HISTORY! Back to home page

20-1-2004    A record breaking turnout for our department with 25 out on Saturday! together with excellent numbers out on both Sunday and Monday Evening. Saturdays Numbers were boosted by 10 enthusiastic lads from the Boys Brigade who, under close supervision, removed the life expired wooden decking from all the turbot wagons. The main focus has been on No.1 but progress is also being made on Morayshire and the Sentinals.

See photos by Alex Livingstone of work on No.1 The Bearings have now been re-metaled and trial fitted in the frames. Some fettling is required to the horn guides before sizes can be taken prior to maching the white metal. Progress continues with the suspension and brake parts overhaul.

See photos by Alex Livingstone of work on No.246 The Tender has been reunited with the Engine and work continues on finishing off the loco prior to trial steaming.

See photos by Alex Livingstone of work on the Sentinals. Dramatic progress is being made on the bunker and body panels. The boiler barrel in Ranald is very badly wasted and is to be scrapped but a replacement is available on site.

See photos by Alex Livingstone of the Crane tank now in the museum, work on the Iron fairy and the clay pit! in the yard.

15-1-2004    A really good turnout over the weekend with 17 out on the Saturday and 15 on Monday evening!

No.1 - Wheels have been cleaned, prepared and undercoated by Kenny. The machining of the axle boxes is being progressed by Brian, Ron and Alec. A new mould set-up has been made and used for tinning and re-metaling the bearings by Brian, Derek and Ian. A new horn wedge has been machined by Alisdair Silcock with new wedge jacking bolts being made by Alec and Kenny. The Brake gear and motion has been cleaned by juniors led by George Lumsden. New bushes and pins have been made for the suspension linkage with most of the LH side now complete.

No.246- Ian and Gordon have been fettling and resolving the issues with the rocking grate. The problem was traced to a bearing being incorrectly fitted in the rush to have the Engine ready for Doncaster. It is now operating properly and the fire bars are being inspected prior to fitting.

No. 419- Has been prepared for photo shoot to re Postage stamp launch on Monday 12th.

Sentinals- Work continues with new panels being fitted by Kenny Simpson and Alec King

No. 7/19- No significant progress other than cleaning.

80105 - Winter maintenance in progress.

6-1-2004    A busy time for the steam shed with lots of progress in all areas. Some new faces have come out to help which has been most welcome! We have just taken delivery of a Jones 10 Ton Iron Fairy which is in good mechanical condition and only requires some cosmetic tidying up. See photos below by Alex Livingston of Bill making new fire bricks, and track maintenance work at Bo'ness.

No. 1 - Machining of new suspension link pins and bushes continues. The new main bearings are now nearly finished and pockets have been machined  ready to be white metalled. See photos below by Alex Livingston of work on No.1

No. 19 - No progress.

No. 7 - A new set of tyres have been ordered. These are coming from South Africa and have a 3 Month lead time. It is planned that the wheel sets from both Austerities will be sent together to Bury for the refurbishment to be carried out. See photo below by Alex Livingston of Dave at work on No.7 big end.

No. 419 - Now ready for boiler inspection. See photos below by Alex Livingston of work on No.419 showing removal or air compressor parts and preparation of boiler for inspection.

No. 80105 - Being prepared for boiler inspector. The clack valves have been lapped and various maintenance tasks are underway.

No. 246 - The rocking grate mechanism has been refitted although it will need some more fettling to ensure smooth operation. The drains from the cab steam controls are in the process of being rerouted into the ashpan to reduce the risk of accidental scalding and reduce glowing ember escape. Work continues on checking all fittings for security prior to its steam test.

Sentinals - Significant progress is being made on both locos with the cab roofs off and boilers ready for removal. The engine of Denis (I think!) has been freed off in preparation to trial with compressed air. The engine cover has been fully cleaned and painted. See photos below by Alex Livingston of work on the Sentinals

23-12-2003    It has been a very busy time with significant progress being made on all fronts! This will be the last update this year and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year! Any feedback, comments or suggestions on the site content is most welcome. Check out the steamsounds site for sounds of 'Maude' working in Fife and Edinburgh in the early 80s.(Links page)

No. 1 - Machining of the new axle bearings is well underway with the little horizontal borer and the shaper being kept busy. Work continues on the suspension link pins and bushes. All the motion parts have been cleaned and inspected. See photos by Alex Livingston.

No. 19 - The old tubes have been removed from the boiler. See photos by Alex Livingston.

No. 419- The boiler has been prepared for inspection with removal of the brick arch, safety valves and all plugs etc. The Westinghouse air pump has been dismantled for overhaul. The shuttle operating rod was found to be worn which may well be the route cause of previous operating problems. A new case hardened rod will be made. See photos by Alex Livingston.

 The Sentinals - Significant progress has been made with a new bunker fabricated and cab fittings cleaned. The cab roofs have been made ready for removal of the boilers. See photos by Alex Livingston.

Morayshire - The rocking grate is ready to be refitted. The paintwork is now all but complete and is looking really smart!

80105 - In service running well and will be used for the Black Bun Specials at the end of the Year.

9-12-2003    Lots of activity on No.1, 'Morayshire', Both Sentinals and No.19. A real effort is being made on No.1 to ensure that it will be ready for the next "Thomas" event. Refurbishment of pins and bushes for the suspension links, axle boxes and horn guides continue. See photos by Alex Livingstone of work carried out over the last few weeks together with Santa special coverage.

Work on No.1

 Work on Morayshire

Work on the Sentinals

Santa Special +

3-12-2003    Good progress has been made on "Morayshire" with the ashpan finished and the fire bars being checked over prior to installation. Progress is being made on No.1 with the wear plates on the horn guides being renewed/adjusted as required. New patch screws for the Boiler have been ordered so work on the boiler will now get underway. No significant progress on the Austerities over the last week. See Interesting photos of Barclay at Pittencrief Park Dunfermline. Photos by Sam Sparkes.

25-11-2003    A good turnout on Monday Evening with progress being made on the suspension links and new pins for No. 1. Dismantling and cleaning of the motion parts of No. 19 continue. Sorry no new photos this week but should have some of the work being carried out for the next update.

18-11-2003    Another good turnout over the weekend and Monday evening although George and Ron were down south over the weekend. I have now completed the fits and sizes book with the exception of one large drawing. At the bottom of the picture gallery there are some pictures of the S&T working on installing a revised ground frame to permit the signal box to control the points at the East end of the station. All photos by Alex Livingstone

'Morayshire' - Little progress over the last week.

No. 1 - Work on making new pins and bushes for some of the suspension links is well under way with the old worn bushes in the compensating beam removed as well as one lose bush in the compensating support casting.

No. 7 - Ready for lifting.

No. 19 - Dismantling of the motion is progressing with removal of the right hand connecting rod and bearing. It all came apart very well and the piston is now ready to be removed. The left hand connecting rod is ready for removal except that one of the tapered securing pins is very tight.

12-11-2003    A superb turnout over the weekend and Monday evening with good progress being made on Morayshire, No.19 and No.1 . Some of the progress reported last week was not quite as well on as I was led to believe but both of the Austerities are now very close to being fully dismantled. The steam heating wagon has been serviced ready for the Santa specials. I have also almost completed copying/scanning a fits and sizes book (with drawings) from Cowlairs covering all classes of  N.B. , G.N.S. & L.N.E.R. engines. This is to allow the original to be preserved and provide working versions for the shed. This has been scanned to high standards and may be available electronically in due course.

Has anybody seen Brian Thomson in the USA? He is known to get himself into photos! I would really appreciate feed back on this site and any suggestions or constructive criticism would be most welcome.

'Morayshire' - Ashpan is now all but finished with Ron happy with the reshaped and modified unit. Attention will now shift to finishing all the odds and ends prior to trial steaming.

No. 1 - The wheel sets are back from Bury with tyres turned and the damaged bearing journals refaced. Work on making new pins and bushes for some of the suspension links is planned to get under way in earnest next week. Machining of the new main bearings will now also get underway.

No. 7 - Now ready for  removal of the wheel sets.

No. 19 - Dismantling of the motion is progressing with only removal of the valves, pistons, piston rods and big end assemblies still to be dismantled. The valve eccentrics have been removed.

See photos of various activity in the Romney shed, steam heating wagon and on the track. Photos by Alex Livingstone

4-11-2003    A fair turnout over the weekend and Monday evening with progress being made on all fronts! Sorry no new photos today as I was unable to get over to Bo'ness on Monday.

 The new task lists are now in place accessed from the Loco page. These are in the most user friendly format and will shortly be updated to show progress and highlight up and coming tasks. Any feed back would be most welcome.

'Morayshire' - Awaiting welding of the ashpan and preparation of task list for outstanding work.

No. 1 - Haulage has been arranged for the return of the wheel sets.

No. 7 - Now fully stripped and ready for lifting to remove wheel sets. New bogies are being made and are all but ready to be fitted. These are being made to bolt onto the wheel guard mounting points on the frames.

No. 19 - All springs have now been removed. Dismantling of the motion is progressing with the cylinder and valve covers removed for inspection.
 

29-10-2003    A fair turnout over the weekend and Monday evening. Significant progress has been made on cleaning up the 2 Sentinals with de-scaling of the body panels well underway. Tidying up and painting of the shed Ruston is also being carried out.

 A task list of up and coming planned work for each engine is being made available on this site. George Lumsden has been preparing draft forms that detail the resources required (skills, equipment, parts, etc). These forms are to be accessed from the bottom of the 'Loco' page and should be available by the weekend. Any feed back would be most welcome.

'Morayshire' - Fettling of the ashpan parts prior to welding is now all but complete. The motion, which had been cleaned for Doncaster, has been greased up to protect it over the coming winter months.

No. 1 - Awaiting return of the wheel sets.

No. 7 - The slide bars have been inspected measured and removed. Patterns for the pistons have hopefully been located and once verified that they are indeed the correct type new ones will be cast.

No. 19 - Both front springs and one of the driving axle springs have now been removed. Dismantling of the motion is now underway.
 

See photos by Alex Livingstone of work within the Romney and Running sheds as well as other contractor related activity at Bo'ness

21-10-2003    A fairly quiet weekend and Monday evening however progress was made! Tom Henderson has repaired all the outside lights around the Romney and Running sheds

'Morayshire' - The Ashpan has been modified with the new parts now ready to be welded into place.

No. 1 - The Wheel sets have had the tyres turned and the axle journals skimmed. Transport is being arranged for them to be returned to Bo'ness. Jim Verth has organised the dismantled motion parts and prepared the area around the frames for the rebuild.

No. 7 - Is now ready for lifting to remove wheel sets. Bogies are being made to enable the frames to be easily moved.

No. 19 - All the brake gear has been removed as have the rear springs. The general condition of this engine so far is good with pins and bushes etc being well lubricated and undamaged!
 

See photos by Sam Sparkes taken on the 18-10-03 with 419 being assisted due to slippery track conditions. (The next train was unassisted) and an unusual shot of 419 from under 80105

14-10-2003    See photos of both sentinals in the very early stages of restoration. They are in much better condition than they appear at first glance and significant work has already been carried out on needle gunning the cabs and body panels. Good progress has been made on the sleeper replacement and a very large number of rail chairs have also been repaired. A Jarvis tamping machine has also been used on the track. The large Colchester lathe has also had work carried out on both the gearbox and coolant tank.  Photos by Alex Livingstone

'Morayshire' - Work is getting under way in earnest to resolve the ashpan fitting and clearance issues and finish painting of the cab interior is in progress.

No. 7 - The pistons and cylinders have been inspected and measured. There is some slight scoring in both bores but it is hoped to be able to hone these out. The cylinder bores have been bored out +1/8" in the past and are well within acceptable limits for general wear. The pistons would seem to be original standard size and are very well worn. Piston clearance is in the order of 1/4"! New pistons will need to be cast and machined to suit.

No. 19 - No significant progress this week
 

I know that this has nothing to do with the goings on of the steam dept at Bo'ness but there must be something about the simplicity of a steam engine! For those of you interested in Deltics I came across an interesting site...

7-10-2003    See photos of No. 7 drive axle, slide bars and cylinder. + 'Duchess of Sutherland' passing through Uddingston last weekend!

'Morayshire'  - Progress is being made on final finishing of the paintwork.

No. 1 - Cleaning of components continues.

No. 7 - Dismantling is now complete! The piston rods, stuffing boxes and the rest of the motion has now been dismantled, and is now ready for the frames to be lifted to allow removal of the wheel sets. Cleaning of all components is being carried out as they are removed.

No. 19 - The wheel coupling rods and the brake gear have been removed.

30-9-2003    All the lifts went to plan and the big shunt was completed on Monday evening. The past week has seen a lot of activity with Virgin driver training taking place as well. Members of the team have been involved in lubricating the line and pressure washing the train wheel sets at the end of the day. Members of the department have also been involved in placing 150 replacement sleepers along the track in preparation for the spot replacements being carried out by contractors. Boilers from both No.7 and No. 19 are now placed on the crocodile wagon beside the Romney shed west end door and No. 7 and No.19 are inside the shed with both of the Sentinals. The crane tank is ready to be placed in the Museum. See photos below of activity within the department and the newly installed original Bo'ness iron works lamp posts. Photos by Alex Livingstone

'Morayshire' - Work continues on painting.

No. 1 - Cleaning and inspection of the frames, horn guides, and bearings continue. Alignment checks have been carried out. Transport of the wheel sets has been arranged.

No. 7 - Dismantling continues with the connecting rods now removed. Only the eccentrics need to be disconnected before the wheel sets can be removed. The big end bearings are scrap and the journals may need to be turned. The steam brake has been inspected and tested and is in good condition.

No. 19 - Dismantling is now getting underway.

23-9-2003    A very good turnout over the weekend and especially on Monday evening. A crane was organised for today to complete the boiler lifts and if all went well the rest of the "big shunt" should have happened. Some of the recently acquired heavy duty shelving has now been installed at the bottom end of the Romney shed to be used for storage of engine parts during overhaul.

'Morayshire' The boiler cladding has been rubbed down and repainted. The Ashpan is now ready to be welded. Modifications were necessary to ensure running clearances for the rear axle bearings.

No. 7 All the axle springs have now been removed, the steam brake has been tested, the left hand big end bearing has been removed and we have one very tight tapered securing pin on the right hand big end still to dislodge! The driving axle spring hanger pin holes in the frame are worn and will be bushed to suit standard pins. The cylinder end covers have been removed and on first visual inspection would suggest that the cylinders may need to be bored or sleeved. The engine is now very close to being ready for the wheel sets to be removed. In general the locomotive frame and motion is in good condition with only cosmetic rust in a few places. Cleaning and inspection of parts is being carried out as they are removed.

No. 1 Cleaning, inspection and alignment of the frames/horn guides is being carried out. Wheel sets are ready to be sent to out to be inspected and damaged bearing journals turned.

16-9-2003    The planned lifts and shunt started out very well with No 1 lifted of her wheel sets and placed on bogies. The crane then developed a mechanical fault with its steering and was unable to access the areas for the other lifts. This has now been rescheduled for next Tuesday. Rod has been very busy tidying up the paintwork on 'Morayshire's boiler. The Shire is now separated again from its tender for ease of access to complete the remaining work on controls and ashpan etc. Again a really good turn out over the weekend and  Monday evening with significant progress being made on the dismantling and cleaning of No. 7 motion and brake gear and tidying up and reorganising racking for storage of components for engines under overhaul. David carried out some excellent repairs to the cracked Iron fairy engine sump which has now been refitted. No 3 chimney has been repaired. Photos by Alex Livingstone.

9-9-2003    A really good turn out over the weekend and on Monday evening. The "big shunt" is well in progress with No.7 in the Romney shed, the crane tank ready to be put in the Museum, No. 1 in place to have the frames lifted and the crocodile wagon ready to receive both Austerity boilers. It is hoped to have all the lifts and shunt complete by the 10th with the exception being the crane tank getting into the museum as entry will be a challenge! Work is well underway with dismantling No.7 with the connecting rods removed and dismantling of the brakes well in progress. The tyres are very well worn and are to be replaced. The connecting rod crank pins are in good condition but the right hand driver crank pin is loose in the wheel and will also be replaced as will all connecting rod bushes as they are worn or have excessive clearance. See photos of our younger members doing a really great job in the yard and the crane tank being test run (on compressed air). Photos by Alex Livingstone with the 3 evening shots of the crane tank by Mark Ashmole.

3-9-2003    Due to a diesel loco derailment on the yard king point at the weekend, Monday evening was spent replacing broken chairs and putting the point to rights. This unplanned activity has delayed some of the major shunt, and the boiler lifts, which is now planned for early next week. A serious tidy up is in progress in the yard area around the Romney shed. Progress continues with the clearout of the running shed workshop and organizing our stock of spares and engineering stores. See photos of happy volunteers! Three generations of Sparkes! and 419

27-8-2003    Over the last couple of weeks work has continued on major repairs to the track in the yard and major tidying up prior to a significant shunt operation to move the crane tank into the museum, place both austerity boilers on the crocodile wagon and bring them into the Romney shed together with both Sentinals. The coal conveyor is now fully rebuilt and operational. Both 419 and 80105 have been used for a filming contract last Monday with scenes being shot at various parts of the line. The filming went off very well with no issues and all survived the transformation from CR and BR to American Southern Railway and back with out any problems! The Westinghouse air pump would be the only item that was truly at home in their visit to the "States"! A crane is organised for the early part of next week to lift the Austerity boilers and Frames of No.1. The major overhaul of No. 1 is now our top priority. Finishing of Morayshire is also continuing although it will be some weeks before it can be trial steamed. 419 had broken a drive axle spring (Top leaf) the previous weekend and has been replaced with a spare one from stock. A contract has been given to a contractor to repair a significant No. of dipped joints and carry out spot sleeper replacement which should help reduce wear and tear to locomotive suspension, axles and motion. Volunteers (and cash donations!) are now urgently needed to assist in track maintenance/replacement work to enable the axle loading to be increased to permit the 'Shire' to operate on the line.

13-8-2003    First of all a correction. 'Thomas' was  Hudswell Clark No 140 ( ex NCB ) from Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway and not a Jinty from Llangollen. A busy weekend with Morayshire on show in front of the running shed and as one mother was heard to explain to her inquisitive child "That's Gordons we brother!" Time has been spent sorting out the track levels and again the younger members of the team did a tremendous job barrowing and packing ballast etc. The large rotary screw air compressor had failed and this was traced to a faulty breaker probably caused by an incorrectly set timer that is used in the starting sequence. Tom Henderson found and fitted a replacement and it is now working well again. The portable hydrovane compressor also failed and on inspection was found to have excessive (terminal) wear in both main rotor and bearings. A repair kit is being sourced. Congratulations are due to Jim Verth who passed out as a driver on Saturday! ( Rumour has it that a bought a round in the pub!) Preparations are being made for a major shunt to bring the boilers from both austerities as well as the boiler from No.1 into the Romney shed. The Crane tank is now almost fully painted and ready to be lined out. Because of the height of the jib getting it out of the Romney shed and into the museum will require some partial dismantling of the sheds around the doors! Photos by Alex Livingstone

6-8-2003    Morayshire is now safely back from Doncaster and in the running shed. A huge effort has been made to sort out the track leading into and beside the Romney shed. The younger members of the team have played a significant part in this work. No more threepenny bit curves! (For those of you who don't remember! - like a 50p).The stores area in the running shed has been cleared out and walls and floor painted. No. 419 has had the brakes taken up and routine maintenance carried out on the piston rod seal of the westinghouse air compressor. The Jinty from Llangollen arrived yesterday in time to star as "Thomas" this weekend. The boiler of No. 1 is to be brought into the Romney shed and work on the bottom end will get underway soon. See photos by Alex Livingston of work on Morayshire prior to Doncaster and other work/training underway.

27-7-2003    Morayshire at Doncaster! A wonderful weekend with a lot of interest shown in the engine. The loco should return to Bo'ness in the early part of the week.

21-7-2003    A tremendous turnout over the Weekend and Monday! Morayshire is now ready to be shipped to Doncaster! It is planned to go to Doncaster by road Wednesday/Thursday.

246 Morayshire : -  All but complete except for finishing off odds and ends. Paintwork being finished off. See photos I took on Monday.

See Photos taken by Alex over the previous week or so.

14-7-2003    A very good turnout over the last three weeks with completion of the water column repair. Apart from general maintenance on 419 and 80105 all effort is being directed to the 'Shire'.

246 Morayshire : -  The cab roof, dome and cover, cab floor on both tender and engine, regulator operating stuffing box and bearings renewed and fitted and almost all controls and instruments have been fitted. Repairs to wasted sections of the smoke box have been carried out. The boiler cladding has been painted in gloss and lined.  See photos below by Alex Livingstone of recent work on this engine.

24-6-2003    A very good turnout over the weekend and Monday with significant progress being made with the water column repair and reassembly of the coal conveyor. Apart from general maintenance on 419 and 80105 all effort is being directed to the 'Shire'. I plan to create a new page on this site specifically to cover the activities and work carried out by the junior members of the team. I would welcome input and ideas for this new page from our younger members! I will soon update the gallery with more photos by Ian Lothian and the loco pages with more photos of 419 and 246 provided by Hamish Stevenson.

246 Morayshire : -  All the super-heater elements have been installed. Preparation for painting continues with the boiler cladding now having 4 coats of primer and preparation for colour underway. The cab roof is now ready to be fitted which will permit the completion of the copper pipework. The regulator valve operating lever and seal box has also been refurbished. The main boiler steam pressure gauge is being sent out for refurbishment and calibration. See photos below by Alex Livingstone of recent work on this engine.

18-6-2003   

No. 1 Lord Roberts:- Cleaning and inspection of motion parts continue.

246 Morayshire : -  Lots of activity on this engine! Work continues with new copper pipe work. The new ashpan damper controls are being reassembled and refitted. Super-heater elements have been installed in the flues and the new steam pipes have been prepared for fitting. Preparation for painting continues. The tender frames are in the process of being painted and it is starting to look good! New plate has been rolled to replace the most wasted areas of the smoke box barrel and the blast pipe petticoat is ready to be trial fitted prior to manufacture of new supporting stays.

No. 80105 : - In service running well .

No. 419 : - In service running well with no issues.

Crane Tank : - Now ready for painting and lining out!

3-6-2003    The main water column base has now been completed. See photo below. After a couple of quite quiet weekends/Mondays a very good and enthusiastic turnout this weekend. We have just acquired a relatively modern capstan lathe (Ward 7) and a multi spindle drilling machine as well as the 2 Colchester Student lathes ( See wanted page)

No. 1 Lord Roberts:- Work has started on the boiler repair and the eccentrics for the valves have been dismantled for inspection.

246 Morayshire : -  Work continues with new copper pipe work with templates made for the controls. All the boiler cladding is now in grey primer and being prepared for more paint. A new piece of cladding has been made for the front of the firebox below the boiler. The new ashpan is still being fettled to ensure running clearances around the rear axle horn guides and axle bearings. Work is underway in the smoke box to fit new studs for the steam pipes and blastpipe etc. Super-heater elements are ready to be fitted.

No. 80105 : - In service running well with no issues.

No. 419 : - In service running well with no major issues. Fine tuning of the cylinder lubricators has resolved the over-oiling issue.

Crane Tank : - The main cylinder cladding has been primed and are ready to be fitted.

Back to home page

Copyright SRPS 2009