We have only gone and ordered some cylinders and Frames!

The Cylinders have been ordered and the frames will have been ordered by the time you read this!

The order for the cylinders has been placed with Premier Patterns of Smethwick and will be delivered to Sheffield Park by, we hope, the end of August. Premier Patterns are well known to the railway preservation world and have been helping a number of groups including The Patriot Project, the Strathspey Railway, the GWS County Project and many more including the Bluebell Railway and also traction engine owners.
The process will be to produce a poly pattern for both the left and right hand cylinder by 3D printing, using the CAD drawings which were produced by Matthew Holloway.  These patterns will then be used to create sand moulds ready to pour the molten grade G250 Cast Iron and produce the “rough” castings.
Once the castings have been made and allowed to cool, the “Curing” process will begin.  This involves storing them in the open to sit for around a year to relieve the stresses in the metal. This will be done at Sheffield Park.


A 3D CAD model of the cylinder pattern

As soon as we are able, the machining process will take place, this is likely to be an interesting and delicate job.  The red surfaces in the picture above denote the surfaces that are required to be machined using a number of different processes.  All of the machined surfaces are to a fairly tight tolerance so will require expert machine operators to carry out the processes.

As a comparison, the old and well past the sell by date cylinder block.

The frames are being ordered from Tata Steel and the steel for the side plates is being specially rolled to a thickness of 22mm or ⁷/₈^ths of an inch in old money.  They will also be produced from CAD drawings prepared by Matt Holloway.  Tata will be not only rolling the steel, but cutting the profile of the frames including removing the larger weight reducing holes and apertures for the horn guides.  They will also be marking out the positions for all of the holes ready for drilling and reaming to size.  The frames are also likely to be with us by the end of August. 

Once they have arrived they will need to be thoroughly cleaned and protected from the forthcoming winter weather.  The actual drilling and reaming of the holes will need to be done with the skill and accuracy that we can rely on from our Project Engineer.  The order not only includes the side plates for the frames, but all of the items in red in the picture above. The other parts include the rear drag box assembly that was eaten away by the effects of the weather and coal dust, the side valances which have become misaligned and wasted and the front and rear buffer beams, together with associated angles.

The original frames showing signs of "secondhandedness"

Keep up to date with the progress of the restoration by following our blogspot at http://wainrightsfinestsecr27.blogspot.co.uk/ or following our facebook page where you can also comment and contact us.

We now need to raise the funds to help to pay for these vital parts of the restoration.  The total cost of the cylinders and frames is, in round figures £10,000.  On top of this will be the cost of machining the cylinders (expected to be in the region of £7,000 to £8,000).  We are hoping that you may be able to help us by contributing towards the cost of the castings and frame plates.  There are various ways you can donate and these are listed below.


We have a BT my donate page and this can be found at: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/27

We can also accept cheques for any value either with or without a gift aid declaration.  If you would like a gift aid declaration form please contact us at the address below and it can be sent to you. If you are not able to allow us to claim back the Gift Aid, please contact us and we will let you know the best way to donate.

For those of you in the modern age, we also have a text donation page for donations as shown below.
To donate £10 text "FENC72 £10" to 70070

    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 just by changing the amount in the text massage.
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.

Thank you for your continued support and interest in the project, hopefully you will see the fruits of everyone’s labours in around 4 years or so.

Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

The Wheels have gone green!

Green Wheels!

A bit late in being added to the BlogSpot I am afraid, but better late than never!  The two pictures depict the wheels and axles in undercoat.  also of note is the tarpaulin which is protecting the surfaces uncovered as a result of removing the eccentrics from it (see previous post) These have been removed as they require making round.

The wheels having received a coat of green undercoat (Photo Matt Holloway)

Then view from the other side! (Photo Matt Holloway)

Frames and Cylinders

We have received the approval of the drawings and parts list from the relevant manufacturers and have also received the approval of the Locomotive Director to commence the ordering process.  This is expected to be done within the next two weeks with a view to getting the castings and frame components on site before the summer is over.  Below is a drawing which indicates what is required to produce the new chassis from donor and new  parts.

The red items are to be replaced, the green are donor parts

All we need to do following delivery is to allow the castings to "cure", frame painting and protection and later machining, oh and we will need to pay for the parts too! 


We are expecting to be paying around £10,000 for the castings and frame "kit" and of course this is where you come in!  We would welcome any donations to help with this, great or small, as a well known television advert states, every little helps!


We look forward to confirming the order with our suppliers shortly, so watch this space for more details.

War Service Badges

We still have a limited number of LBSCR First World War Service Badges that have not been reserved or sold, so if you would like one reserved please contact me for details at the address below.  They are £14.50 plus postage (if required)  Once I receive your E Mail I will reserve you a badge.  This is a strictly limited edition of 100, and when they are gone, there will be no more.

Thank you for your continued support and interest.

We will be having a small sales table outside Sheffield Park box on Saturday 9th September as I will be in the box!




Other sales stands this year will be as follows:
23rd/24th September - Worthing Model Railway Club Exhibition
7th/8th October - Deltic Anniversary weekend - Sheffield Park Platform 1
14th/15th October  - Shareholders Weekend - Sheffield Park Platform 1
4th/5th November - West Sussex N Gauge Group Exhibition




Hope to see you at one or more of these!




Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project and Promotions Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society

thefenchurchfund@gmail.com

www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

http://wainrightsfinestsecr27.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Why not support us by making a donation at
https://mydonate.bt.com/events/27
 Or for Text donations Simply text "FENC72 £10" to 70070 to donate £10
    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10;
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.

No. 27 in Southern Days

I have recently found two pictures of 27 at Dover in Southern Railway days and in the Maunsell Livery we will be painting 27 in when she returns to steam in a few years time.


The first one shows the loco on shed presumably being attended to by a fitter as there is a not to be moved board attached to the loco!

A27 on shed at Dover date and photographer unknown.

The second picture shows our loco working on the dockside at a similar time. It appears the loco is sitting between shunts as the fireman appears to be sitting on the handbrake!  There is another item that we will need to have cast shown in the picture, there is a Southern Railway owners plate in the middle of the bunker.  This is unlikely to still be in existence!

A27 between Shunts at Dover date and photographer unknown.

If you would like to help us get this loco back into this condition, you can support us financially by making a donation (see information below) or helping with our sales and information stands. 
Our contact details are below.


Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project and Promotions Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society

thefenchurchfund@gmail.com

www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

http://wainrightsfinestsecr27.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Why not support us by making a donation at
https://mydonate.bt.com/events/27
 Or for Text donations Simply text "FENC72 £10" to 70070 to donate £10
    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10;
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.

Latest news from Project 27

Recent activity

We recently discovered that the eccentrics on the crank axle were out of round and in need of machining to restore the correct tolerances.  In the last couple of weeks Matt has removed the eccentrics from the axle and carefully placed in the correct position on the bench in the Villa. Machining will take place shortly and then they will be reassembled on the axle.

The eccentrics removed from the axle and carefully placed in order.

Our Project Engineer had a day driving 30541 over the weekend, and it looks as though he had a good time as can be seen in the picture below.

Stuart and his fireman on 30541

We also managed to run a sales stand on Saturday, unfortunately we could not find anyone to run it on the Sunday.  This can be seen in the picture below.  Even though there appeared to be quiet on the platforms, the trains were fairly well loaded and we had a good day!

Waiting for the crowds!

We now have a few weeks before our next sales opportunity, but don't worry, you will find out here when the next event is!


Thanks for your continued support

Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

http://wainrightsfinestsecr27.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Why not support us by making a donation at
https://mydonate.bt.com/events/27
or

http://www.justgiving.com/Project27
Or for Text donations Simply text "FENC72 £10" to 70070 to donate £10
    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10;
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.

A little fact Finding Mission!

Two of us went on a fact finding mission to the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway last Sunday.  We managed to spread the word slightly and had a jolly good time as well!


As can be seen in the photographs, there were a variety of traction and gauges enjoyed during a thoroughly enjoyable day.  Certainly a place to be recommended!

GWR 2-8-0T 4270 hauled the train we rode on

3 car DMMU which took us up the extension to a point just short of Broadway

7903 Foremark Hall hauled the second steam train

On the Narrow Gauge Line the Simplex 100hp locomotive hauled our train

Now we are back to raising some fund for the restoration of our little P tank.  We will be on Platform 1 at Sheffield Park on Saturday for "End of Southern Steam" with a stand selling the replica war service badges and much much more!  We hope to see you there.  Unfortunately we are unable to run a stand on the Sunday owing to prior engagements and no relief being available.

Clive D. Emsley
Chairman - The Fenchurch Fund

Project Manager - PROJECT 27
A Sub-Committee of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society
www.bluebell-railway.co.uk

http://wainrightsfinestsecr27.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Why not support us by making a donation at

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/27
Or for Text donations Simply text "FENC72 £10" to 70070 to donate £10
    - you can donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10;
    - you can also elect to Gift Aid your donation;
    - your operator's standard text charge applies.