Shunting stock with the Planet
Photo: IAH Smith
This week 28th December 2008
We had to shunt round Max's stock today, to put half of it in the new road 1B next to our site. This is primarily to free up access to platform 1 from 1A for the Caledonian Railway, but will also bring all the stock in reach of power facilities. With this stock not having moved since 2002, we had to do a fair bit of oiling round first. The Planet performed very well, a testament to the maintenance work carried our by Iain over the past couple of months. The rails were slippery so we had to shunt each of the Austerities individually but otherwise it went ok.
We also dismantled the smokebox door. It just needs the rust cleaning off and welding back together, Hopefully we'll get that done next week.
Pages updated this week: boiler works, gallery
This week 21st December 2008
I managed a day on site during the week and got the smokebox door ring repair section welded in and ground to profile.
Iain and I reassembled the smokebox door on the ring, not an easy task as it is very heavy. Having now proved that the door will actually shut we can go ahead and rivet the protection plate in place.
Iain, Ian and Max did some work to the air compressor on the planet, freeing off a sticking valve which was stopping it from making more than 40psi (you need 80psi to get it to go into gear)
Today was our traditional 3 course Christmas dinner in the bothy, it takes a bit of doing to produce on a microwave and single ring, but it came out not too bad.
The smoke box door ring reassembled after welding
Photo: IAH Smith
The repair sections for the smokebox door ring bolted up, ready for welding and rivetting
This week 14th December 2008
The last couple of months have seen a combination of circumstances keep most of us away from 46464 and it has been left to Iain and Aaron to fly the flag. They have completed the reassembly of the reversing gear and managed to get it all topcoated before the bad weather set in. Iain has also measured up and ordered new steel to repair the smokebox door ring and to replace the rear half of the LHS running board. He and Aaron have continued to clean down and prime the frames, working back from the front buffer beam.
This week, Iain and I got the rolled steel repair sections cut to size and match-drilled and countersunk for the smokebox door ring
Iain also ran up the Planet and fixed an air leak, as we shall need to use it in the near future to shunt stock.
Pages updated this week: boiler works
This week 12th October 2008
Last week Iain got all the various components for the drivers cab side and the cab roof primed, so we got them all bolted up ready to be rivetted in place.
Iain wire mopped the front buffer beam and we gave it a coat of primer, and gave the area round the reverser a second coat. The buffer beam clearly shows where it was repaired at Inverurie in 1964. Since it is part of the engine's history we shall leave well alone.
Today we had a visit from Matthew and Fraser Jackson from the Bay of Plenty in North Island, New Zealand. Thanks for dropping in guys and we hope you enjoyed the doughnuts!
Pages updated this week: engineering, gallery
The front buffer beam newly primed
Photo: IAH Smith
The reversing gear refurbished and refitted
Photo: Iain AH Smith
This week 21st September 2008
Over the past couple of weeks we have finished grinding and countersinking the cab side, it is now ready for the various parts to be rivetted back on.
We have finished dismantling the cab roof, and Iain has ordered the replacement steel to repair the smokebox door ring.
Most of the component parts for the cab side and roof have been wire mopped ready for priming.
Today we got the reversing gear bolted back in place on the engine, always nice to see stuff going back together and it creates space to start another job.
Pages updated this week: engineering
This week 31st August 2008
Today John and I replaced the tarpaulin on the engine tent. One of the drawbacks of working in the open is trying to keep the weather at bay. The engine tent has been needing replacement for some time, and as there was no wind today we took the chance to get the job done.
John
got some of the grinding done on the cab side, the it came on to rain very
heavily so we knocked off a bit early and went down the pub
home to our families.
The new tarpaulin fitted on the engine tent
Ian match drilling the new cab side
This week 24th August 2008
We set up the drivers cab side for match drilling and cutting, and by the end of the day we had a finished blank ready for final dressing with a grinder prior to starting rivetting operations.
While Ian was busy doing this, Aaron and I got the engine cab roof more or less dismantled. We will get a new roof skin rolled to the correct profile then rivet all the fittings back on, just as we did with the tender cab roof.
Smiffy is away at the Dorset Steam Fair just now.
Pages updated this week: engineering
This week 17th August 2008
We were on site on Saturday this week, on account of it being BTCC day at Knockhill on Sunday.
The smokebox door ring had been bent in the past by someone having attempted to jack the smokebox up to remove the boiler. In addition it was badly corroded in places. We cut out the wasted section to weld in a repair section. By happy chance this gave access to beat the dent out, once the affected part had been heated to a cherry red.
We also made a start on replacing the studs which hold the blastpipe in position. The first one came out with a bit of heat, but the next one sheared off and had to be carefully burnt out, leaving 2 more to do next week.
Iain and Aaron came down on Sunday and got most of the backhead fitting studs out.
Pages updated this week: boiler works
Ian carrying out some delicate panel beating
Robin priming the footplate and reverser framing
This week 10th August 2008
We caught up on some of the odd jobs this week, we cut the grass and tidied out the back of the bothy.
Iain has been busy over the past few weeks cleaning down various parts of the cab and footplate, we gave them a coat of primer, and also got the new rivets on the fire iron tunnel wire mopped and primed.
We recently ran out of oxygen for the burning gear, so we got the bottle shifted out ready to get it refilled during the week.
This week 3rd August 2008
Sorry for the lack of updates, earning a living sometimes gets in the way of steam engine restoration activities. Whilst I've been away Iain has had the new smokebox wrapper rolled by Grays in Cupar, together with the various liner sections which fit inside it.
See below for a round-up of work carried out over the past couple of months.
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Summer 2008 Update Click picture |
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The new smokebox wrapper
Photo: Iain Smith
John marking the holes with spray paint to make the template for drilling the new smokebox wrapper
This week 4th May 2008
This week we finished dismantling the smokebox, saving all the parts either for re-use, or to use as patterns.
We then made a template for marking out the new wrapper by wrapping the outside of the smokebox in stiff paper and spray painting through the holes, and measured up the door ring to get the required dimensions for the new wrapper.
Ian is currently chasing quotes for rolling the new wrapper, we will do the drilling, cutting and rivetting ourselves.
Iain has also refurbished one of the cab sliding windows, we have replaced the glass with toughened glass, as we did with the wind deflectors.
Pages updated this week: boiler works, gallery
This week 28th April 2008
Over the past 3 weeks we have completely dismantled the Driver's cab side and prepared the component parts for priming. Iain has made up the cab floorboard support ready to weld on to the support plate at the back of the cab.
Last week we replaced the tarpaulin on the big tent covering the tender, this is an all-day job, but we had some much needed help from Kevin and Julie. Thanks guys.
This week we removed the smokebox door, door ring and associated ironmongery, then split the smokebox along the top edge, whereupon it was separated from the boiler after a bit of judicious persuasion.
Pages updated this week: engineering
Robin removing the smokebox
Photo: Ian Hopley
Max and Iain pause for breath whilst removing the driver's cab side
This week 30th March 2008
This week we removed the driver's cab side. This was more difficult than removing the fireman's side was because of the reversing gear getting in the way. We burnt off the rivets along the footplate floor and the front edge of the cab side, then dragged the whole assembly clear of the engine on staging erected to the same level as the base of the cab side. Once there we dismantled the major components then lifted the individual parts clear.
Iain treated one half of the bothy to a coat of preservative.
Welcome to new 'Friend of 46464' Michael Gibbon of Ontario, Canada. Please send us a photo of your 7 1/4" gauge Ivatt class 2 under construction.
Pages updated this week: engineering
This week 16th March 2008
The front of the engine dragbox has obviously worked loose at some point. Someone has previously attempted to repair it by running a small weld down the joint between the dragbox and the frames. This has cracked, and the rivets at the front have obviously been working in the holes. We made a start on burning out the offending rivets and grinding down the weld.
Ian got the last of the smokebox rivets burnt out, we are almost ready to remove the smokebox door and frame, and then to remove the smokebox from the boiler.
We also got caught up on some maintenance work on the bothy and the fabshop.
Thanks to Bill Rebecca for dropping in to see us, and for his very generous donation.
Robin burning out the engine dragbox rivets
Photo: Iain AH Smith
Glen trying the new cab side out for size
This week 9th March 2008
This week we got the fireman's side of the cab put back together, together with the plate across the rear of the cab which supports the cab floor and fall plates. This was no mean feat as the whole assembly weighs over 3 hundredweight, but we got there by jacking and packing and a little brute force.
Once the cab side was in place we got it all bolted up. The fire iron tunnel needed a little fettling to mate snugly to the cab front, and there were several holes to be match drilled in situ.
The cab floor support plate was bolted through alternate holes, ready for rivetting into place.
We also found time to do some tidying up in the fab shop and bolt store.
A belated special mention to Gopalkrishnan Asrayram from Chennai in India, who is big into Thomas the Tank Engine. His father Gopal is a supervisor on South West Fateh platform in Dubai.
Thanks also to Derek Penny form Broughty Ferry, who gave us a whole load of steam videos last weekend.
Pages updated this week: engineering, gallery
This week 3rd March 2008
My sojourn in Dubai is now at an end, hopefully the updates will be more frequent in future.
Iain has primed the fireman's side running board and fire iron tunnel. This week we got the running board, fire iron tunnel and associated blanking plates rivetted down Just five rivets left to put in and that will be one more work front closed out.
Iain and Max got the superheater header removed early in January. Subsequent inspection of the smokebox has revealed extensive corrosion so we have decided to replace the wrapper. Ian has burnt out most of the rivets holding the wrapper to the boiler barrel and all of the door ring rivets. The chimney has been removed and the smokebox is almost ready to come off.
Max, Iain and Ian put in the mudhole doors and washout plugs and filled the firebox legs wth water up to the bottom of the tubeplate to test for leaking stays. Only about a dozen showed any sign of leaking, this is a further indication that the firebox is in better condition than was once thought.
Iain has been cleaning down the roof of our fab shop and this week plugged a couple of small leaks and finished coating it in bituminous paint.
Pages updated this week: boiler works
Max and Ian with the superheater header removed