connect the levers in the cab to the damper doors, have been removed from the chassis and taken away for case hardening, along with other critical parts of the operating mechanism.
The new ash pan itself has been moved to Todington and then placed next to the siphon. This will allow the use of power tools and welding equipment to aid progress from the bare ash pan to the completed assembly, with damper doors, hopper doors, and operating mechanisms.
The machined and completed blower ring and petticoat (chimney bell) were delivered to Toddington.
The safety valves, which have been on loan to 5637 at the East Somerset Railway, were returned and placed into storage.
Photos from the month of June 2007.
Some time was spent manning our stands at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Cotswold Festival of Steam. This was a very successful and popular gala and we were pleased to be a small part of it.
Chassis
The cylinder cladding is now nearly complete for the right hand cylinder. One or two parts left to make, and yet more welding.
Still more welding on the cylinder drain cock brackets. The parts are also being painted ready for assembly.
Boiler
A survey of the injector parts was carried out. We have most of the parts to complete the two live steam injectors that we need, plus some spare parts.
More work on the ash pan hopper doors and mechanism. Various parts have been cut out, shaped, drilled and welded to form the doors and operating mechanism. Parts include hinge plates and ash pan side strengthening.
Chassis
Yet more work on the cylinder and block cladding. Unfortunately another area has been identified as requiring cladding, so even more parts to make and fit.
We're still checking the piston rod dimensions and formulating a solution to the problem. But it certainly doesn't look as though the problem is as bad as was first feared.
The cylinder cock brackets are nearly ready and a pair of new cylinder cock castings have been purchased to give us a full set.
Boiler
At Llangollen, the crown stays are nearly completed and work is about to start on cutting out the wasted firebox outer wrapper.
There has been a lot of work on the hopper doors and associated mechanism in preparation for the transport of the new ash pan to Toddington.
Tender
Great news about the tender. It was used behind No. 3802 at the 'Steel, Steam and Stars' gala from April 20 to 22 and performed extremely well. It is now back at Toddington and will be surveyed to determine exactly what needs to be done to achieve a cosmetic completion to match the operational completion.
Siphon
A pair of doors has been removed from the siphon to allow them to be refurbished.
Chassis
The cylinder and cylinder block cladding is nearing completion. The parts have been primed ready for fitting.
After checks it seems that there is a problem with the piston rods. They are slightly short. More checks are needed and a plan needs to be formulated to resolve the problem.
More parts have been made for the cylinder cock brackets and these will be welded together to make the new brackets.
Boiler
Work has started on the damper doors (the ones which control the air supply to the fire) and the hopper doors (the ones that will allow the ash pan to be cleaned out more easily, although they were not originally fitted to 2800 class locomotives).
The blower ring and petticoat have been taken away for machining.
Tender
The Betton Grange group have completed our tender. The tender is now in operational condition and was used on photographic charters with 2884 class 2-8-0 No. 3802 on Wednesday and Thursday March 7 and 8 at Llangollen. Photographs have appeared in the press and on the internet. The next use of the tender with 3802 will be at Easter (April 6 to 9), followed by the 'Steel, Steam and Stars' gala (April 20 to 22). After the gala, the tender will return to Toddington and be available for hire.
Siphon
The electricity supply has been re-connected to the siphon at last.
Chassis
The big news is the fitting of the right hand side piston. Preparation for this has been going on for a while. We needed to fit one of the pistons and make sure that everything was as it should be before fittng the other. The procedure took most of the day. A video can be found via the gallery page.
There's been some progress on the new cylinder drain cock brackets. The new metal has arrived and this is being cut to size and drilled, ready for welding.
Work has re-started on the vacuum system. More pieces of pipework have been identified and trial fitted, along with the air pump cylinder. One of the things that needs doing is to drill the hole through the running plate for the vacuum pipes from the air pump. This hasn't been done before because we didn't know exactly where it should go. But as parts are fitted, this sort of thing becomes clearer and we can proceed and drill the holes.
Work has also re-started on the cylinder and cylinder block cladding. Some of this can't be done yet because parts, such as the valves, aren't fitted yet. Other pieces need to be fitted immediately otherwise other work will be held up.
Boiler
At Llangollen, fitting of the the crown stays has started.
Tender
The Betton Grange group have been racing ahead with the tender work and the job is nearly complete.
Siphon
Still no electricity in the siphon so working conditions are a little difficult in there.
This month 2807's chassis and our siphon were both being moved around the yard. They both moved more than once. We've had to move all of our equipment that was outside the siphon to its new location. And we've had to move the access steps to the new location. As a result restoration has been badly disrupted this month.
BUT on 20 January the chassis was moved into the shed. This is potentially a big leap forward for us because we are no longer at the mercy of the elements. We can keep working in all weathers, we can keep working when it's dark outside, and the work that we've already done won't deteriorate so quickly.
We're very pleased!
Chassis
Not much progress on the chassis except that the frame and covers that were protecting it from the weather have been removed. This gives much better access, we can see what is where, and we can get to things to work on them.
Boiler
The damper controls are just about ready, and no more can be done until the ash pan arrives. The basic shell of the ash pan, being made by a contractor, should be delivered mid-February.
The various inspections and surveys are all now completed.
At Llangollen, the crown stays have been removed and new stays delivered ready for fitting.
Tender
The Betton Grange group are making good progress on our tender at Llangollen. The top panels are almost complete, the vacuum braking system has been tested, and there has been progress with the steam heat pipework.
Siphon
We've had to make some changes inside the siphon. As a result of the moves, we've had to move the access to the other side, and this has required some reorganisation inside the siphon.
It looks as though we're going to be moving into the shed in January, so there's been some preparation for moving the chassis. In general we keep lubrication points topped up with oil, but some parts, in particular axlebox underkeeps, tend to get water in them, which displaces the oil. So some time has been spent this month checking, draining, and topping up where necessary.
Chassis
The locking pin has been inserted into the right hand side connecting rod little end. This hadn't been done before because the loco motion and wheels have to be in a suitable position. There has to be space behind the crosshead to insert the pin, which means that the pin has to line up with a gap between wheel spokes. The loco had to be moved 6 inches to insert the locking pin.
There's been more progress on the blast pipe mounting studs, and the blast pipe itself has been cleaned up ready for assessment.
There's been more work on the cylinder block cladding, including making and welding on some brackets.
Boiler
Drawings for the water gauge frame are being finalised. We have the bronze castings and needed the drawings so that the machining can be progressed.
There's been further progress on the damper control levers. They're nearly as far as it is possible to take them without having the ash pan in place to fit them to.
Tender
The tender is now at Llangollen and being worked on there, by arrangement with the Betton Grange group.
Chassis
There's been further progress on the vacuum system and more parts fitted.
Most of the stud holes have been drilled out, cleaned up and tapped ready to fit the blast pipe.
Preparation is underway for fitting the cylinders, valves, and the remainder of the valve motion.
More work has been carried out on the cylinder block cladding.
Boiler
There's been more progress on the damper control levers. They're surprisingly fiddly because they have to pass through a confined space, and they have various curves to achieve this.
The ash pan design has been finalised. This has taken a lot of effort, as the ash pan, like the damper levers, has to fit into a confined space, and we wanted to be able to include hopper doors in the design. The original ash pan wouldn't have had hopper doors, but they will help considerably when the locomotive is being 'disposed of' and the day's accumulation of ash has to be removed.
There's been more work on cleaning up the superheater header.
Tender
The water test is complete! In the end we put 2800 gallons into the tank and at that point decided that was enough to show up any significant leaks. But in fact all we found were two very small leaks at the bottom corners of the coal chute.
Once the water was pumped out of the tender (thanks again to the railway's Fire Department) the leaks were welded up.
The axlebox underkeeps were drained and re-filled with oil for the move to Llangollen.
Holes were drilled into top plates to allow bolts to be welded in. These bolts form studs to attach the 'mushroom' air vents.
Chassis
There's been some more progress on the sanding control levers. These are now nearly complete, the only part missing is the short rod that operates the front left hand side sanding box. This is a relatively straightforward piece and will be made from scratch.
Work has started on the valve gear motion including the valve crosshead.
More vacuum system parts have been fitted.
Finishing off the cylinder drain cock linkages is proving problematic. There's a small vertical misalignment of the connection to the right hand side slide bar. It's possible that a new bar will have to be made.
Boiler
More parts have been made for the damper control levers. A bracket has been made to help locate the bellcrank spindle, and this will soon be fitted.
We're still working on the design for the ash pan, in particular working out how to incorporate hopper doors to aid ash removal.
A start has been made on cleaning up the superheater header.
Tender
We've started the water test of the tender tank. This is a great step forward because it's the last big unknown in the project. The tank could leak all over the place, or be completely water tight, we just don't know. And if we don't know then we can't plan. So we like to get rid of unknowns whenever possible.
Before the water test could be started, the painting of the inside with waterproof paint followed by bitumen had to be completed. Following this, the water level float was fitted to the operating levers. And the large 'plug' from the bottom of the tank was clamped into position.
The railway's Fire Department helped us out by pumping in water from one of their fire engines. It takes rather a lot of trips because their engine holds 400 gallons of water, and our tender holds 3500 gallons! But after a day of filling we had 1200 gallons in the tender. The only leaks were where a pipe's bolts hadn't been tightened, and a slight leak from one of the water feed valves.
Chassis
A survey of the lubrication system has been carried out. Like all things on the locomotive it's more complicated than you might think, with yards of pipework and lubrication points. And every one has to work perfectly to avoid expensive damage.
Vacuum system investigations continue and some parts are being fitted. But other parts are missing and will have to be replaced.
A start has been made on preparing to fit the blast pipe and jumper assembly. The part of the cylinder block where the blast pipe fits needs a lot of cleaning up.
Boiler
Work continues on the damper control levers. Soon they'll be ready to fit, but final adjustments cannot be made until the ash pan is constructed and fitted.
Tender
It probably seems as though not much has been done on the tender for a while. That's partly true, while we've been concentrating on cladding and other things, but in fact things have been going on in the background.
It was decided a while ago that there should be drain taps to drain both the tender tank and the water pipes. These have now been fitted, and the water pipework re-fitted underneath the tender.
Inside the tank preparations continue for the water test. The bottom of the tank has been prepared and painted in an attempt to minimise corrosion.
Chassis
There has been more progress on the claddng for the cylinders and for the underside of the cylinder block. Work has re-commenced on the cladding for the right hand side cylinder. The underside of the cylinders and block are not nice places to work and those involved will be glad when this little task is completed.
The insulation for the cylinders and block has been delivered. Once the cladding is completed the insulation will be applied and the cladding fitted 'for the last time'.
There were two brackets missing from the operating linkage for the cylinder cocks. So we made them from 1/2" plate. And when it was all connected up, the lever in the cab operated the drain cocks.
We've installed lighting under the new chassis cover. The cover keeps the weather out, but it also keeps out most of the light, so some good lighting was needed to allow work to continue.
Boiler
There has been more work on the operating linkage for the ashpan dampers, specifically the bellcranks, and some welding on the operating rods.
Siphon
More work on the wooden body of the siphon, primarily painting to prepare for the winter months.
Chassis
A new tarpaulin has been fitted onto the frame over the loco chassis. We have to do this because we are outside in the Toddington yard and the work that has been done already has to be protected.
The cylinder and cylinder block cladding is progressing, but there are an awful lot of small and complicated parts to be made and fitted together.
There's been more progress on the cylinder cock linkage. Brackets that hold the cross bar which operates the cylinder cocks were missing. New ones are being made according to the drawings that we have, and once these have been welded they will be fitted into position under the cylinders.
Boiler
The damper linkage is being worked on. The worn ends of the rods have been ground down in preparation for building up with weld.
A new spindle for the damper linkage has been made and is being fitted. The rods operate via bellcranks, which transmit the vertical movement of the controls in the cab to a hotizontal movement to operate the dampers. The new spindle is the mounting for the three bellcranks.
Siphon
Having apparently fixed the leaking roof, we've returned to restoring the wooden parts of the siphon body.
Chassis
The sanding control lever is nearly complete. There's also been some associated work on the cab floor platework to accommodate the lever.
A number of cylinder cladding parts have been rolled and welded.
In addition, new parts for the cylinder block cladding are also being produced.
We've been investigating the vacuum circuit parts, seeing what we've got and how it all fits together. Of course, along with the high pressure parts, the vacuum system has to be 100%.
There's been some progress on the cylinder cocks. Most of the mechanism is fitted, and we have the majority of the rest, but one or two new parts will need to be made. The bracket which holds the three cylinder cocks has been fitted to the underside of the right hand cylinder.
Boiler
There's been more copper riveting on the firebox cladding, and other parts have been welded.
The ashpan drawing dimensions are being checked and re-checked.
A lot of time has been spent working on the damper door operating levers and linkage. The new main crank pin is complete. We have to be confident that we know exactly how it's all going to fit so that we can be sure that the ashpan design is compatible and there won't be problems later.
Siphon
More time has been spent making sure that the siphon roof no longer leaks. And it seems to be working!
Resources have been diverted to the sales stands again. This time because of the railway's excellent Centenary Festival event.
Chassis
There has been some significant progress on fabricating a new sanding control lever. The original is missing and so there was no choice but to make one from scratch. The main part of the handle was laser cut from sheet steel. This has been welded to a short tube, and a hand grip is being turned.
The cylinder cladding is progressing. The right hand side has progressed nearly as far as the left hand side, and new parts are being made for both sides. This involves cutting parts from metal sheet, then rolling and welding to form the complicated shapes.
Boiler
The inspection and testing of the boiler at Llangollen has found that more work is needed than was expected. This includes replacement of wasted metal from the lower parts of the firebox outer wrapper and throat plate, repairing a crack in the throat plate, and replacing the crown stays.
Unfortunately the area of the firebox wrapper that needs replacing includes all of the area where we had fitted new monel stays. The stays are threaded into the outer wrapper and the inner copper firebox. The copper firebox threads will be destroyed by recreating the holes and threads in the new outer wrapper. So we will have to use the next size up of stay in this area. The stays removed from this area can be used elsewhere on the boiler.
A team of our volunteers spent a day at Llangollen removing all of the stays that we had previously fitted. Special tools were made to allow the work to be finished in just the one day.
The ashpan design drawings are ready to be sent out to obtain quotes. It's a complex piece of equipment, and we can't make it ourselves. It may be possible for us to assemble the ashpan if somebody else makes the parts for us.
Work during April has been impacted by the Easter break. Also the start of the fund raising season, with resources diverted from restoration to running sales stalls.
Chassis
There has been further work on the cylinder cladding. This is proving to be a very fiddly job because there are many small parts that all have to fit together like a jig-saw. It's also not helped by us not having a drawing, so we have to imply the shape of the parts from the bits of cladding that we have, although it's not at all clear that the parts we have actually come from a 28XX at all. Indeed there's a strong suspicion that they don't. On top of this, we keep discovering extra areas that have to be covered in cladding, not so much to look good but to hold the insulation in place. A case of three steps forward and two back. But we're getting there!
The last coupling rod retaining nut has been manufactured and fitted. Another milestone reached!
A new frame is being made, in a similar way to that for the tender, for a tarpaulin to protect the chassis. With the boiler removed, we want to give some protection to the remainder of the chassis to reduce deterioration. When the frame is completed, a new large tarpaulin that we have sourced will cover the chassis.
Boiler
Work on the operating linkages for the ash pan damper doors continues. The 'mock up' main crank pin has been made and clamped into position to establish the exact position on the frame for the hole for the real pin. The route of the damper door operating levers is going to be added to the ash pan design drawings to check for clearances. It is likely that the new rods will be made up from round bar because this can easily be bent in any direction, whereas a flat bar can only be bent side to side.
There has been progress on copper riveting the firebox cladding sheets.
Chassis
Work has re-commenced on the cylinder cladding. This was previously taken to a stage where it looked complete on the left hand side cylinder, but in fact some of the cladding underneath the cylinder and onto the steam chest was not there. Although this can't easily be seen it still has to be present because it holds the insulation in place. So new parts are being cut out from sheet steel. Some of these are very intricate, and very difficult to manoeuvre into position.
More coupling rod retaining nuts have been manufactured and fitted. Just one more needed to complete the set.
The new sanding lever is progressing, the parts have been welded up and are being ground to shape.
Boiler
Despite the fact that the boiler is no longer with us (it's gone to Llangollen), work continues on the boiler cladding. Because the boiler departure was planned, the cladding was carefully marked before being removed, and so work can continue even without the boiler in place. The firebox upper cladding panels have now been secured to the lower panels.
There are continuing investigations into the operating linkages for the ash pan damper doors. These are operated by three levers on the left hand side of the cab floor, and then via rods and cranks to the dampers. Because the rear part of the left hand main frame of No. 2807 has been replaced, the mounting position for the main crank pin no longer exists, so we have to use drawings and 'trial and error' to establish exactly where it would be. A 'mock up' of the actual item will be made and clamped into position to establish the exact location.
Tender
We have new tarpaulins fitted over the new frame on the tender. The original tarpaulins didn't survive the Toddington weather and have had to be replaced with tougher ones.
Siphon
The siphon roof has been leaking for a while, and now that the weather has improved, work has re-commenced on patching up the leaks.
Boiler
February was all about preparing for the departure of the boiler to the Llangollen Railway. While it's there, work will be carried out on renewing crown stays, removing, refurbishing and re-installing the foundation ring, fitting the new front tubeplate, manufacturing and fitting new water feed trays, re-tubing, completing re-staying, fitting superheater header and elements, plus a number of smaller items including attention to washout plugs, fusible plugs, fitting studs and arch retaining studs. But before the lifting procedure, all of the boiler barrel and firebox cladding had to be removed. The bolts holding the smokebox to the saddle had to be removed. And the bolts holding the cab roof in place also had to be removed, because the cab roof has to be removed to allow the boiler to be lifted.
On the day of the lift, everything went according to plan. Indeed, the boiler was lifted and on the transporter before midday. The new tube plate, the regulator, and some other smaller parts, were sent with the boiler, as they'll be needed during the work.
And ...
We've been working on the C.N.C. lathe again to get it back into stay production.
Chassis
Work is progressing on the sander control lever in the cab.
Boiler
The main pieces of firebox cladding have been fitted into position. This is a major step forward for the project and another milestone reached.
Tender
The frame for the tender cover has been completed. Once the tarpaulins are attached, this will provide sheltered working space on the top of the tender. This is important because the top panels are not all in position. This in turn is waiting for the water test of the tender tank. The top panels can't be welded into place until after the test, in case repairs are needed inside the tank.
Siphon
An attempt was made to fix the leaks in the roof, but the cold weather meant that the fluids were too solid, and so the attempt was abandoned pending warmer weather.
Chassis
The front left hand side of the cab was found to be out of position. This was getting in the way of fitting the firebox cladding. This has now been moved back into position and fixed to the modified cab floor.
More Waxoyl has been applied to protect the motion rods from rusting.
Boiler
Work has continued on manufacturing and fitting crinoline straps for the firebox cladding, and these are now complete.
The sheets for the firebox cladding have been rolled, and delivered to Toddington. Once on site, they were painted with red oxide to protect from rust.
The first firebox cladding sheet has been fitted into position.
Before the boiler departs Toddington for specialist work to be carried out, certain things have to be completed. One of these is to determine in detail how the steam pipes are fitted. We have some of the parts, and we have various drawings. But No. 2807 was originally built with a short smokebox non-superheated boiler and inside steam pipes. A longer smokebox and superheating were fitted later, followed by outside steam pipes. So we have to be very careful when referring to our drawings, to make sure that we are looking at the correct design of parts. After some investigative work, we are now confident that we know in detail how the steam pipe parts fit together, right the way from the steam collector in the top of the firebox, through the regulator and superheater, then through the outside steam pipes to the cylinders. And we believe that these parts conform to the standard designs.
Various measurements have been taken to prove that the exact position of the boiler fits drawings that we have. This is important when designing such parts as the ash pan, as this part has to fit to the bottom of the firebox but not foul any parts of the chassis. And the design work will carry on while the boiler is away from Toddington.
The whistle mounting boss has been made.
Tender
The frame for the tender cover is progressing well, and will provide sheltered space for working on the top of the tender.
The tender toolbox brackets have been refurbished and painted in red oxide.
And ...
After more investigation and adjustment, the CNC lathe appears to be working again, so more stays will be produced to prove that the lathe is fully operational.
A considerable amount of effort has been put into planning for the departure of the boiler for specialist work, and also making sure we have all of the details and measurements that we need so that work can continue while the boiler is away.
Chassis
The second connecting rod has been fitted. This one is on the right hand side, and marks another milestone in the project to restore No. 2807.
There has been progress trimming and fixing the right hand side cylinder cladding.
Boiler
More welding on the firebox crinolines and spacers, and work on the firebox cladding sheets. The left hand side firebox crinolines are on, and the right hand side ones are not far behind.
Tender
More work on the frame for the new cover.
And ...
A considerable amount of time was spent re-arranging our work area. The GWR requested this to provide a new access way through the yard.
After the excitement of September, and the amount of hard work that was put in to prepare for it, October has been a bit quieter.
Chassis
More work on the motion retaining nuts and their retaining and locking pins.
A start has been made on the right hand side cylinder cladding.
More small motion components have been made, in preparation for fitting the pistons.
Boiler
The boiler barrel cladding is being finished off.
A start has been made on firebox cladding, including crinolines and their spacer brackets.
Designs for the grate and ashpan are being looked at.
The handrails are just about complete.
Tender
The brackets that fix the toolboxes to the tender are being refurbished.
A new frame and cover are being made which will both keep the water out of the tank, and allow work to continue on the top of the tender, but under cover.
And ...
Another tidy up in the siphon.
September was quite a month for Cotswold Steam. No. 2807 was completed in October 1905, and so in October 2005 she would be 100 years old. But it was decided to use the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway steam gala over the weekend of 10-11 September to show off the progress on the loco restoration. There was also a supporters celebration a week later. So September was very much a month of finishing off and showing off.
Chassis
The new left hand side connecting rod was collected and delivered to Toddington. The rod was fitted the same day, but the pin for the little end bearing was too large and had to be ground to size. This was completed and the pin fitted on the Friday, the day before the steam gala.
The left hand side motion rods were cleaned up for the loco to be displayed.
The left hand side steam pipe cladding was completed and fitted.
The cab gauges and some controls were fitted for display purposes.
Correct lubrication of the loco and tender were checked.
Boiler
The remaining left hand side panels were fitted, along with the bands that fit over the joints between panels.
The safety valve bonnet was fitted to the cladding.
The left hand side handrail was completed.
Tender
More plating was cut and fitted to the tender top.
The 'mushroom vents', toolboxes and dome were temporarily fitted to the tender.
And ...
The inside top of the tender was painted black.
The running boards and the plating below the smokebox were painted black.
The boiler cladding received a second coat of green, along with parts of the handrail.
The buffer beams were given a fresh coat or red.
Numerous other parts were painted black, green or red.
Chassis
The cab windows have been re-fitted (removed in case they were damaged during the boiler lift).
The regulator stuffing box has been located in the siphon, cleaned up, and fitted to the loco.
The regulator control has been fitted in the cab.
Most of the smokebox saddle cladding has been refurbished and fitted. Some new parts have been made and these are being fitted.
Parts have been made for the reversing lever mechanism.
Parts have been made for the motion.
The second crew seat was fitted in the cab.
Work has started on the steam pipe cladding, with some plating fitted to the boiler and the cladding rolled to shape.
Preparation and checking has started for the move to the bay platform at the September G.W.R. Gala.
Boiler
All of the cladding sheets on the left hand side of the boiler have been fitted. This has included welding brackets onto the sheets, finishing off crinoline bands that fit under the sheets, and work on the bands that fit over the joints between sheets, and help to hold the sheets into place.
Most of the handrail which needs replacing has been removed, and new pieces cut and shaped to fit. The left hand side, where the cladding is complete, has been fitted.
Temporary whistle brackets have been fitted to the boiler.
Tender
The 'false floor' at the front of the tender has been fitted, but requires some adjustment to make it fit properly.
And ...
Painting of the sides of the tender is almost complete.
The wheels and areas around the wheels on the loco chassis have been painted, along with the smokebox area.
The boiler cladding sheets have had a coat of green paint before they are fitted.
Chassis
The right hand cylinder rear end cover has been removed, sealant applied and the cover replaced. This required removing the slidebar arrangement because the slidebars attach to the cylinder end cover.
The cab floor is just about complete. And the hinges that hold the fall plate, the plate that bridges the gap between the cab floor and tender floor, have been fitted.
Various wooden mountings have been fitted to the backhead. These are mountings for the cab instruments.
There has been some progress on the studs to hold the cab instruments, and on the plate that holds the whistles.
The left hand side cylinder cladding is largely complete. Some small pieces still need to be made.
The holes for fitting the cladding to the smokebox saddle have been cleaned out and tapped. The cladding sheets for the saddle are being cut and will soon be fitted.
Boiler
The boiler barrel cladding is progressing, with some sheets fitted, and progress on the bands that fit around the outside of the joins between the cladding sheets.
There has been some further work on the backhead studs in preparation for fitting the instruments.
Work has started on the regulator rod and other parts of the regulator linkage.
The old boiler hand rail has been removed and new rails are being shaped and cut to length.
Tender
The controls for both water valves are now complete.
The coal chute has been permanently welded into place and painted.
And ...
Painting has continued.
Chassis
The new tapered shims have been fitted to the slidebars to correct the alignment and resolve the problem with the sticking crossheads.
New split and solid brass packing rings have been made for the piston rods.
The right hand side rear cylinder cover has been removed to fit proper seals, before the cylinders are fitted.
The wooden cab floor and its metal frame are complete.
Various bits of chequer plate have been cut and fitted into the gaps around the edge of the wooden floor.
A start has been made on mountings for the plate that bridges the gap between the cab floor and tender.
The reversing lever cover has been fitted. To this cover, a wooden plate has been attached and then cab seat mountings in turn attached to the wooden plate.
The left hand side cylinder cladding is progressing. The large panel has been fitted, front and rear cylinder covers are ready to be fitted, as are the front and rear valve cylinder covers. Other smaller parts are still to be made.
Work has started on the whistle mounting.
Boiler
More crinoline spacers have been cut to size and welded to the crinoline bands.
The four crinoline bands have been fitted to the boiler.
The bar that runs along the top of the boiler and connects the crinoline bands together has been fitted.
Tender
The water valve pipework has been fitted.
The control linkage for the second water valve is nearly complete.
Completing the water valve pipework meant that the coal chute could finally be welded into place. It was tack welded initially.
Siphon
More tidying up and re-organising.
And ...
Painting has been started, firstly on the rear of the chassis.
The rolled panels for the boiler barrel cladding and the cylinder cladding have been delivered, along with rolled crinoline bands. Some of the sheets are very large and can only just be lifted by two people. The sheets have been painted with red oxide to protect them.
Chassis
The large cylinder cladding panel for the LHS cylinder has been cut to size. The threads in the holes in the cylinders have been cleaned out ready to accept the fixing bolts.
The problem with the crossheads sticking has been due to misalignment of the slidebars. This is being corrected, and includes new tapered shims to fix the bars at the correct angle.
Work has started on smoothing and painting the cab sides. And also painting the chassis and wheels.
Wooden boards have been cut for the cab floor, and rebated to fit into the channeling. The channeling to hold the boards is nearly complete. The shovel plate and its frame are complete. Some pieces of chequer plate have been cut to size.
A lamp bracket has been fitted to the front of the loco.
A bend in the cab side, caused during the boiler fit, has been straightened out, and the cab top bolted back into place.
Boiler
The crinoline bands that support the boiler cladding have been started. The first band is almost ready to fit to the boiler.
The backhead cladding has been finished off and painted black.
The safety valve bonnet support plate has been cut to shape.
The firehole doors and their operating levers have been fitted to the backhead.
Tender
The very convoluted pipework for the tender water valves is complete and ready for final fitting.
The control linkage for one of the valves is now complete and painted.
Siphon
We've had another clear out of the siphon.
The big news this month was the fitting of the boiler back into the frames, on 9 April. The first time that the boiler has been in the frames since 1981.
You can read more about fitting the boiler in our News section.
Chassis
The con rod castings have been taken away for machining.
There have been further attempts to determine what is wrong with the crossheads. The slidebars have been adjusted in an attempt to resolve the situation.
The cab shovel plate frame components have been welded together. The shovel plate itself has been temporarily fitted into place.
Channeling to hold the wooden floor boards in the cab has been cut, and some of the boards themselves have been made.
Boiler
The stays that have been fitted had to be screwed further into the boiler as they were protruding too far to allow the boiler to fit between the frames.
Other bolts around the foundation ring had to be ground off because they too were protruding too far.
The covering that has been in place over the frames for may years was removed to allow the boiler to be fitted.
Once the boiler was fitted, the retaining brackets, that hold the firebox down onto the frames, were fitted.
More crinoline support brackets have been made. These hold the crinolines in place, and the cladding fits over the top.
The backhead cladding has been re-fitted. This was removed to prevent damage during the boiler fit.
The warming plate has been fitted above the firehole.
A start has been made on the boiler hand rails.
Tender
Progress has been made on the water valve control handles and their brackets, and the water valve pipework. Both are now near completion.
Chassis
A start has been made to the cab floor. This is a combination of wooden planks, with metal angle and plate. A frame has been made to hold the shovel plate.
The crossheads are still a problem. Measurements are being taken to determine the cause.
More motion retaining nuts have been completed and fitted.
The connecting rods have been taken away for machining.
Various essential bits and pieces of the piston and cylinder assembly have been made.
Some 'old' paintwork has been removed from the cab sides ready for a re-paint.
A start has been made on the lamp brackets.
New pieces of cylinder cladding have been made, using the old pieces as patterns.
Boiler
Studs have been fitted to the backhead cladding to mount the lubricator assembly.
More brackets have been attached to the boiler to hold the crinoline bands, and a further set of brackets made.
An additional sheet that supports the safety valve cover is being made.
Tender
The water valves are getting ever closer to the point where they are operational. Some of the pipework is now in place. Once they are ready, the tender can be water tested (for leaks!). We can't do this until the valves are ready, because we'd have no way of emptying the water out again!
A new filter for one of the water valves has had to be made. These consist of perforated metal sheet. But as this is expensive, one of the team drilled 2400 holes in a plain sheet to make the filter!
And ...
Various things have been moved, removed, fitted, greased, cleaned etc. ready for the boiler to be fitted.
The pile of scrap metal has been recycled, yielding valuable funds for the project.
Chassis
Some work has been done to the cab to enable the roof and the top part of the front plating to be removed. This is to allow the boiler to be fitted in a few weeks time.
Also on the cab, the paintwork has received some attention.
A start has been made on making bushes and stuffing box, and checking springs, to allow the pistons to be fitted.
The front vacuum pipe has been fitted into position after cutting away a section of the platework to fit.
Some of the paintwork between the frames has been tidied up. This needs to be done before the boiler is re-fitted.
Some plate has been cut to start fabricating new cylinder cladding.
Boiler
The brackets that support the boiler in the frames have been fitted. These brackets bolt to the side of the boiler, and when the boiler is in the frames, they sit onto shaped pieces on the top of the frames, allowing the rear of the boiler to move backwards and forwards as it expands and contracts.
The last backhead cladding plate has been cut and fitted to the others.
The pressure gauge plate, which attaches to the backhead cladding, was fitted.
Some of the cab instruments and controls fit directly to the backhead cladding, and some studs have been fitted for these.
Detailed measurements are being taken to allow us to order plating, which will be rolled to shape to make the boiler cladding.
The first of the brackets to support the crinoline strips has been fitted. The crinoline strips in turn support the boiler cladding.
Tender
The water valve pipework is coming along nicely. Another filter has been made as we only had one of the two required.
The water valve controls are also progressing, with new control rods being made.
And ...
The Cotswold Steam Preservation display board at Toddington station has been updated. It's well worth a look!
Chassis
A lot of time has been spent trying to fit the crossheads into the slidebars. The crossheads are very heavy and four people are needed to lift and move them. And the bearing surfaces are white metalled and this surface can easily be damaged. Both the left hand side and the right hand crossheads have proven to be a very tight fit onto the slidebars. After much experimentation, measuring and head scratching, it was decided to consult further to try to establish the cause of the problem.
The motion retaining nuts have been fitted to the rear axle. The retaining nuts and the pins that hold them in place are very tricky to make.
More of the running plating to the left of the boiler saddle has been bolted down.
Measurements have been taken of the cylinders and boiler saddle to allow the preparation of drawings so that the curved parts of the cylinder cladding can be ordered.
Boiler
The old bosses that form the mountings for the backhead cladding have been removed. New ones have been welded into place.
The last few backhead cladding plates were cut. And all of the plates have been fitted together to form the backhead cladding. Just one piece needs to be re-cut and then the backhead cladding will be completed.
Ten more stays have been fitted to the boiler. There are now sufficient stays in place to stabilise the boiler for lifting.
Tender
There has been some significant progress on the water supply pipework, and some difficult and intricate pieces of pipework have been welded up.
There has also been progress on the controls for the water valves, with mountings for one of the controls now in place.
Siphon
The siphon has been tidied up, specifically to categorise the contents to make it easier to find things when they're required.
And ...
Great strides have been made towards fixing the problems with the CNC lathe. It seems that there was more than one problem, and fixing some problems just showed up others. The lathe now seems just a short way away from being in use again.