There is quite a lot to catch up with this week, so her we go with the usual varied round of news from the T&I department…
RHEC
Below: Matt Beddard has carried out the first assembly of Samson’s tender – which uses surviving components from a London Lead Company bottom discharge waggon. It has now been dismantled pending final assembly.
Below: N&G 49 makes steady progress in one corner of the Erecting Shop – note the canopy frames have now been fitted and also the quaterlight windows glazed.
Below: DoS 58A is now on the home straight, with the first top coats of paint being applied – very much in the early stages here, this photo does show the deep green we’ve chosen, matched to original paint fragments found on the coach – the Canadian green livery applied in 1965 being rather lighter than that originally applied by the Highland Railway.
Oporto 196
Below: It may be recalled that 196 wrecked one of its own life trays after it was deployed and struck a check rail. New trays, to the approved design fitted to Newcastle 114 and Sunderland 16 have been manufactured. Chris Armstrong and occasional apprentice Daniel Hodgson have carried out the engineering whilst Tony Vollans has done the woodwork and assisted with the assembly. In this view cylinders have been machined to form part of the supporting bracket.
Below: Daniel uses the milling machine to drill the bracket arms at regular centres.
Below: The completed bracket components complete with copies of the drawings but before welding.
Below: Here they are after welding and showing how they are created, to support the tray but pivot at the rear, to enable the tray to tilt forwards when activated by the lifeguard moving backwards.
Below: Work on the Ford Model T van – removing a stubborn engine block stud by welding a bolt to it to enable better purchase.
Below: Puffing Billy meets a TIG welder – Chris welds a bolt to a broken stud to assist its removal. This is the tubeplate usually hidden beneath the domed end of the boiler, and which contains a return flue/smokebox arrangement for the hot gasses.
Below: New studs manufactured and fitted. As with all jobs, the actual work that was discovered multiplied and so a number of items were repaired/renewed whilst the egg-ended dome was removed.
Below: A close up of PB’s two tube nests – from the furnace (right) to the chimney (left). The outline of the box which fits over these can be seen against the tubeplate, this conducting the gases around what was on the original a curved flue, which changes shape, size and direction in this space, all within a domed end boiler – a combination of practices that were considered as inappropriate in the modern age during the redesign of the boiler in the early 2000s.
Samson
Below: With Samson’s boiler now at Bridgnorth where we aim to be riveting in late August with the team there, there was one last job, to reduce the size of the backhead which had been manufactured oversize. Chris brunt it using a makeshift trammel then ground it flush – it is seen in its raw state here.
Outside Works
Below: Guttering – we have miles of it and it is under constant attack from the elements. After extensive renewal work elsewhere, Francis Street in the Pit Village is now receiving attention – as can clearly be seen here.
Below: The Site Support Team are continuing the transformation of the station area – with almost every structure and building receiving attention. This is a small team and they do a colossal amount of work, often eclipsed by the larger Transport & Industry parts of the same department alongside which they sit, though their work is Museum-wide and incredibly varied in nature. So I aim to make amends and show some of their activities over the coming weeks…
