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 Spring Cradle Plate Progress
21/09/2021
	The first of the bogie spring cradle plates is now progressing through second stage processing after heat treatment. It is starting to look like the finished article.
Frame Extension Fastening (1)
20/09/2021
	The frame extensions (on the right of the photo) need to be securely fastened to the rear end of the main frames, The 16 fitted bolts to the left and above the white dotted line will go through both the main frame plates and the frame extension plates. These will be drilled and reamed first. Here, Bob from CTL Seal is using a reamer in the magnetic drill to ream out the hole to its final size. The front firebox stretcher has been removed to make the job that bit easier. The fitted bolts that go in the holes to the right of the dotted line have to go through the main frame plates, the frame extension plates and the front firebox support stretcher.
Frame Extension Fastening (2)
20/09/2021
	Once the holes have been reamed, the Clan Project team can work out what size the the shank of the fitted bolts need to be to ensure that they are an interference (i.e. tight) fit in the hole. The bolts have gone to Generic Engineering in Rotherham for machining to size.
Bogie Spring Cradle (1)
14/09/2021
	The suspension system for the bogie uses a fore and aft leaf spring on each side of the bogie sitting in a spring cradle. The spring cradle is a compensation beam as it rests on the tops of the front and rear axleboxes; this allows the weight to be more evenly distributed over the connected wheelsets as the suspension responds to irregularities of the track. The spring cradle consists of 2 plates with the leaf spring in between. The plates were originally formed by pressing over formers. The picture shows the bogie and spring cradle from 71000, Duke of Gloucester and shows how it starts of narrow towards the front and rear, widens to accommodate the spring and widens again at the centre to accommodate the spring buckle. Thanks to Michael Hughes from the BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust for the reproduction of the photo
Bogie Spring Cradle (2)
14/09/2021
	Manufacturing the spring cradle plates using the original manufacturing system of pressing over formers would have been prohibitively expensive. Therefore the decision was made to machine the plates from a solid block of steel. To have machined the plates to the final profile in one step would have inevitably lead to distortion. Therefore the plates will be machined to a first stage profile which has the rough shape of the finished article. The next step will be heat treatment to stress relieve the plates before further machining to the final profile. Tyler Bros (Sutton-in-Ashfield) Ltd have taken on the contract and here is the first plate going through rough profile machining. You can see a short video here.
Bogie Stretcher Casting
13/09/2021
	The bogie stretcher has been in the machine shop for quite a while but there's been a lot of work to do it. It's now going through final inspection and we hope to start a trial assembly of the frame this month. Here is Paul from CTL Seal's inspection team using the Faro Arm for the inspection
Bogie Stretcher Casting (2)
13/09/2021
	Paul and John Hind - SSLC's Quality Director - discuss the final inspection report
Brake Hanger Brackets
13/09/2021
	As a trial fit, and in preparation for the AGM, we've fitted the brake hanger brackets on a trial basis. Starting on 14 September, CTL Seal are aiming to complete the first stage of drilling/.reaming the holes that will be used to fix the frame extensions (just visible on the left of the photo) to the main frames.Once the holes have been reamed, we will need to turn each bolt so that they are a heavy drive fit. The aim is to install the bolts that fix the frames/frame extensions only first and then ensure that the front firebox support stretcher (between the end of the main frames) is bearing tightly against the frame plates. Then the bolts that go through the frames/frame extensions/firebox support will be fitted.
Front Firebox Support Stretcher
13/09/2021
	On the inside of the frames, a packing plate has to be fitted at both sides of the front firebox support stretcher between the stretcher and the main frames. The packing plate is nominally 1 inch thick but will need to be machined to the dimensions of the gap. Here John is is using a slip gauge (or a gauge block) to measure the gap so that he can create a drawing which we will pass to the machinist. This photo is taken looking down on the stretcher. 2 "Shoes" bolted to the front of the foundation ring of the firebox sit on the alloy faces you can see on the right. Lubrication grooves have been machined into the surface. The threaded bar is a temporary spacer bar.
Sales Stand Outing
11/09/2021
	The Clan Project sales stand hasn't been out on the road since the last gala at the Great Central Railway in January 2020. On Saturday 11 September the stand was in operation at the Tideswell Food Festival. Here are Chris Jones, Mike Sedgley and Ashley Shimwell on the stand at the festival. A great day out with a good variety of stands.
Armrests
06/09/2021
	So far, we've counted 12,921 components that need to be manufactured and fitted to 72010 - this doesn't include nuts and bolts! The components range from the very large - like the boiler - to the very small - like a split pin. Here are a couple of the smaller ones which are the driver's and fireman's armrests.