Latest News

Current news items are listed below. If the Acrobat icon is shown, then click on the icon to read the attachment. If an image is shown, you can click it for a full size image. You can find old news items in the News Archive.

Front bogie progress.
19/10/2020
	Work continues on the front bogie parts, pictured is the front bogie centre slide on one of the CNC machines at CTL Seal today..
Bogie Pipework Fittings
18/10/2020
	Ian (not your web site manager!) is one of our members and has a home workshop. He's kindly volunteered to manufacture the pipework fittings we need for the bogie. The original pipework design used a flared pipe end similar to that you would see on a car brake pipe. These were prone to breaking so, in the late 1950s, this was changed to a turned, coned pipe fitting secured by a nut. Here is one of the nuts being turned in Ian's lathe.
Pony Truck Wheels cast!
15/10/2020
	Another step forward in the building of 72010, Hengist. Sam Edwards from Boro Foundry in Stourbridge, West Midlands has reported that both pony truck (or trailing truck) wheels were cast on Monday 12 October. They are left in the mould overnight before they are knocked out and then left to cool down. You can see a short video of the casting by clicking on this link.
Hornguide Machining Day 18
12/10/2020
	The machining of the hornguides on the frames is nearly complete. We expect that the frames will be back in the machine shop on Wednesday. Today we finished cleaning up the exhaust ports on one side so Luke lifted the frames and turned them through 180 degrees so that he could get to the other side. This is half way round
Exhaust Port Machining
09/10/2020
	Hornguide maching is now complete so the frames have been turned through 90 degrees so that they are upside down. The final job on the machine is to clean up the area where the exhaust steam manifold meets the frame so that there is a smooth transition in this area. Photo by Tom Wade
Hornguide Machining Day 14
05/10/2020
	Hornguide machining continues at a steady pace. Today, Luke from CTL Seal and Geoff discuss the machining of a small radius on the edge of the hornguides. Luke has the cutter in his right hand.
Hornguide Machining Day 10
28/09/2020
	The hornguides are now starting to look like the finished article. Here you can see that the 8 bolt holes that will secure the liner have been drilled, together with the hornguide face. The end stop at the top of the hornguide has also been machined to the right dimension from the base of the frame.
Preparing for Final Assembly of Frames
28/09/2020
	When the frames return to the assembly shop we will be attaching the frame extensions together with the dragbox. Initially the frames lay across the shop but, with the frame extensions in place, the frames will be too long. So frames will be aligned pointing down the shop. All of our components have now been reorganised in preparation. In the photo, you can see front buffer beam, hind beam and rubbing plates, frame extensions, a box of plates including some running board plates, a pair of buffers, a motion bracket, sandboxes and the dragbox.
Welding of Tender Lifting Brackets
28/09/2020
	Last week we reported that the tender lifting brackets needed some welding. Here is Ian from CTL Seal in action doing the job.
Casting of Pony Truck Wheels
25/09/2020
	We've placed an order for the casting of the 2 pony truck wheels - also known as the trailing truck. - with Boro Foundry of Stourbridge. The pattern has been kindly loaned by the Mid Hants Railway. Boro need to work out how to feed in the molten metal and let the air out. So feeder heads are attached to the pattern as you can see in the image, 10 around the outside and a large one in the centre. The image is from simulation software used by Boroand is used to check how the molten metal will solidify. The aim is that the last metal to solidify is in the feeder heads. If you click on this link you can see an animation from the simulation program. The molten metal is red and cools through yellow, green and blue.