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.

Bogie Frame Stays
18/11/2019
	Bogie parts continue to arrive into stock. These are the 2 bogie stays that fit at the extreme front and rear of the bogie frame. The stays were manufactured some time ago but have now recently returned from machining. We have been told that the bogie stretcher, centre slide and axle box guide castings will be delivered from the foundry in early February 2020. We are now creating the machining drawings so that they can go straight into the machining shop at CTL Seal.
Remembrance Day
11/11/2019
	On 11 November, Chris and Mike from the Monday Gang pay their respects
Frame Plate Drilling gets Under Way
11/11/2019
	We've spent a lot of time over the last few weeks measuring and checking the frames - "measure twice, cut once"! In particular we've thoroughly checked the hornguides to make sure we have sufficient material to machine. Today we agreed with CTL Seal that the alignment was good and that drilling and bolting of the frame plates could start. Here Pete from the CTL Seal has got stuck in. A magnetic base drill is firmly clamped to the frame plates - a strop runs up to an overhead crane to help move the drill about. First, we drill out to the correct size. Then the hole is reamed out; finally a small chamfer is applied to the hole with a countersink to ensure that the bolt head sits firmly on the frame plate. The intention at this time is to install sufficient bolts to lock the alignment prior to hornguide machining. Most bolts will be fitted after machining
Hornguide Machining Survey
04/11/2019
	The major forthcoming event on the frames will be the machining of the hornguides on a machining station at CTL Seal. Today, we have conducted a survey of the hornguides, in conjunction with the results of the laser scanning survey, to ensure that there is sufficient material on the faces of the hornguides. The laser survey had shown up an anomaly but this was traced to the dimension of the "nest" that is used as a base for the reference sphere being omitted from survey results. Once the correct nest dimension was entered, the survey dimensions agreed with the frame drawing. We have concluded that there will be sufficent material and no further alignment changes are required. CTL Seal's next job will be to fit 29 fitted bolts per sides in a number of key location to lock the frame alignment.
Bogie Strecher Pattern
04/11/2019
	The bogie stretcher pattern has now been delivered to a foundry in Sheffield and we expect casting to take place in the next 3 months. Here is the main part of the pattern assembly. A recent donation will allow us to cast and machine this key component of the bogie
Tender Lifting Eyes
29/10/2019
	A pair of tender lifting eyes arrived yesterday. These are riveted to the rear of the tender. The reproduction of the original BR drawing for the tender tank arrangement was not very clear so we had to measure the real thing on a tender on the Great Central Railway
Fitting Frame Bolts
28/10/2019
	Prior to hornguide machining, we need to fit a small number of key bolts to ensure that the frame alignment is locked. Here the CTL Seal team are fitting the bolts that fix 2 of the horizontal stretchers to one of the vertical stretchers