Locomotive Engineer Darrin Crone provides us with an insight into recent weeks’ work on the restoration of the great locomotive.
Week commencing 3 July
On Monday the patterns for the clack boxes were taken to the South Lincs Foundry. There were three storage boxes filled with wooden patterns, which are expensive to make, so it was decided to deliver them personally. They were safely delivered and next day discussions were under way with the pattern maker at the foundry. These concerned the modifications we need to the fireman’s side clack box to maintain the appearance of the version we have in the cab of 60007.
The fireman’s side clack box casting we are to replace. I am willing to consider outrageous financial offers for this unique artefact.
At York our new bogie side control bolt was inspected, comparing it to our drawing. It checks out OK. A new key will be required for the bolt, so new key steel was purchased and a key made to fit. Some final machining of the key is required to reduce its height. The bolt goes through the bogie chassis and the bogie centre casting. This casting was transported to contractors for machining last week and this week we visited the contractors to deliver (and discuss) the dimensioned instructions prepared by our chief mechanical engineer. The casting was put up on a borer on Friday for setting up and machining will begin on Monday.
The leading brake cylinder stretcher had its final loose rivets removed this week. Temporary bolts were put through to keep everything tight. On Saturday the engineering team assembled to put the first rivets through the bracket and frames. After a couple of false starts—not unusual when setting up for this kind of job—we got our first rivet home and tight. We were ready to get in to our swing when we were told we had to leave the workshop, as there was a problem with the locking of the doors which made the workshop unsafe for us. This prevented me from taking some photos for this report.
Work has been carried out on the tender most of this week with attention concentrated on the front, removing corrosion and a solid block of compacted coal dust inside the front structure. Work with the needle gun and plenty of scraping and chipping has been carried out. Staging has now been put up in front of the tender to improve access and safety as we work our way up.
This week the front of the tender was worked on. Here the needle gun, one of our favorite tools, is used on the front dragbox.
The overhaul of the brake ejector continued this week and its internal condition is very good. We have found a steam cut on the small ejector valve seat, which will have to be machined. The valve will be dressed at the same time. Various glands have now been repacked and some covers reassembled and sealed.
The superheater header was inspected at our contractors’ premises this week and we are very pleased with progress. The superheater was sent with a comprehensive work scope, which they are working through. The top surface and one of the corners have already been built up.
It has been decided to put plates in the bogie stretcher that will provide additional support to the middle of the stretcher cover plate. The plates have been specified and an order has placed this week for them to be profiled. They will be welded in place after final fitting.
At the works of K D Flavell the superheater header is welded vertically to a heavy steel beam to ensure no distortion and make it easier to move during refurbishment.
Also at the works of K D Flavell, these are the loco side bearers that stop excessive rolling of the loco by contacting the bogie side bearers. One was cracked and this has now been repaired, and both side bearers have been examined.
Additional work was done on the air brake piping this week, with further pieces put up on the loco and a new section of pipe used to replace a piece that shows some heavy wear. The air pump exhaust steel pipes were also stripped this week and after inspection were given a coat of primer prior to fitting.
The black pipes are the steel air pump exhaust pipes–this is their condition from store. They have now been stripped, inspected and primed.
Week commencing 10 July
Good progress is being made with the refurbishment of the superheater header. A special tap has been sourced to tap the end cover holes. This has been loaned to us from the collection of special railway taps in the National Railway Museum’s engineering workshops. It must be very old but still feels sharp. The header casting is stood on end and the welded areas have been ultrasonically examined for thickness.
The loose countersunk screws that hold on the bogie bearing plates on the top of the bogie frames have now all been refitted, with the addition of thread locking solution. Three screws were not recoverable and had to be remade. These were machined and fitted on Saturday.
One of the side bearer plates added later in the life of the bogie. Two of the countersunk screws had to be replaced as they were life expired. The new screws are made with a reduced section just above the countersink so that when sufficient torque is applied the head it breaks off. The centre sheared section will be ground down.
The studs for mounting the gravity sandboxes are now being finished. The thickness of the flanges on the sand boxes has been measured and the studs are being drilled for the split pin holes. The hole is positioned so that the split pin fits closely against the tops of the nut when the sandbox is fitted in place.
The small ejector from the vacuum brake ejector has now been refurbished. The seat of the ejector valve has been skimmed and so has the valve. It will now require assembly and a final lapping.
Work on the refurbishment of the regulator stuffing box continues. The skimming of the flange face of the body casting has been completed. It is reported that the material is very tough and wears cutting tools very rapidly. The cover is yet to be machined.
Work continues on the loco bogie stretcher with di-pen inspection of the top of the flanges that bolt through to the loco frames and the end plates that were welded by LNER or BR to strengthen the stretcher casting. No faults were found. The new plates we are to have welded into the bogie stretcher were fitted this week. The square-edged profile plates had to be ground accurately to allow a good fit into the radii and webs of the stretcher casting. The loco bogie side bearer brackets were returned to York this week with the cracked RH bracket repaired.
The loco bogie side bearer brackets were returned to York this week. The right side was cracked and this has been repaired.
There are two holes left to machine on the RH combined spring and brake bracket. As reported previously all the holes requiring spotfacing have been completed, the remaining two require countersinking. The first of these were completed this week with a special tool made by engineering team volunteers. The set up has now been moved to the last hole.
We received the new front buffer rubber springs this week. The centre holes through which the buffer shank passes were deburred and the ones that are fitted into the buffer housings were assembled with the secondary buffers into the housings. The frames behind the bufferbeam received their last coats of gloss this week. We’ll give the paint a few days to harden then we’ll refit the buffer housings. When the buffer housings are on we can refit the front corner streamlining. However, some of the tapped mounting holes for the streamlining are worn, and a start was made this week on welding up these holes so that they can be remade.
The worn tapped holes in the footplate angles that the streamlining is fastened to are being welded up. They will then be dressed and the holes remade.
The underside of the footplating has been finished in gloss paint. Not an easy or pleasant job to paint over your head for hours, so well done to the painting team.
Work continued on cleaning and descaling the tender. Work on the front continues, but we are also now working on cleaning the worst off between the frames. Needle gunning has continued on the front while other engineering team members went between the frames to clean off the pipework and water valves under the front of the tender.
After cleaning and scraping the left hand water valve under the front of the tender.
The air pump exhaust piping was refitted this week, and while the pipe fitting team were confined between the loco frames they did some more work on the air brake piping.
The exhaust pipe from the air pump is now fitted.
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