Build Diary entries for March 2023

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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Bogie Axlebox Guides
06/03/2023
	Slow and steady work on the bogie axlebox guides. These need to be bedded down onto the bogie frame plates. John is using engineers blue, a scraper, stones and emery paper to get good contact all along the mating face.
Smokebox Door (1)
13/03/2023
	Today we were waiting for suppliers so we turned our attention to the smokebox door. We had established that the number plate brackets were too close together so they were ground off a while ago. Fortunately Mike S had a spare set so we took the opportunity today to weld them on. Here Geoff checks that the number plate is central and horizontal before we obtained the services of the nearby CTL Seal welder. Mike H and Mike S look on. The hinge pin is just a spare piece of metal. The original had rusted into place after being out in the open at Quorn. A new one is due tomorrow
Smokebox Door (2)
13/03/2023
	Moving the door around is easy with the right gear. Mike S is at the controls. CTL Seal have put 4 of the SSLC team through a crane training course.
Bogie Bolster Bolts
20/03/2023
	A set of bolts for the bogie bolster arrived today from Generic Engineering. The bogie bolster is a casting that bolts to the frames and which has domes facing downwards. These engage with bogie bolster cups that sit on the bogie stretcher and convey the weight of the front of the engine to the bogie. The bolt heads are on the inside of the frames and are inside the bogie pivot stretcher. They are a drive fit and this makes the swinging of a lump hammer very difficult in the confined space. So we will jack 2 opposing bolts in at once using threaded bar. On the left is an adaptor which the threaded bar will run through and which will engage with the head of the cone head bolts. By tightening nuts butting against the adaptors we should be able to jack in the bolts. The bolts have been manufactured to fit each hole. The letters on the bolt heads reflect the different sizes.
Trailing Spring Hanger Brackets
20/03/2023
	Mike H sitting down on the job drilling the pilot holes for fixing the trailing spring hanger brackets. The magnetic drill has been a very useful addition to our tool store.
Smokebox Door
27/03/2023
	Work in progress in preparing the smokebox door. Number plate brackets were welded on a couple of weeks ago so Mike H is cleaning up the weld in preparation for painting. The new hinge pin has been checked for fit so the door straps can now be tightened up and painted.