Week Four

The long job of fabricating all the joining pieces between the shoulders of the firebox and backhead cladding continued this week with more bits being measured, cut, bent, screwed and welded together.

The new oil lubrication pipe cover that fits on the smokebox side was trial fitted to mark the holes that need cutting out to allow the shut off valves to protrude through the cover. 

We also fitted the lubrication shut off valves on the smokebox side after making specially shaped washers to fit under them.  In the cab, the bending of the steam heat pipe was completed and the pipes from the manifold shut off valves to the jockey valve were heated and bent to shape 

and then trial fitted.

The injector delivery pipes that pass through the tanks up to the clacks had new flanges brazed on 

followed by removal of the pipes that connect them to the injectors 

and trial fitting them together to check they engage easily.

Then, blanks were fitted so they can be filled with sand before we bend the upper ends to shape to join the clacks.

Work on the 5164 bunker was progressed with the original rear beading getting the outer corners heated and reshaped to fit the new platework which has a slightly different radius.  

This involved cutting some small sections out of the ‘T’ piece to make the reshaping easier and, after it had been offered up, drilled and bolted up to pull everything into the correct position, triangular wedges were cut and welded back in to close up the gaps.

The next job was to shape the corner sections of joining strip that would connect the upper coal floor to the outer panels.  The fireman’s side one was then offered up, the position of the rivet holes measured and marked on the outer panel 

followed by drilling and then bolting the strip to the corner piece.  

Week Three

Just for a change, this week involved more cutting, bending. trimming

and spot welding of bits to continue the fabrication of the backhead to side sheet cladding joining pieces.

The ‘elephant’s ears’ that join the firebox cladding to the boiler cladding were delivered on Tuesday 

together with the cover that goes over the lubrication pipes and shut off valves on the side of the smokebox.  

After a quick trial fit they were given a coat of primer pending being trimmed to fit.

On the 5164 bunker front, the rear ducket was drilled to match the doubling plate retaining holes 

and had some more work done to try and make it fit the new platework but we soon decided the only way it was going to be successfully reshaped was to separate the beading from the ducket itself.  This involved a lot of cutting away of the original welds 

but it finally came apart revealing quite a large rust pocket under the join.

On Sunday, the beading was cleaned up and dressed back 

after which it had a couple of sections heated up and bent to obtain a reasonable fit.

It was then offered up once again and, starting from the centre of the ducket curve, the retaining holes were drilled and bolted up one at a time working in each direction so that the beading was gradually pulled into the shape of the platework.

Once completed, the ducket section will be tack welded back into position on top to hold the alignment after which it will be taken down and fully welded.  Meanwhile, the sections of 4253’s backhead cladding that had been removed to attach the rear tank retaining strap, were all bolted back into place.

Finally, with the Santa Specials start not much more than a month away, we have been welding up and spraying clock bodies to stock up our sales stand.

Week Two

Tuesday was cladding day with the upper sheets for the backhead refitted now the angle pieces have been attached followed by measuring for the top sheets that will join to them.  Once the steel was cut for the two corner pieces, it had to be rolled to the correct profile 

and the cut again to the correct length

before being trial fitted.  A start was made on making the cones that will sit under the cladding around the washout plugs to keep the insulation in place.  Once again, this required cutting the thin steel, 

rolling it cone-shaped and then spot welding them together.

Although Friday saw a bit more work done, a large portion of the day was spent on an outing.  Rother Valley Railway were kind enough to invite us over to see the progress on the laying of the track bed and the  reconstruction of old bridges and construction of a new one for the extension from Bodiam to Robertsbridge.  

We then went on to Robertsbridge to see the new station building, turntable and the track already laid.  There’s no doubt that, what has been achieved thus far, is certainly very impressive.

Sunday it was back to work, with the ducket section for the 5164 bunker having a small extension strip welded on to one end as there was a gap when it had been offered up to the new platework.

Once ground flush, it was offered up again, so the exact sizing could be marked whereupon it was taken down again and a small slice cut off and dressed.  

Having now got a good fit, it will be drilled and bolted to the joining plate on one side to anchor it and the other side clamped up to take out a slight twist after which that side can be drilled as well.

The Masons valve (for the steam heat) was mounted on the backhead cladding and a section of copper pipe was bent into shape, 

the ends attached and then trial fitted.  Bosses were also made and welded to the backhead so the gauge holding bracket could be bolted into position with the following shot showing the valve, pipework and bracket.

The clacks were also bolted into position so we can progress the fabrication of the final section of pipework for the feed from the injectors.

Week One

This week started with more work on 5164’s bunker ducket where the vertical rivet holes all had to be welded up and dressed back as they were not in alignment with the holes in the new platework.  

After receiving a coat of primer, it was placed back in position to be marked where additional fettling will be required to obtain a proper fit. 

The safety valves for 4253 were taken out of storage, cleaned up and fitted to the casting that was installed last week.

More pieces for the boiler corner cladding were cut and folded to shape 

before being spot welded together and then centre punched and drilled for the retaining bolts.

The vertical injector delivery pipes that pass through the tanks were bolted to the horizontal pipes that run along under the tanks in the loco frames.  We can now mark and bend the pipework to the correct position at the top end and then connect them to the clacks. 

First job on Sunday was to remove the operating arm from the jockey valve as it was on the wrong way round.  This is usually retained to the shaft with a taper pin but, in this instance, it was an interference fit and an extremely tight one at that.  In the end we had to remove the entire shaft from the valve and set it up in the hydraulic press whereupon it took almost 2 tons of pressure to get it off.

Once removed, the hole in the arm was relieved to give just a hand-tight grip on the shaft and then pilot drilled to take a taper pin.  Once assembled with all the linkage, the arm will then be correctly positioned on the shaft and then drilled through and reamed to take the retaining pin.

The top section of the backhead cladding was removed so the newly bent pieces of angle that will hold the cladding together at the join could be attached.  The angle was drilled to the tapping size for the retaining bolts

and then clamped into place to mark and drill through the holes into the cladding sheet

followed by tapping threads into the angle for the retaining bolts and then opening up the holes in the cladding sheet to provide clearance for the bolts.  Once completed, the angles were bolted into position and the next job will be dressing back the edges.