19th December 2009

T

 he long anticipated re-wheeling of J94 No.7 has been completed. This was carried out in very wet conditions but all went very well. While we had the crane on site the new bothy was moved into position and the tank for No.19 was moved out of the way to the south side of the Romney shed track. I have no photos of the lift and would be most grateful if anybody could send me or post on the photo gallery!

The great Romney Hut tidy up has continued with the relocation of the universal mill and a working area created for annealing the boiler tubes to be carried out. A section of 3' gauge rail has been laid to allow the Fair maid to be assembled in the shed.

Locomotive News

No. 7: The frame tie-bars have all been fitted and the next task will be to fit the spring hangers and pins. There is a little wastage to be repaired on the front tube plate and once done we can retube the boiler.
The regulator operating shaft has removed and will require the stuffing gland end to be renewed as the retaining thread has been badly damaged and the sealing area worn and corroded. A new regulator handle will have to be made using No.19 as a pattern.
Manufacture of the new Lempor blast pipe is now underway. The new big-end brasses have now been machined and the next stage is to white metal and machine the bores. The Right hand big end strap has been badly damaged at some time in its past and is in the process of being returned to its correct shape. Two new tapered pins to secure the strap to the connecting rod are being made and once completed the bearing location faces of the strap will be machined/fettled to 'new' size.
The smoke box door dart is under construction and work is now getting under way on the brake gear and draw hooks 

80105: In operation on the Santa specials.

LNER Morayshire: In operation on the Santa specials.

419: Progress on removing the tubes is now being made with the use of an electric winch. Due to the scale on the tubes and that the smoke box tube plate is new there is very little clearance between them and they are proving to be very difficult to remove by hand. About half of the tubes have now been removed

Other News

The yard area to the west of the Romney shed has been cleared for the location of 2 new (to us) 40' shipping containers to be used as secure and weather tight stores to replace the existing as there newness has worn off!

A set of very good condition part worn tyres have been purchased for the Manitou telehandler.

 

Photos of recent activity...
 
19th December 2009 - News Gallery

Copyright SRPS 2010 ©