Build Diary entries for December 2010

Here are the diary entries for this month. You can use the forward and backward links to see the next or previous months. Most photos taken before 2018 are small size. From 2018 onwards, most photos you see below will have a link to a full size image by clicking on the photo.

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Cast Steel Stretchers
23/12/2010
	Here we have the two parts of the cast steel frame stretcher pattern. This stretcher also supports the steam brake cylinder. This component is one of the design modifications introduced on the Lot 242 'Clans, replacing two fabricated stretchers with one stronger simpler casting.
Steam Exhaust Spider
24/12/2010
	This is a picture of 'work in progress' on the exhaust steam 'spider' which is the big, complex, steel casting held captive within the fabricated smoke-box saddle. When we have the finished machined casting we will be able to order the components and build the smoke-box saddle. The picture shows the bottom half of the pattern which is upside down. You can just see the flange of the steam take off for the exhaust injector peeping above the main steam passageway on the right.Only the parts of the pattern that are painted red will become steel once the casting is poured into the sand mould created by using this pattern. The black wedge shapes are in effect are equivalent to the machined slots in the main-frames. The 'spider' casting lines up to these slots on the inside of the frames and the piston valve exhaust steam passageways in the cylinder casting line up to on the outside of the frames. A core has to be set into the pattern to create the void through the passageways. These are also cast in sand from another set of patterns