Week Three Five working days this week, three on the tools and two at the weekend on the Sales Stand at Tenterden for the Santa Specials. Tuesday started with hoovering out all the debris from inside the 541 tender tank, cleaning down and painting the coal space The outer side panels were showing some blemishes after last week’s painting so these … Read More
Week Four This week has involved yet more of the same for the 4253 boiler crinoline team with sections of flat bar getting shaped, welded together, drilled and, where necessary, the holes countersunk which, on long curved lengths is not that easy. However, more and more of the sections have now been successfully fabricated and trial fitted. Also, a batch … Read More
Week Four Tuesday started off with dressing back the previous Sundays’ welds on the side panels of the 541 tender tank and then getting the rear top panel turned over and carried inside for cleaning. The crinoline team were hard at work trial fitting the firebox bands while others were fitting the flanges for the blower and brake ejector exhaust … Read More
Final Week On Tuesday, there were many people working on the 541 tender tank with grinders to grind back the countersunk rivets retaining the door closing plates and the lamp brackets and steps on the back panel and to dress the welds between the front and rear side panels. Meanwhile, work continued on the ‘toilet seat’ part of the crinoline … Read More
Week Four During this week, a fair amount of progress has been made on constructing the crinolines for 4253’s boiler which is a hugely time-consuming task with numerous parts having to be cut, shaped, bent, welded and drilled. Band numbers 1 and 2 (starting at the smokebox end) are pretty well finished and trial fitted along with the top longitudinal … Read More
Week Three On Tuesday, we continued with the drilling of the smokebox where, given the rarity of a very sunny day, the temperatureinside it reached 42º before the guys called it a day. The cleaning up of both the superheater header and the cylinder block saddle was completed after which they received a coat of heat-resistant paint. A blanking plate was … Read More