Week One

Work on 4270 has mainly been at the front end where the smokebox door has been removed to give us better access, 

the running plates in front of the valve covers have been taken down 

and given a good steam clean,

and both valve and piston front covers have had all the retaining nuts loosened.

The last line of bolts holding the smokebox to the saddle at the rear were removed.  Also, the bolts holding the front support bars to the smokebox were undone and then driven out.

The regulator box showed no signs of willingness to come off so an Enerpac was placed between casting and tubeplate and a little hydraulic pressure succeeded in breaking the seal.  We shall get the digger forks in there next week so it can be pulled off the studs and taken out.  

Others were cleaning up all the parts that have been removed before they are stored away in the container, inspecting them and, where necessary, effecting repairs such as on the brake ejector pipe’s flange that needed a little building up.

The top section was finally parted from the blast pipe after the retaining bolts had been drilled through and then blown out with the gas torch.  All the openings were totally clogged up with carbonised oil, so it was first needle gunned to remove the majority of it,

after which it was placed on fire bricks, filled with wood and then set alight to burn off the remainder.

On 4253, the received the newly machined studs for the foundation ring which were put in place,

the new window hinges were fitting to the frames then offering up in the cab where new holes were marked, drilled then tapped and the first window bolted onto the cab platework.

The main steam pipe sections that were built up and tacked together in situ have been taken down and moved so they can be fully Tig welded.