Let’s start by looking at the new issues that arose out of the mechanical check and steam test last week:
29: Boiler moves relative to footplate. {This issue we added because it had been spotted; and we played with the wedges last time to fix it}.
30: Bottom right hand superheater element blowing.
31: J cocks stuck. {They usually are!}
32: Left Hand leading brake block on tender loose on wheel when handbrake on. {It’s the new brake blocks - they’ve not all worn in to the same extent. No action will be taken.}
33: Left hand trailing axlebox underkeep bolt loose on tender. Bolt tightened.
34: Balance weight rivets loose on left hand driver / left hand trailing driver; right hand driving wheel. {See below.}
35: Additional weights on right hand & left hand driving wheels loose. {See below.}
36: Loco brake cylinder gland sticking; Tender brakes need adjusting. {We raised this because Bruce noticed it.}
So, Gilbert & I tackled the most serious issue - the leaking superheater element. At first we were not sure if “right hand” meant “as you look at it” (through the smokebox door) or “of the loco” (i.e. “driver’s side”). Carpo confirm that it was as you look at it. We could not see any sign of a leak. However, Carpo insisted that there was, so I belted the nut with a suitable mallet and spanner. One can’t tell if it did any good until steam is raised and the element pressurised.
Bruce investigated the loose rivets.
Sure enough, a couple are loose. Not as many as are loose on 4270, though! Quite how you can tighten these rivets is a challenge! It looks as though we’d have to remove the leaf spring completely to gain access to the back. Then heat the rivet head up, and use a rivet gun to hammer it tight! We opted to defer doing this for … ages!
But Bruce did notice that the small balancing lead weights were also loose. He was able to caulk these up. They do work loose with use.
It was Bruce who spotted that the piston in the vacuum cylinder does not fall down under its own weight, which implies that the gland is too tight. So Bruce reported it as an issue, and then loosened the gland a tad.
He also noticed that the tender brakes could do with adjusting again, as the new brake blocks wear in. Something that we spotted was that the brake blocks do not fit the wheel rims very closely. Whilst the blocks touch in the centre, they leave a gap at the edge.
It was as though the radius of the block is larger than the radius of the wheel! The blocks are marked 4ft 1½ inches; back to the drawings: well, according to our drawing, the tender wheels should be four foot one-and-a-half inches. Not convinced, I armed myself with a measuring stick and headed back out to the tender. Guess what? Well, Bruce & David checked on Saturday, and they are 3ft 11 ins!
No wonder the brake blocks don’t fit as snug as a bug! This is due to tyre wear, of course; but they are not ready for scrapping yet!
Gilbert adjusted the slack on the tender brake system.
Apart from all of this, I painted some rail chairs and drained water out of our compressor (something
that gets forgotten until the compressor struggles!).
Saturday 9th
We had a Board Meeting, which took me, Gil & John G away from work all day. However, Bruce and David managed to do a couple of jobs.
Both whistles have now been lapped and fitted with new springs. David welded up a piece of
conduit that runs down from cab to running board. Bruce was told that the reverser rod (from lever
to links) oscillates up & down during motion - we had a complaint last year that the driver could not
get into full-forward.
We determined that the reason was that the end of the slot in the rod hit up against the roller that’s inside the support mid-way bracket. So, we took the roller out! That worked, except that there is now scope for the whole rod to oscillate up & down. So, Bruce put the roller back in. Wait for the obvious complaint! To fix it properly means repositioning that support bracket, moving it forward by about ½ inch - which is a pain, because of drilling holes through the running board and welding up the old holes.
I finally found out “which” J-cocks: The ones in the cab on top of the steam fountain …
Here’s a J-cock :-
… and here’s the welded & painted conduit:-
Guess what? Someone had a spot of trouble with P&O. As I understand it, while trying to set the
wheels at the correct position for the driver to oil up on the next day, a bit too much regulator was
applied, and not enough braking power available … so, P&O went through the shed door (without
opening it) and came to within inches of saying “Hello” to 2807.
Due to the fact that the doors won’t open until they are mended, we couldn’t move 2807 out of the
shed and over a pit, so that David was (yet again) unable to fix the damper door’s spark arrester.
Ho-hum!
Oh, and it looks as though 2807 will depart for the NYMR on 12th September; returning mid-
November. So, it will not be down here for our AGM (though the option of holding our AGM in
Pickering was mentioned!).
Roger
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