4253 Locomotive Company Limited

5 days ago

This week it was 6 days for some of us working on the project .Monday we put the last side sheet up on the tender of 541 and got some painting done .Tuesday we made and fitted some angles for strengthening the coal hole runners and made some brackets for the toolbox sides .Bolted on the front lifting eyes to the tender ready for riveting .We started putting up the very light regulator box which took quite a time (if anyone knows a person with foot long fingers let us know please ).Lots more crinoline work took place making and trial fitting .Wednesday a trip to the Bluebell railway to take our brand-new chimney casting for some remedial work to allow the blower ring to fit inside the centre .Thursday showing the specialist coatings company the tender of 541 to allow them to inspect and measure for their services . Then off to Sciss water jetting Co to pick up the cut copper plate for the back head .This is to allow the lubrication pipes to pass through that go to the smoke box from the hydrostatic lubricator in the cab.Friday was regulator rod day getting it inside out of the rain to clean and polish before we put it in the boiler .It was fitted with not much fuss and the stuffing box cab end was put on temporary as well .Then the large copper pipes were bolted on the regulator box these go to the superheater header when fitted .Lots more crinoline work was achieved as well .Sunday the team had a tender working day setting out the newly put up side sheet ,adjusting and moving to the correct position .The back and cross support bars were made and trimmed to shape and then tacked in place .The large baffle in the water space was welded in and more welding finished as well .The back sheet for the tender was brought inside and cleaned the put up to try it for the correct fit .The toolboxes holding brackets were drilled and then the side sheet was drilled as well the countersunk ready for riveting it altogether .The coal space dividing sheet was brought in and inspected ready for holes to be drilled in the new angle next week .The other work for today was to remove the regulator as we discovered we could not rivet the doubling plate as we could not hold the rivets up .Thanks to all who helped this week . ... See MoreSee Less

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4253 Locomotive Company

2 weeks ago

This week 3 days more on the projects keeping things moving .Work on the tender build for 541 continued with all the support cross arms inside the water space were put in place .All the cross arms then had all the holes drilled and bolted together ready for the final fixing these will all be riveted together .The crinoline team continued with their mammoth task of making ,shaping ,then fixing it all together . (Stop Press the swear box has had to be emptied ) The doubling plates for the top plate around the safety valve unit were cut to size ready to be welded on after the plate is rolled and cut out.Friday we continued with crinoline work that included making the joining strips drilling,,tapping threads ,assembly , painting and when dry fitting them to the boiler .The smoke box work is now completed we now need to fit the regulator box.The newly arrived strip for the start of the firebox crinoline was primed ready for rolling .The tender work continued with all the front door closure plates reamed and countersunk ready for riveting .The door shutting brackets were fitted and reamed ready for riveting .All the rivets were cut to length for the tender .Sunday We had a complete day working on the tender of 541 moving things forward .The last few days have been working on all the bits that needed to be riveted getting everything ready for a riveting session .We got all the cross-support arms riveted in place as you will see it is not as straight forward as it sounds , we had to remove heads from orifices that they got stuck in .Its lucky some of the team are contortionists to achieve the desired position to insert some rivets .We removed the safety valve unit from 4253 boiler this is to allow the last 2 water trays to be fitted and the gasket to be made .Before bolting it on finally to allow us to get to the next stage .Thanks to one and all who helped to keep things moving . ... See MoreSee Less

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LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY LIMITED

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