Week Four

During the week, the current project was bought almost to completion with the final exterior seam being welded

and then ground back to give a smooth edge.

After that it was more cutting and grinding of parts for the next project which took a couple of people most of a day.  The painting of Charwelton was progressed with the bunker given a skim of filler where imperfections were obvious before being rubbed back and given a second coat of primer.

Two of the wheel sets have now had the gloss applied and are looking very smart in Crimson Lake.

On Sunday, the project was turned over with some effort so that the complete interior seam of the back panel could be welded up which, given the enclosed space, involved setting up a fume extraction system, a filtered air supply to the welding helmet and another person on watch duty for safety.  More parts were measured, marked, cut and then drilled

followed by final shaping where necessary.

An additional job was cutting and threading some lengths of round bar to hold the curtains for the GWR Railcar.  4253’s boiler is currently having some of the internal steam pipes fitted with the following shots showing a couple poking through the front tubeplate template between some longitudinal stays followed by a view of the same pipes and stays from inside the barrel.

Week Three

This week we spent the usual 3 days working plus a further 2 days fundraising at the Ashford 180 Railway Exhibition.  There was a lot of work done finishing off last Sunday’s work with much dressing back to be done after all the welding followed by a large amount of prep work for the next round of welding.  In addition there was much measuring and cutting of lengths of angle for the next project.  Others continued with the painting of Charwelton where the frames, bunker and a couple of axle sets saw more cleaning and undercoating.

On Sunday, the back panels were positioned and aligned on the project with the aid of ratchet straps

and then tack welded into place.  On another panel, to get a pre-cut hole in the correct position, it was necessary to measure and cut a length from one end

and then weld it onto the other end.

Other sections needed small amounts trimmed off with the plasma cutter so that edges aligned properly.

By day’s end we had everything in position, tacked in place and some of the full, final welding completed.

At HBSS, work continues on fitting the patch screws to the corners of the foundation ring.

Week Two

No update this week.

Week One

During the week, the lengths of top beading had the final holes drilled before being bolted into place ready for riveting and the holes then drilled through into the side panel.

Other members of the team went to work on the Rother Valley Railway’s loco Charwelton to get the frames painted before the wheels go back under.  They were all rubbed down, cleaned and two undercoats applied. 

4253’s connecting rods were moved ready to be taken away to have key slots cut into them to prevent the bushes from turning and a start was made in cutting out all the felt oiling pads that will be needed.

On Sunday, the top beading sections were riveted on using countersunk rivets 

after which they were ground back flush.  The fire iron brackets were also riveted into place, a strengthening plate was welded in and then the whole assembly was laid back down on its side.  That enabled us to accurately position the filler neck

and then weld it in.

In addition to that, the rod big end bushes were tinned to take the white metal

followed by securing them in the chills with fire cement, melting the white metal and pouring it in.

There were then left to cool before pressing out the chills and leaving them to go cold.  They will be machined to fit the driving axle crank pins next.

At HBSS, the boiler has had the patch screws fitted to the bottom rear corners which involves tapping a thread into the hole

and then tightening in the patch screw until the head shears off.  This final shot shows a number fully installed while the one at bottom left is still to be fully tightened.