Latest Update - 11th June 20156

A few updates from Sheffield Park

We had a sales stand at |Sheffield Park today, well, at least until the rain came! After setting up the stand to show some of the work we have carried out, and some of the ongoing work, we set up our small sales stand.

The sales stand at the Atlantic House Open Day 11-06-2016

We also had a small exhibition of some of the parts that are being worked on.  These included the steam reverse cylinder covers, the handbrake screw protector and the tank water gauge deflector.

A selection of the restored parts on display

Other items on display were one of the guard irons and a brake hanger, both of which are in a protective coat of paint and are not yet fully restored. These are the sort of easy jobs which can be carried out when time permits and many of the larger jobs cannot be carried out.

The high quality finish on the hand brake screw protector

Matt has produced worked hard on the parts so far tackled, and the finish produced is of an extremely high quality.

The main thrust of our fund raising effort at present is majoring on the production of a set of cylinders and we had the 1/10th and 1/8th scale models of the cylinders on display, which created plenty of interest.

The display of Cylinder models

Other work

Other works that are being carried out at the present time include the wheel turning which is being done at South Devon Railway Engineering for us.  There is not real rush to get these turned and returned but there was a series of wheel sets being sent so it made sense to use an empty lorry movement to take them down to Devon and reduce the transport cost slightly.

Preparations are being made to weld in the patch to replace the previously repaired weld in the frames, the patch is just about ready to be installed in the near future. This repair was required as the previous welded repair resembled an aero chocolate bar when it was inspected!

Preparations are also in hand to cut the rear portion from the frames in preparation for the renewal of the rear plates and drag box.  This will not be done until the other weld repairs have taken place on the frames, and the new plates have been produced and are ready for installation.

The restoration of the steam reverser is nearing completion and it is hopped that it will be returned to the railway in the not too distant future and be tested using compressed air rather than steam.  This will then be stored in readiness for installation on the loco once the appropriate time arrives.  It is hoped that a more comprehensive report and some pictures will be available shortly.

The bunker sides are currently being measured so that drawings can be produced in CAD. this will allow a laser or water cutting process can take place to produce new plate work for the bunker.

The Right hand bunker side on the bench in the Villa being measured for new drawings

The beading is also being removed from the old bunker to allow them to be repaired and restored or remade as required.

Future events

We will next be at the Railway for the model railway weekend in two weeks time. we will be situated in the Birch Grove Suite at Sheffield Park.  We will be selling a selection of model railway items (old and older!) as well as a few of the usual items. If space allows we will be exhibiting a small N Gauge model of the Lancing Military Railway (LMR - fortunately Graham Farish produce a train pack depicting this!). Please come and have a chat, we will be pleased to see you.

Thanks for reading this far, it is much appreciated.