A cut above the rest

Bad weld cut out

The  hole cut out to remove the bad weld on the right side frame (All photos by Clive Emsley)

The hole was cut into the right side frame to remove the sub standard weld. this is now ready to accept a patch which will be welded in shortly.  This process will be carried out by a skilled welder and will result in a weld which will see us in a good state to produce a frame that will be suitable for many years to come.

 

Wheelsets

The right trailing and driving wheelsets



Unfortunately the wheelsets did not get onto the lorry which took the wheels from the Standard Tank to the specialist facility in South Devon for turning, due to limited space.  We have been assured that the wheels will depart to South Devon for tyre turning as a "back load" when the 2-6-4 tank's wheels are ready for return.  This should be in about a month or so. This will not impact on the restoration programme though!

 

Cylinders

The scrap cylinders used for assisting in the production of drawings

Our next great push, and No.1 priority, is to order a set of cylinders for 27.  The drawings will, it is hoped, be displayed at the BRPS AGM to demonstrate the task ahead.  By that time we should also have a good idea of the cost of the job.  We will also be putting on a display of the reasons why we need a new set of cylinders, and ways that you and others can help.  The casting and machining of the cylinders will need to be funded by Project 27 and our loyal supporters, together with any new supporters that come forward to help!  If any of your friends would like to help us please point them in our direction. 

Work carried out over the last couple of weeks

A brief summary of the works carried out recently

Recent works on the loco include mainly cleaning and painting of components.  The steam reverser cylinder covers have been cleaned and painted, this will protect them until the final painting takes place.  Similar cleaning and priming of components continues also on many other parts of the loco.

The cylinder drawings are virtually ready to be printed, and we hope to be able to display the paper drawings at the BRPS AGM in May.  We are now seeking out costs for the casting to be produced, once we are able to place an order for the cylinders this will be done.  We will then need to seek quotes for the machining of the castings.

Thanks go to Keith Sturt and Roger Cruse who spent time going through the archives at York searching for any appropriate drawings for SECR locos and P tanks in particular.  Their hard work has paid off with a copy of the frame drawings and the frame general arrangement drawings.  So once Matt has finished the CAD drawings for manufacturing of the cylinders, he will use these drawings get busy on a set of CAD drawings for the rear of the frames, the buffer beams and other smaller components.

There are no pictures of the work carried out this week, but I have put these in just as a taste of things to come!



SECR No.27 on the coal dock at Sheffield Park circa 1974 (Photo: The Fenchurch Fund Collection)

31027 at Dover 19th August 1948 in British Railways livery (Photo: J.H.Ashton)

27 at Stewarts Lane circa 1922 in plain grey livery (photo: R.K.Blencowe Collection)

 

Information and sales stands for 2016

Our provisional programme for 2016

For your interest, I have put together a provisional programme of events that PROJECT 27 will be attending with either a slaes stand, information stand, display, open event or a combination of these!
The list is, at present, a forcast of expected attendances, although we are aiming to have some attendance at all of them, this cannot be guaranteed.

March 10th	U3A Haywards Heath	The SECR during their time in Boulogne with emphasis on the P class locos (and the restoration of 27)	A talk by Clive Emsley (More info on U3A Website)
March 19th/20th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Branch Line Weekend	Sales – Information – Display
April 2nd	Wealden Railway Group Steyning	Personal Model Railway Exhibition (more info on Wealden Railway Group website)	Sales – Information – Display of models
April16 th/17th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Diesel Gala	Sales – Information – Display
May 14th/15th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Southern at War	Sales – Information – Display
May 21st	Bluebell Railway Burgess Hill	Annual General Meeting (BRPS Members ONLY)	Information, small sales stand – Raffle
June 11th/12th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Atlantic House Open Weekend	Sales – Information – Display – Viewing of restoration
June 25th/26th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Model Railway Weekend	Sales – Information – Display of models
August 13th/14th	Bluebell Railway Horsted Keynes	Vintage Transport Weekend	Sales – Information
October 22nd /23rd	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	100th anniversary of the repatriation of 27 and 753 from Boulogne	Sales – Information – Display – Viewing of restoration
October 29th/30th	Bluebell Railway Sheffield Park	Giants of Steam weekend	Sales – Information – Display – Viewing of restoration

More information (and a conformation of attendance) will be published as each event draws near.
The volunteers and committee of Project 27 would be pleased to aee you and chat about our work at any of these events, or we can be accosted at any time (if you are quick enough to catch us) at the Railway!

Apologies

I must appologise for the lack of an update this week, I have not been to Sheffield Park for a couple of weeks and I have not hads any reports of the work carried out.

I will be at the Railway on Saturday afternoon and should be able to post a new blog on Monday of next week.  In the meanwhilst, I will update you should a report arrive.

Thanks for your continued interest and support

Clive

We were working over the Christmas period!

Frame repairs

The previously seen picture of the poor quality weld (all pictures by Clive Emsley)

The weld on the right hand side of the frames was ground out in December so that we could ensure the quality of the repair administered by either the Southern or British Railways in a previous overhaul.  As previously reported, the weld was found to be of less than top quality with a large amount of slag in the weld. Discussions with experts have now been concluded and it has been decided that a patch will be welded into the frames thus giving control over the repair and not just covering up what is there currently.

A cutting guide ring tacked to the frames prior to cutting

A ring has been tack welded to the frame around the old repair to act as a guide for cutting out the old weld.  This enabled Stuart to create a suitable hole for a patch to be located in over the Christmas period.  Preparation of the hole will be continued very shortly. 
  

The patch manufacture has begun, though this has been slightly more work than expected! It appears that steel of the correct quality is only available as ³/₄” or 1” plate, the thickness of the existing frames is ⁷/₈”.  The result is that a piece of inch thick plate has had to be machined down by ¹/₈” to match the existing material.  

Once the hole is prepared the final machining of the patch will take place and it will be precision fitted to the hole before welding takes place.  The repair should be carried out before too long, depending on the weather and other external factors.

Wheel sets

Wheel sets at Sheffield Park

It has been agreed that the wheel sets from 27 will definitely go to the South Devon Railway for turning when the wheels from the Standard 4 are moved there this month.  The work to be carried out will include turning the tyres to the correct profile, the turning of the journals to eliminate any "ovality" and as a matter of course the axles will be ultra-sonically tested.  These will stay away until both these and the wheels for the standard 4 are ready to be collected. This will save on the cost of transport for us and the Bluebell.

Other items

During the break from his "day job" Ian Furguson has been busy helping us with his machining skills and has manufactured the 24 fitted bolts needed to hold the new cylinders in place on the loco.  The work that Ian has carried out on our behalf is much appreciated and has kept a lid on the cost of manufacturing these parts.  All we need now is a set of cylinders!

The cylinder drawings are complete and the checking process virtually done, so once the funding has been raised we can proceed with ordering a 3d printed pattern to be 

constructed and a casting made.

A start has been made on the drawings for the "cut and shut" repair to the rear of the main frames and drag box.  This repair will need to be carried out before the re building of the loco can commence.  Again it is likely that the plate for the repair will need to be either rolled to order, machined to the correct thickness or installed  ¹/₈”  thicker.  The latter course of action may affect the balance of the loco as the rear would be slightly heavier than it should be.  This may not be a problem, but a discussion will need to be had.

New year greetings

Just a quick note to wish all our team and supporters a very happy, healthy and wealthy new year.

Best wishes from Clive and the team.