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Latest! New cylinder casting has been received

Significant amounts of work has been concluded in previous years on Stowe’s boiler, which includes a new steel backhead and new steel throatplate. The lower half of the inner and outer parts of the firebox have also been replaced. The boiler is now at Leaky Finders premises and work will re-start on the boiler once the overhaul of Q class 541 is completed. The loco chassis has been stripped down, axleboxes etc overhauled and the chassis re-assembled. At the time of writing the chassis is stored undercover in the running shed at Sheffield Park. The last major task on the chassis is the overhaul of the cylinders. Whilst boring out the cylinders, (with a view to fitting liners), a major casting defect was found that runs the length of the main bore of the left hand cylinder and a crack found in one of the steam ports. The flawed casting will need to be removed and scrapped. The middle cylinder main bore is in good condition and does not need lining, however the valve liner does need to be replaced. The steam passages and flange faces have sufficient thickness. The right hand cylinder valve bore is in good condition, however the main cylinder bore will need a liner installed to match the diameter of the new left hand cylinder bore; the steam passages and flange faces have sufficient thickness. CAD drawings for the new left hand cylinder have been commissioned and a contract was awarded late last year for the complex set of wooden patterns to be made by East Coast Castings in Norfolk. This work has now been completed and the wooden patterns are now at a foundry and we hope that the casting will be completed soon. Once the cylinder has been cast, an order will be placed with another contractor for the machining of the new casting. This encouraging news comes with a considerable price tag: the cost of a pattern and blank casting is just over £35,000; machining will be another significant sum on top (expected to be in the order of £15,000). This will drain our existing funding pot held in the MLS reserves and Bluebell Railway Trust, leaving only a very modest sum in reserve to make a start on re-assembling the boiler.

541

Loco chassis and boiler – at Leaky Finders
Recent work on the boiler at Leaky Finders has included riveting in the foundation ring on the sides and front of the firebox. This has included ‘tooling in’ the foundation ring rivets on the throatplate and tooling the copper and steel firebox plates against the foundation ring to ensure a tight fit. The removal of worn studs and replacement has also been addressed. Four patch screws have been fitted to the front radius of the throat plate. Also the stay holes on the throatplate are being prepared to enable bushes to be fitted. The washout plug holes have been re-tapped.
The replacement section of backhead has been ‘gapped’ and tack welded into place. The next job will be to finish welding it into place and fit stays. Work to instal the stays on the firebox sides and throatplate has been completed along with fitting patch screws on the joint between the sides and backhead.
The corners of the foundation ring have been seal welded, just leaving repairs to the lower copper laps on the tubeplate before the boiler can be turned over and a start made on fitting the tubes and flues.
The superheater header has been away for repairs and is now back at Sheffield Park.
On the chassis, both frame inserts have been weld prepped, the horn guides fitted and the tie faces are now being machined. The left hand frame insert will be welded into place first before the right section, that requires replacement is removed and new section inserted.
The remaining areas of the inside of the frames have been needle gunned and painted while the slide bars have been removed, cleaned and are ready for re-fitting and alignment.
At Sheffield Park, there has been progress on various fronts. The driving wheel springs have been tested and just one has required sending away for repair.
Work is progressing on cleaning, inspecting and fettling the loco’s valve gear, which will be re-assembled once the chassis returns to Sheffield Park. At the time of writing the main focus was on cleaning up the loco’s connecting rods and having new bushes cast and white metalled.
New water gauges have been manufactured and assembled and a new fireman’s side injector has been machined and is ready for fitting.
Bluebell’s own pattern makers are in the process of repairing a pattern for the J pipe and at the time of writing the 3D printed patterns for the new snifting valves (that will be installed to help reduce valve wear) were at a foundry to enable the new snifting valves to be cast.
The overhaul of the tender at the Bluebell
The newly fabricated tender tank has been painted up to topcoat by Bluebell Workshop volunteers. The interior has been painted by MLS volunteers.
The tender chassis has received a major overhaul undertaken by Bluebell Workshop staff, which has included the tender tyres been sent away for tyre turning, axle boxes being overhauled and new front and rear dragboxes being fabricated.
The tender chassis has received a major overhaul undertaken by Bluebell Workshop staff, which has included the tender tyres been sent away for tyre turning, axle boxes being overhauled and new front and rear dragboxes being fabricated.

847, 31618 and 1638

The Society’s other three locomotives are currently stored under cover. Members of the MLS working party have undertaken work to stabilise their condition, with the tender tank top of 31618 having been cleaned and re-painted and similar work is now ongoing on 1638’s tender. It remains the Society’s intention to engage with the overhaul of 31618 once the overhauls of Stowe and 541 are concluded. It has been suggested that volunteers ‘adopt’ a loco and check it over regularly to keep it presentable – any assistance with this useful task would be appreciated.

The PMV

At the time of writing this report, the PMV remained at Horsted Keynes. The wooden packing blocks behind the buffers required replacement, the ones behind the south end buffers have been replaced – thanks to help from volunteers and staff in Horsted Carriage and Wagon dept. The north end buffers are proving to be more problematic, but a plan is being worked up to replace them and then return the van to Sheffield Park.

...and finally

Meanwhile we would like to thank all those MLS members and supporters who have responded so generously to our appeal thus far – and in particular we would like to thank the volunteers who run Bluebell’s Horsted Keynes Carriage Shop who have kindly donated £500 to the appeal.

Please make a donation to the Stowe cylinder machining appeal, by making a donation to the Bluebell Railway Trust in order for Gift Aid also to be claimed, if you are eligible. Please go to:- https://www.bluebell-railway.com/trust/make-a-donation/?project=Stowe%20-%20Restoration%20of%20SR%20Schools%20Class%20No.%20928 Cheques made payable to ‘Bluebell Railway Trust’ with a note that they are for the Stowe appeal, can be sent to:- Bluebell Railway Trust, Sheffield Park Station, Sheffield Park, Uckfield TN22 3QL

Meanwhile we would like to thank all those MLS members and supporters who have responded so generously to our appeal thus far – and in particular we would like to thank the volunteers who run Bluebell’s Horsted Keynes Carriage Shop who have kindly donated £500 to the appeal.