Latest News

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Hornguide Machining Day 6
21/09/2020
	The machining of the inner faces of the hornguides continues at CTL Seal. The photo shows Luke checking the set up with a dial gauge before making the next cut. In this job, you can never do enough checking! You can see a short video of the machining in action by following this link. The cutter is working on the inside face of the trailing hornguide.
Trailing Spring Hangers
21/09/2020
	The trailing spring hangers have now completed machining. The design is unique to 71000 Duke of Gloucester and the lot 242 Clans. Unfortunately, the original British Railways drawing did not survice but, fortunately, 71000 did! We were able to measure the spring hangers from 71000 and create our own drawing. The photo also shows the 8 bogie axlebox guides waiting for phase 2 machining.
Tender Lifting Brackets
21/09/2020
	Another small job today are these tender tank lifting brackets. The 2 halves of the bracket were originally riveted together. From studying photos of engines under overhaul, we have noted a tendency for them to corrode along the joint and split apart. Therefore we are going to weld them together. Dummy rivets will be fitted.
Hornguide Machining Day 2
15/09/2020
	Geoff and John went in to CTL Seal today for a final check. The set up was very accurate; however they did note a slight sag in the frames measured in tens of thousands of an inch - that was corrected. In the image, Geoff and Luke are discussing the final set up. You can see a short video here of the first metal being cut to set the datums up. Photos by John Hind.
Hornguide Machining - Set up Day (1)
14/09/2020
	Today saw the moving of the frames onto the Juaristi machining station at CTL Seal. Setting up the frames on the machine is scheduled for today and overnight. In the morning we are going back for a final check before machining actually starts. The image shows the start of the job as Luke, the machinist at CTL Seal, works out where he will support the frames on the machine bed.
Hornguide Machining - Set up Day (2)
14/09/2020
	Later on in the afternoon, Luke had started to set up the many supports to hold the frames securely
Hornguide Machining - Set up Day (3)
14/09/2020
	Luke and Tom discuss what to use as a datum point
Pony/Trailing Truck Bolsters
14/09/2020
	Meanwhile, the pony/trailing truck bolsters have completed machining and are in the inspection bay. The bolsters bolt to the bottom of the hind beam gussets. They transfer the weight of the rear of the locomotive to the trailing truck.The final job was to machine the oil lubrication grooves.
Frames Transferred to Machine Shop
11/09/2020
	A major milestone in the building of 72010 Hengist took place today with the movement of the frames from the Assembly shop to the Machine shop at CTL Seal. Next Monday, the frames will be set up on a Juaristi machining station where the hornguides wil be machined. The frames are upside down in the photo and the hornguides are the U shaped opening in the frames. The inner faces need to machined so that the axleboxes will sit accurately perpendicular across the frames. The small rectangular boss you can see on the hornguides is the remains of a temporary stay, part of the casting. This will be machined off. The frame keeps (on top of the hornguide opening) will also be machined to fit their specific location. These are upside down at the moment as well, purley to ensure that the hornguide opening is supported.
Orders! Orders!
10/09/2020
	With many thanks to our supporters, the Clan Project is pleased to report that orders have been placed for 1. The bogie cannon box casting pattern 2. The casting of 2 bogie cannon boxes 3. 2 pony or trailing truck wheels. The image is our 3D CAD model of the bogie cannon box. This will enclose the axle and will contain a taper roller bearing at each end.
Trailing Spring Hanger
07/09/2020
	The frames were supposed to moving to the hornguide machining station today. Unfortunately, the machinist who has been briefed for the job was off sick last week so hornguide machining is postponed until next Monday. Meanwhile, on one of the smaller machining stations at CTL Seal is this trailing spring hanger. The hanger comes from the Duke of Gloucester 71000 frame design which was destined for the lot 242 Clans. Unfortunately, we couldn't locate the drawing for this component. Fortunately 71000 was under overhaul so we could measure it and create our own drawing. It is upside down here. The small hole in the vertical section will be filled with a grease nipple and is the lubrication point for the trailing truck pivot.
Centre Slide Lubrication Bracket
07/09/2020
	Over in Ian's workshop are these 2 castings for the bogie centre slide lubrication bracket. This are fixed to the bogie pivot stretcher on the main frames and allow flexible pipes running up from the bogie centre slide to be connected to the fixed pipework on the frames. We had 2 in stock but need 2 more. Ian has got hold of the wooden orange pattern and has made the 2 castings. They will now go onto a machine for finishing
A Job on the Side!
07/09/2020
	The B17 Sandringham Project are joining us at CTL Seal's premises in Sheffield. They have 2 tenders which they need to move on site; they need to stand on rails. As the Clan Project is a resourceful team (!), we've got some track sections and spent time today assembling them. We were joined by Alan from the Sandringham Project in the orange jacket. The tenders are due to arrive later in the week.
Track Panels in Place
07/09/2020
	Mark from CTL Seal uses the large loader to put the panels into place ready for the arrival of the tenders
Bogie Lubrication Fittings
05/09/2020
	Not all of our machining takes place at CTL Seal. ian is one of our members who has a workshop at home. He has very kindly offered to manufacture the various fittings that are need for the bogie lubrication. The centre slide is lubricated by oil. The oilbox is fitted to the frames and the oil travels via 4 flexible pipes to the bogie centre slide. The axlebox and bolster pads are lubricated by grease - although the latter is subject to a lot of discussion! Grease nipples are fitted to a carrier on the ends of the bogie stretcher and fed via pipework to the axklebox guides and the bolster pads. Ian's machine is a Bridgeport turret milling machine and the component is item 8 SL/DE/19799 grease bulkhead fitting,its having the hexagon milled on it. The bulkhead fitting is on the grease nipple carrier; the grease nipple is fitted to the front side and the pipe is connected via a union to the rear. Many thanks to Ian for taking on this work.
Riveting of Frames Complete
30/08/2020
	Yesterday, 30 August, saw 48 rivets placed in key positions on the frames. The job was succesfully completed by Varley Boilers; the picture shows the action within CTL Seal's assembly shop. For some detailed photos of the day's activities follow this link.
Stop Press - Riveting in Progress!
29/08/2020
	We have decided that the 4 bolts that are adjacent to the frame keep pads will need to be replaced by rivets in order to be able to fit the frame keep bolts. Here is John from Varley Boilers installing the second rivet today. Only 46 more to do!