News Archive entries for April 2024

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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William Cook Cast Products to Cast Six New Driving Wheels
03/04/2024
	William Cook Cast Products (WCCP) will make all six driving wheels, based around two patterns; one for the Centre Driving Wheel and one for the Leading and Trailing Wheels. The patterns will be made using traditional methods, assisted by laser scanning of the wheels on Hengist’s 'big sister' Britannia Pacific 70013 Oliver Cromwell, based at the Great Central Railway’s Loughborough depot. The scan will define any missing details for the finished patterns. From the patterns, the two centre driving wheels and four leading and trailing wheels will be cast. All six cast wheels will then be proof (semi-finished) machined ready for finish machining to suit the axles and tyres. All this work will take between six and twelve months to complete and will be worth over £100,000 to the project. William Cook - Heritage Rail William Cook is a major supporter of steam locomotive new-build and restoration projects inthe UK and Europe. Sir Andrew Cook CBE said of the project….” Britain is now entering the second and most hazardous stage of the heritage rail movement which began some 60 years ago. Preserved locomotives are requiring hugely expensive repairs, including new boilers and the generation of men whose knowledge and enthusiasm preserved them in the first place is dwindling as death takes its inevitable toll. In this context, new build is ever more important if the working steam locomotive is not to become a thing of the past. As both a life-long rail enthusiast and experienced manufacturer of the many kinds of cast parts a steam engine requires, I consider it my duty to our industrial heritage to do what I can to assist. The ‘Clan’ class was a pretty engine, but no example escaped the scrap man’s torch. ‘Hengist’ is a state-of-the art engineering project based in the heart of Sheffield and could even be the last Pacific locomotive built in the UK. Such iconic locomotives are a major part of our history, without which future generations would never experience the sight, sound and even smell of a working steam locomotive.” Andy England, MD of CTL Seal in Sheffield, which is the home of the Locomotive, says “This is a fantastic development for the Locomotive and the project is building a real head of steam now. You can really see the engine taking shape and it’s an exciting challenge for us as we are re-creating the engine using the original 1950s design but employing 21st century engineering techniques to make it greener, cleaner and more efficient.”
2024 Open Day
14/04/2024
	Our 2024 Open Day was held on Saturday 13 April and CTL's Assembly shop was busy throughout the day. In the 1954 British Railways Building Programme, 15 "Clans" were scheduled. None were built as the order was cancelled. The intention was that the first 5 of the batch were destined for the Southern Region and were allocated names appropriate to the region. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent - you can find more on Wikipedia. For the Open Day, 72010 assumed a Southern Region Identity, complete with 73A Stewarts Lane shed code plate. You can read information about "The Man of Kent" train name at this web site. Thanks to everyone who came to the Open Day